Common Trade Show Mistakes

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Mistakes happen whether you're a newbie or a veteran trade show frequent, but you can avoid the most common Trade Show Mistakes by third , advice. So, let's take a few minutes, while your competitors are reading about Lindsey Lohan or watching reruns of Shirt Shore, to super-size your trade show marketing skills.

We all want to think we're the big dog in the area, but we're not. If you're new to trade show marketing, beginning with an inline could make more sense. You learn what works -- from graphics to display configurations -- before investing in an island exhibit. For example, a person surprise how many folks think they need an enclosed conference room just to discover that their clients are more comfortable with a friendly meeting area.

Most organizations participate in multiple industry events each year. There's usually a pecking order to those shows where some are more important than others. It may not sound right to "go big" at the supplementary industry events, when you could invest that money in most of your show (where you'll generate more leads and kick the bejesus from your competitors).

In general, smaller indicates get less traffic than larger indicates, if for no other reason than location. Bigger indicates typically are set, closer to the entrance, and along the main aisles. However, the largest selling point of bigger indicates is sq video footage and height. Island indicates range from presentation area, multiple kiosks, sitting areas, ample storage, large format graphics, cost to do business signage, product displays. While these are still possible in inline displays, the space limits how much can be done.

There's a way of thinking that says, At the very least, match the sq video footage of your main competitors. inch Here's another idea... determine what you want to accomplish at the show and what it should take to exceed those goals, and then design a presentation area that accomplishes them. It's not skyrocket science folks.

For whatever reason, some companies are automatically when it comes to their trade show marketing. If you ask them what they want to accomplish, their response it usually generate more leads. Really If those are your only goals, then you should throw in "World Peace" and "Ending Global Hunger" too.

Chances are your trade show goals coincide with your overall marketing goals. The skill to execute them in a 3d face-to-face environment. That's where working with a qualified exhibit professional makes all the difference. Simply because you are a movie star at marketing, it doesn't mean you know diddly about trade show marketing or exhibit design. A good trade show professional will spend much of time asking what you want to accomplish.

Think back to the message boards in your elementary school class room. Does that memory make you smile? That's very sweet... now do precisely the opposite for your trade show graphics. All that clutter may have been perfect for developing minds hyped up on Elmer's glue and Crayola crayons, but our older mind can't process very much information in 3-4 seconds. We start to use clear, straight-forward messages. That doesn't mean your graphics are not colorful, amusing, and creative. They just can't be thematic chaos. The message should state who you are, what you do, and what problem you are resolving in under 4 seconds. Devices is just pretty paper on a package. We like the pretty paper, but we like what's in the package a whole lot more.

It's funny how free pencils, stress golf balls, and rulers can give us an inferiority complex. They have them. We don't, so we feel like a second-class person on the trade show floor. At the next trade show, we have ornament, and we spend half our time providing them with away just to rationalize having them in the first place. Don't get me wrong. I like free stuff. But the free stuff better have a purpose. A bank giving away nice calculators. Smart. The chiropractic doctor who gives away a pencil formed like a back. Also smart. But when a software company gives away plastic water containers. What's the purpose?

The same rules apply for prizes or pictures. The drawing should create a buzz at the show, and may serve as a mechanism to engage potential clients in conversation. Fish bowls where attendees fall off business cards to win an ipod device attract leads, but not quality leads. You may not want a stack of unqualified leads for your salesforce to determine? Most likely not.

I know you're telling yourself, "My staff knows the products and they know the company, why should I have to train them? inch True Lambingan. Now recall the last time you went to the shopping mall to go. Those employees knew the products, and they knew the company. Did you feel as you received exceptional service. Did they approach you promptly, ask you open-ended questions, listen, and show you exactly what you wanted? Most likely not.

Training before the show and before the show opens each day ensures that everyone understands the mission, that everyone knows their role, and that everyone gets their questions answered. Think of a trade show as a appointment. Every person who walks in the presentation area is deciding whether to rent you or not. Can you really afford to lose a sale?

Why would you bring your own string to your hanging And, yet, the vast majority of exhibitors spend considerable cash preparing and participating in a trade show and then neglect the leads they gathered at the show. Well, either they don't value the leads or there's no plan on how to deal with them. Most of the time it's the latter. What's the old saying, "Failing to plan is planning to fail. inch

When your in-laws come to town, you may spend days cleaning, organizing, and thinking over dust bunnies. Three days later, you don't care anymore. There are dirty dishes piled in sink and clothes draped over the reclining chair. The same scenario happens for most exhibitors. They gloss and preen all night before the show opens, and then by Day Two, they ignore the smudges, the carpet boogies, and the stray candy wrappers.

Every day is a new day in Exhibit-Land. Like Disneyworld, it's gotta look perfect before the guests arrive. Determine that task to someone every day and create a checklist. Otherwise, you won't have finished, or the person with effort will do it and resent it.