Exhibitions only last few a period of a few short days and before the big day begins, there are a few things you should do so that you can get the most out of your event. Technically, there are a lot of things you can do to stay ahead of the game, but we’d like to discuss our top five core areas you should focus on – we encourage you to make sure to go through this list first before you start thinking about any other things. In short, the five core areas we will discuss are defining your goals, research your competition, allocate a certain budget for the event, choosing the right event, and selecting the right suppliers to execute the project.
Define Your Goals:
This is the most important thing to have absolute clarity on as it will drive what your stand will look like and how it performs. What are your core goals for your next event? Once you have figured out your list of goals you’d like to achieve, you should then prioritize them from what is most important down to the “nice to have” type of goals. This is critical because without it, your booth will have no purpose and you will receive something that is of little value to you. If brand awareness is important to you then make sure that your booth shares the same brand colors and has enough wall area to implement your brand graphics and convey your message effectively. This list will not only speed up the design process but will also give you guidance on where your budget should be spent – therefore make sure you take the time to define your goals.
Research Competition:
Know who will be at the same event and check to see if you can find out what they did last year and was it successful – you can take this knowledge as guidance for your booth also. Some of your more established competition would have exhibited at the same event for years, so they have done their fair share of experimentation over the years. Understanding your competition can also make sure you are prepared for any onsite questions that may compare you with your direct competition, so if you are educated about their products, you could quickly divert your visitor’s attention to the key features of your business instead. This will let your clients understand that you are aware of the other options out there and why they should value your product or services instead of as you are making informed decisions to beat your competitors. Read more about Business Strategy to Grow Your Online Business.
Allocate Budget:
If you are a first-time exhibitor, it will be difficult to know how much you should spend but having some sort of budget is better than having no budget at all. With a budget in mind, you will be in a better position to decide whether it is of value for you to increase it for a more engaging booth. Typically, it is useful to share your budget withstand builders as they can quickly give you an idea of what you can get for that price – if no budget is there, there is no direction for how custom your stand should be (it will take longer for you to receive proposals due to this uncertainty and they may instantly not be what you are looking for). With a budget, you can make comparisons, and easily allows you to make informed decisions on how you should proceed.
Choose the Event:
There are different events that you can exhibit in, but each event may draw different types of audiences. Some events will allow trade-only customers (these are B2B events) and other events will allow everyone in (these are B2C events). Why this is important is because it will drive the way you should represent your company, going to a B2B event will mean that a large majority of attendees will be familiar with the industry and may already be aware of your products or services so it may be more beneficial to make sure you highlight the technical details rather than what your business is about. It is also important that you are choosing events that are relevant to your business, as different crowds will attend different events, so if you are at choosing an event to make sales, you’d want to be sure the crowds that go there have an interest in your type of business.
Select Right Suppliers:
There are a lot of suppliers that can ultimately get you the end result that you are after, but there will be a large variation in the total cost. They may be cost-efficient in one area (for example, design services), but they may have to outsource a large chunk of that scope (stand to build) to a third party to execute. Therefore, you’d want to find a supplier who can directly manage most of the scope themselves and are in full control as this will generally come out more cost-efficient. Custom Exhibition Stand Builders are what you’d be searching for and as an exhibitor, it is important early on to see if you are compatible with them (how is their communication? are they quick with their responses? etc.) The right stand builder will give you that peace of mind so that you can spend your valuable time on other parts of the business.
Conclusion:
Hopefully, with our list of top five things to consider before you exhibit, you are now better equipped to make better-informed decisions and are thoroughly prepared for your next event. What you can also do during the event is to have a conversation with other exhibitors and see how they approached the event – they may even share some insights with you based on their past experience. Preparation is key for events and if you never try you will never know.
