6 Top Tips For Exhibition Success

Make your presence known

The build up to the event is just as important as the event itself; you need to make sure people know you will be there and give them a reason to come and find your stand. Email newsletters are a good way of doing this, or you could run a targeted e-shot campaign.

Of course, the easiest and simplest way to get the message out is via social media. Either way, generate interest by letting people know when the event is, where you’ll be and what you’ll be doing. Teasers of a new product launch, giveaways or on-stand activities are all great ways of piquing people’s interest.

Think about your objectives

You need to have clear objectives outlined before your event and you need to make sure your whole team are aware of what they are and what your strategy is to achieve them. Do you want to generate sales, build your brand awareness, conduct market research or improve customer relations?

Choose your focus and apply the SMART strategy, ensuring that your goal is: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Trackable. If you have a clear direction from the beginning, you have a greater chance of success.

Invest in your stand design

A good strategy is nothing without an eye-catching design and setup to help you stand out from the crowd. At Williams&Crosby we specialise in creating bespoke, modular systems.

So not only will your stand be uniquely designed to suit your needs, but you will also reap the rewards of your investment as it can be scaled up or down, re-dressed and reconfigured for multiple future events.

Your design should be bold and engaging so that it will capture passing attention and convey the right message about your brand or product without giving too much away – you need to give people a reason to engage and ask questions.

Never underestimate the power of a free giveaway

Everybody loves a freebie! From something as simple as a promotional products from a pen to a competition to win an iPad and everything in between, you’ll guarantee yourself a higher rate of engagement if you have promotional items and giveaways at your exhibition stand.

Be smart though, consider your budget and choose your giveaway wisely, then be sure to make people interact before they can get hold of it.

Don’t spend a fortune on something people will grab and then walk on! Consider for example promoting your giveaway in a clear display unit, ensuring that people have to engage to get hold of one.

Follow up on potential sales

A successful event means nothing if you don’t follow up on your leads! This is your opportunity to make a return on your investment, so you should have a plan in place following your exhibition or event to make contact with all potential customers.

You should follow up specific sales enquiries and leads the following day, with a phone call or email to make contact and ensure that you are present in the customer’s mind.

As we suggested for before the event, you can also send a more general email newsletter or e-shot following the event thanking people for attending your stall, giving them a run down of what went on at the event, maybe including some photos, and adding in a call to action to prompt them to follow up if they didn’t get a chance.

Analyse and improve

Finally, you should consider what was successful and what you need to work on in order to make your next event even better. What did customers engage with most? Once they had engaged, how many followed up?

Did the stand layout suit your needs? Did the design capture people’s attention? Think about what was missing, what worked well, what challenges you faced and how you can address them.

If you’re looking to achieve success with your next exhibition or event, why not contact us at Williams&Crosby?

We can help you with everything from exhibition stand designs to event management, literature design to sourcing promotional items. Call us, email or pop by our office for a cuppa and we can discuss all of this and more – no project is too big or too small!

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