Before the Exhibition
In your pre-exhibition marketing materials, you should allude to your theme. You may want to titillate the people you send your pre-exhibition marketing material to with an allusion or a question that you will answer at the expo. Your pre-exhibition marketing could ask the question “What is the most common reason to have a bad night’s sleep?”

If you send out an email or a direct mail out to your client database, you want the people to attend the expo, and to visit your exhibition stand. You could include a crossword or a find a word puzzle that introduces the theme and forms an entry form into a competition that you have running at the exhibition stand. If you do send out a direct mail flyer or brochure, you could have the design in the shape of a pillow.

The Exhibition Stand Itself
Designing your exhibition stand to incorporate a theme is an essential element in this style of marketing campaign. To create an effective exhibition stand with a unique theme, you can use a box style of exhibition stand, where you have walls, floors, and all the elements especially built for the exhibition. For example, if you have a theme that suggests people can have a good night’s sleep by using your product, you could create a huge four poster bed as your exhibition stand.

Exhibition Stand Signage
Your signage at the exhibition stand is going to attract people into your exhibition stand and to provide information about your product. Incorporate your theme into the signs that you create for the trade show. Using the example, you could have pillows and pictures of people getting a good night’s sleep and information about the product in the dream “bubbles”.

During the Exhibition
Incorporate the theme into all the marketing materials your staff will hand out during the expo or trade show. You can provide little pillows to give out, which could open to provide information on the anti-snoring product. Ensure your staff are wearing appropriate clothing that enhances the theme. In this particular example, you could have your staff wearing pyjamas in the colour of your corporate logo.

Immediately After the Exhibition
Following up the trade show with good marketing is essential. Within a few days of the trade show, you should send out an email or direct mail contact to the leads your staff collected during the exhibition. This marketing material should include the theme and mention the exhibition stand. You could include a photograph of the exhibition stand to remind people of your stand.

Six Weeks After the Exhibition
Finally, send a follow up several weeks after the expo or trade show. Immediately after the trade show, people are overwhelmed with many marketing emails and brochures from all of the companies who exhibited at the trade show, but following up several weeks after the expo can be an effective marketing ploy. Using the theme again in this final marketing campaign will ensure that people will remember your exhibition stand.

Bioline Exhibition Stand, Spa & Beauty Expo, Aug 2011

When you spend money to book an exhibition stand with the goal of growing your business you need to be sure that your stand will actually attract people to your business, otherwise your money will be wasted. It doesn’t matter if thousands of people attend the trade show if no-one actually visits your particular exhibition stand or you end up with no viable leads. To prevent this scenario, you need to make your exhibition stand different from the rest of the exhibition stands.

Create a theme for your exhibition stand. This theme allows you to consistently provide a single message to your potential customers in a memorable way. You want people to remember your stand after the event. You can begin marketing with the theme before the trade show or exhibition, by sending your customers an invitation using the theme. That way, your customers will look out for your stand at the trade show and it will trigger recognition.

Designing your exhibition stand around a theme allows you to create an image that stays in potential customers’ memories long after the event too, enabling your follow up sales and marketing teams to tap into this memory using the same theme. This is the best way to convert leads into real sales following a trade show or exhibition event.

If you really want your exhibition stand to stand out from the crowd, you should consider using a custom designed stand. Custom designing your stand can creatively use your allocated space by building the floors and walls of your exhibition stand, instead of using the provided “booth” style exhibition stand walls and floors.

A custom designed exhibition stand provides you with more opportunities to be creative as you can create multi-level floors, with raised sections to attract more attention to certain areas. You can use shapes, colours, and fabrics to create attractive walls that match your theme. You do not even need walls around every section of your exhibition stand space.

To enhance visibility of your stand, use large, colourful, and professional signs. Huge printers are now being used to print massive banners and images which will ensure that your signage is visible from everywhere in the exhibition centre or trade hall. You can have posters and banners printed in your brand colours using the theme you created for your exhibition stand.

Lighting is an essential feature for any exhibitor who wants to stand out from the crowd. Relying on the lighting that exists within the exhibition or conference centre will be insufficient to highlight the areas of your exhibition stand that you want to attract the attention of people walking past. You will need to include lighting within your creative design of your exhibition stand.

When you design your exhibition stand, make it memorable by using a theme, bright, attractive colours, good branding techniques, unique designs in the stand design, visible and professional signage, and excellent lighting.

Audio Products Exhibition Stand

Whenever you exhibit at a trade show that attracts your target audience, you can be sure that at least some of your competitors will be vying for the same visitors as you at the show. Naturally, you do not want your exhibition stand to appear boring while your competitor’s stand three stands down from yours attracts all the attention.

However, straight comparisons between exhibition stands is often difficult, as there are many factors that will make an exhibition stand attractive to different individuals. Comparing or sizing up your competition is natural and can be useful in some ways to improve to own exhibition stand for future events.

In one way, every other stand in the trade show is a competitor for your business, even those businesses that are not offering products directly in competition with your own products. This is because the crowd will have a limited attention span and each person will really only pay close attention to a few stands, although they might visit every stand quickly. You can learn a lot from exploring other exhibition stands at the trade show and you should encourage all of your staff at the stand to take time (in shifts) to wander through the trade show and visit the other stands.

Ask your staff members to take note of the stands that attract their attention and find out what in particular the individual noticed about the stand first. Look at what people are giving away at other stands and what your marketing message is in comparison to these other messages. Ask your staff to consider exhibition stand design factors, such as signs, lights, walls, use of textures or fabrics, and moving elements.

It would be a good idea to do this exercise prior to designing and building your own exhibition stand by attending any free public trade shows or exhibitions in your area. Take note of what you like in terms of design, how people make their products stand out, what attracts you to a stand, what makes you feel comfortable or uncomfortable and what you remember the most after the exhibition. These answers to these questions will help you to design an exhibition stand which will stand out amongst your competitors and make them envious!

Look at the stands around the trade show or conference centre that are attracting the most attention from the crowds. Try to work out why the exhibition stand is so popular. With new technology and different techniques, exhibition designers have very few limitations, so the variety of stand design, colours, shapes, and signage sizes is almost unlimited. When designing your own exhibition stand, use your imagination to go beyond the traditional “booth” design and you will soon see the crowds coming to your stand (instead of to your competitor’s).

Remember that a trade show is a good opportunity to complete marketing research that can help your company and business move into the future. Take note of what your direct and indirect competitors are offering at their exhibition stands, in terms of products, services, and marketing messages.

A trade show is also a great time to network with others in your industry, so take care not to offend anyone, or make it obvious you are sizing up the competition. Networking with other exhibitors can bring as many new leads for customers as you can get from the people who visit your stand during the trade show. As well as gathering ideas for market research, you can learn about industry standards.

A well-designed exhibition stand will ensure your stand is the one everyone looks at and compares your competition to throughout the trade show. Make time to look at, compare, and meet with the other exhibition stand owners to make the most of your trade show experience.

Serono Exhibition Stand

Trade Shows are not just about gaining sales leads. Many companies find that the benefits of networking with other exhibitors are as useful as the sales leads from potential customers attending the trade show. When you design and plan your exhibition stand at a trade show, you can plan for the opportunities to network as well as increasing your company’s brand awareness and recognition by potential customers.

Tip 1: Look at the List of Exhibitors
Before you even arrive at the exhibition, you will receive a list of exhibitors and a map of the trade show layout from the organiser. If you want to make the most of your networking opportunities at the trade show, take note of who the other exhibitors are. You may want to highlight some of the exhibitors that you especially want to meet at the show. Colour-code your exhibition map with different colours, for the people you already know and have relationships with, and those who want to know. You may want to create different marketing tools for each category of business.

Tip 2: Make Contact Before the Trade Show
You can make contact with other exhibitors before the trade show. Networking is about building genuine relationships with other people in the industry. Use the list of exhibitors and make an initial contact with as many people as possible before the trade show. This way, when you meet at the trade show, the exhibitors may remember your initial contact and will be more open to establishing an ongoing and mutually beneficial relationship with your business.

Tip 3: Arrive Early and Stay Late
Use every moment the organisers allow you to have at the trade show. Arrive as early as possible and set up your stand quickly. Then, you can spend some time networking with other exhibitors as they set up their stands. Stay late in the evening and chat with other exhibitors. Hire an exhibition company to set up and dismantle your stand for you – leaving yourself and your staff free to network even during the build.

Tip 4: Walk the Trade Show Too
Many exhibitors focus only on generating sales leads with the potential customers who are walking around the trade show. While this is an important feature of exhibiting at a trade show, you need to walk the trade show yourself too. This will help you to see how other exhibitors are marketing and promoting their products. You will get ideas from your competitors and other experts in the industry. You can visit each stand, exchange business cards, and chat with each exhibitor while the trade show is in process. You have the opportunity to explore the other exhibitions while staff members maintain a presence at your exhibition stand.

Tip 5: Explore Mutually Beneficial Relationships
Trade shows offer unique opportunities to meet with a diverse range of industry experts. For example, a wedding planner who attends a bridal expo as an exhibitor will want to talk to other exhibitors, such as celebrants, photographers, and reception managers, as these contacts will enable the wedding planner to plan a wedding for any couple. At any trade show, you will meet people in businesses that supply your business, use your product or service, or are your direct competition. It is possible that you could create a joint venture and offer your customers a complete package with other exhibitors at the trade show.

Tip 6: Follow Up After the Trade Show
The most important thing to do after attending any event where networking is part of the event is to follow up with the connections you make at the event. As well as following up with marketing or promotional tools with the sales leads your company generated through the exhibition stand, make sure you follow up with the other exhibitors too. Make personal contacts that show you paid attention during the networking chats at the trade show.

Using a trade show only to exhibit your company to attendees as potential customers is a waste of the opportunities available. Plan to meet and network with other exhibitors to make the most of your exhibition stand at the trade show.

'Integrate' Trade Show, August 2010

Organising an exhibition or trade show can be stressful but highly rewarding when everything comes together. As a trade show organiser, you create a marketplace for your exhibitors in which they can sell their product. Your product is the trade show itself and your customers are the exhibitors. Many of the articles written about trade shows advise exhibitors on how to get the most from their stand and show. What about the trade show organisers? How do you get your product noticed?

Outside the usual advertising and pre-show marketing, here are some ideas to make your show a more tempting prospect for your exhibitors:
Organise awards for best stands, best new product display, most innovative new product etc. If possible, arrange for a guest judge. It would be great to get someone who is influential in the industry or even someone famous who can generate media interest. You could even let your exhibitors vote on a specific category and make it part of your exhibitor pack. Let the show’s visitors vote so you can find out what works for them. This information would be useful to future exhibitors too, you could use it as a selling point for future shows.

Offer incentives for your exhibitors to come back next year. Early bookings for space should have a cost reduction. Maybe even take a tip from the big chain supermarkets and stores by starting up a rewards program. The more years your exhibitors stay with you, the more offers they are entitled to. You could offer upgrade packages to loyal clients. This will make them less likely to stray to new or different shows. Talk to your exhibition provider and come up with a special package which could include basic lighting, flooring and signage at a set price.

Charge an entry fee. This one really depends on the type of business you are involved in. There are pros and cons so you will need to research before putting it in place but it could be beneficial to your exhibitors by reducing the number of people ‘just looking’ and targeting the real hot prospects. The funds raised by the entry fee can then be used towards awards and better incentives for your exhibitors.

Use the best resource you have to your own advantage. Your customers! Ask them directly what they want. Put a questionnaire in with your exhibitor pack and get feedback on what improvements could be made in future shows and ask what incentives would make the exhibitors book space again. Get ideas from your exhibitors for show marketing. Who would they target? Who would they like to see visit the show? Are there any new or emerging target audience members?
Also take on board their dislikes. Have a section in your questionnaire where exhibitors can bring up any issues they may have and ask for their suggestions. You may as well use the best resource you have toi its full potential!

Here are some things you can do using social media to attract and inform your potential customers;

1. Create a ‘Facebook’ page for your business then email your customers or prospective customers and invite them to become a ‘fan’. You can then post updates directly on to your page and reach several people at once. You could even post some kind of special offer to be claimed at the show if people sign up as ‘fans’.
2. Open a ‘Twitter’ account and again invite your prospects to follow you, You can keep people updated with the lead up to the show and even “Twitter” during the show so that people who may not be able to attend will still be able to keep up with any exciting new product releases or special events.
3. Start a company ‘blog’. It’s all about keeping your customers in the loop and providing information. With a blog site you can educate your customers a bit more as to who you are and what you can offer. You can write brief but detailed articles on individual products and provide clients with a link direct to the product which interests them.
4. Leave comment on other blog sites and articles which are aligned with your company or product in some way. You may be able to use the platform of a larger, more well-known company to plug a new product release or event. Be careful not to blatantly advertise though – it has to be of general interest to readers of the blog.
5. Film some product demonstrations or staff interviews explaining your product or service. You can use AV equipment on your stand to play these back. You can also upload the video to ‘You Tube’, post it on your blog site,  your ‘Facebook’ page and your own company web-site. Maybe take some video at the show itself.

Using Audio/Visual Equipment
In order to keep a competitive edge, you need to be up on all of the latest technology, and know how to take advantage of it at trade shows. A great audio/visual display will definitely bring in plenty of potential customers to your display, because they will want to see what is going on. You have loads of options when it comes to audio/video displays, including:

• Powerpoint slide shows on a screen
• DVD’s played on big screen televisions
• Films

By using an exhibition rental company, you can get all of your audio/visual needs included in your trade show display package.

Signage
Just like your store front, you need great signage to attract potential customers to your trade show display. Many small business owners who can’t afford such luxuries, you can still have wonderful signage created by your exhibition hire experts. Not only do they provide great trade show furnishings, they also have graphic designers who can take care of all of your signage requirements.

Display
If your customers cannot see your product, why should they purchase from you? Talk with the exhibition design company experts to come up with a display plan that will definitely attract customers to the stand. You can use eye-catching devices such as a pop-up display stand, a rotating display stand, or shelving that puts your product right at eye level as people wander around the trade show.

There are all kinds of things you can do to create an effective, eye-catching trade show display that people will want to visit. To get the most out of your trade show experience, you should take advantage of the services offered by exhibition hire experts. They know exactly what it takes to create the best trade show displays, and how to do it within your budget.

1) Bring lots of literature with you. As you are working your display, you can hand out brochures, pamphlets and other items to passersby, introducing yourself and your business as you do so. This way, you can talk to people about your business and product/service, and show them what you are all about. They will have been able to speak to you personally, and ask any questions they may have, and they will also have the literature to take home with them. They may even holler over to their friends, and get them to come and listen to your pitch.

2) Leave your display as often as possible, and take your literature with you. Approach visitors and other displays, introduce yourself, and let them know what you are doing at the trade show or exhibition. Talk with people, and find out their needs. Then, find a way to let them know how they can benefit from your product or service, and tell them where to find your display. More often than not, they will stop by and visit to learn more.

3) Walk around without literature too. Visit other trade show displays, and talk with the staff and management at the various booths. Get to know them, and their products and services. Talk to them about possible ways to do business together to increase profits for all of you, or how you can combine promotions to save money on advertising. Basically, you want to get out there and work the room!

4) If you have staff at your trade show display, make sure they get out and network themselves. They may be able to better target specific market groups. For instance, if you are selling a product that is aimed toward teenagers, you should have one of your younger employees (or a friend or family member) talk to people about the product. Or, if you own an antique furniture restoration business, have one of your carpenters talk to people about the processes involved. This is a great form of networking, and you don’t even have to do anything yourself.

5) You can even start your networking before the trade show begins. If you use social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, you can put out the message to everyone that you will be at the trade show. Have online chats with other business owners who are planning to attend as well, and talk with them about your individual strategies. This is a great way to get advice before the trade show, especially if this is your first.

When you are attending trade shows, you have the opportunity to network with possibly hundreds, even thousands of people in just a few days, and you need to take advantage of this opportunity. This is one of the best ways that you can advertise for a relatively low price, and be able to reach a mass audience in one small place.

Sanofi - Exhibition Stand, Dec 2009

Over time, trade shows have become a leading way to conduct business-to-business marketing with higher numbers of businesses attending shows each year. Offering a venue unlike no other, trade shows cater to the needs of many business owners. However, for a sales campaign to be effective and profitable at a trade show, you must first have a fail proof marketing strategy.

Know the Numbers
According to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR),
• 88% of attendees have not been seen by a member of your company’s sales staff in the preceding 12 months;
• 7 out of 10 attendees plan to buy one or more products;
• 76% asked for quotes and 26% signed purchase orders (average all shows);
• 72% of show visitors say the show influenced their buying decision;
• 87% of attendees will share some of the information obtained at an exhibition;
• 64% of attendees tell at least 6 other people about the event;
• 58% attend only the show in which you are exhibiting;
• 40% are first-time attendees; and
• It costs 22% less to contact a potential buyer at a show than it does through traditional field sales calls.

Trade shows are a win-win situation; however, exhibiting at a trade show can require lots of hard work and preparation. Without a proper marketing strategy, all of your hard work could go down the drain. Effectively plan your time at the show and you can ensure residual success long after the show is over. Cover all the bases with a full-scale three step marketing strategy, which consists of before, during, and after show marketing.

Before – Pre-Show Marketing
Marketing before the trade show is all about getting the word out that
(a) you are attending the show,
(b) where your booth will be located, and
(c) what your incentives are for people visiting your exhibition stand.

Advertise your incentives. This will make current and or potential customers seek you out once they arrive at the show but do not forget to include your booth location. If your customers cannot find you, it will not matter how good your incentives are. The best way to gain attention and guarantee people will show up at your booth is to offer discounts, issue coupons, and advertise drawings and or giveaways. In today’s economy, everyone is looking to save money.

Examples of incentives include a certain percentage for example 20% off on a certain day or a higher percentage off for a certain number of hours or for the first 100 orders placed. Coupons work much the same way as discounts; be creative, it is all about driving traffic to your booth. Free giveaways are always an attractant such as free t-shirts, hats or perhaps a drawing for a free briefcase or weekend vacation. The possibilities are limitless.

During – Marketing at the Show
Marketing at the show is all about your booth. Your booth should be designed in a way that it is irresistible drawing people in for a closer look. The most effective way to have a dazzling booth is to appeal to the senses using proper lighting, color combinations, motion techniques, sound, and smell. Pay close attention to the detail of smell for your booth. Even though the trade show floor may be crowded and not everyone can see your booth, with tempting aromas emanating from your booth, they will follow their nose and find you.

In addition, take time to properly train attending staff prior to the show and make sure they show up properly dressed. Nothing looks worse than someone who does not know what he or she is doing, what he or she is talking about, or who looks unprofessional. Your product may be great, your booth may look great, but the wrong impression could kill a potential sale.

After – Post Show Marketing
The show is over, now what? You must remember to keep marketing your business even after the show is complete. Following up with contacts gathered at the show is crucial for continued sales. You received their contact information because they were interested in your products and or services. After the show is over, make sure to follow up with these people. It is best to wait approximately one week after the show is over and begin calling those people back, which will likely result in additional sales.

Marketing your business at a trade show or exhibition can be a terrific step in building your business. Plan your three point marketing strategy with care to ensure your success at the trade show.

It can take a lot of work to create the right image of your product, but speaking to an expert in the exhibition design industry can help you to come up with a theme for your stand and marketing products.

An exhibition stand typically consists of a presentation podium, back ground exhibit and usually some furniture. Many exhibition stands often have accessories like lighting and self-serve brochure holders built on to them. You can furnish your exhibition stand with audio-visual features such as interactive touch screens, high impact graphics, and plasma screens showing visual scenes that will peak visitor curiosity.

The pop-up exhibition stand is the cost efficient, lightest weight and is the easiest to assemble making them the most popular of all types. There are a lot portable display stands available, including banners and stands, table top display, pop up display, and pull-up banners.

There are different and large ranges of things to consider for the design of a trade show exhibition stand. The exhibition stand should instantly deliver and update a targeted message to the viewer. The graphics, banners and the text should be straight forward and attention grabbing. The displays should highlight the main benefits a customer would enjoy by purchasing your product. Everything should be accented with smart lightning and layout. Match the colour scheme to the marketing theme you have selected.

The exhibition designers must understand the maintenance and importance of exhibition design. The designer must remember that art work is only a tool of portraying products but not for the purpose of exhibition. Exhibition design is coupled with many factors such as outreach planes, exhibits, colour, charts, layout, and lighting. The design of a good exhibition is always the integration of all these factors.

The exhibition must have a specific theme to leave a long lasting impression on the viewers and to give desired message. The exhibition booth should be designed from viewer’s perspective, target viewers taste; response should be researched before selecting the booth design. A professional and certified booth designer can guide to plan an attracting booth design.

The products and finishes of the exhibition booth should be carefully accomplished as it reflects the brand value and business identity of the exhibiting company. The booth design can be made more attractive by incorporating audiovisual features such as interactive touch screens, attractive lighting, high impact graphics and plasma screen in the exhibition booth design. Creative discipline in the interior design, architecture and product development of the exhibition booth is a must check.

By taking time to plan, exhibition design can be made appealing and attractive. You can dramatically improve the business by marketing effectively at a trade show using a themed, well designed exhibition stand and complete marketing strategy.