Tradeshow Season is upon us – make sure you do it right!

New year, new tradeshow season.  I’ve been doing tradeshows all my life.  I’ve lost count as to how many I’ve attended or was an exhibitor. 

I hate it when I’m at a tradeshow and I see a person or a company doing it all wrong! 

If you do it right, your ROI (I know, I’m sick of this term too, but it’s effective) for your shows may be off the charts.  If you don’t do it right, your ROI is crap.

Let me help you – please.

Here’s Jeff’s words of wisdom when it comes to tradeshows.  I’m going to break this up into a few parts, because there’s a lot to it;

Part 1.

1.      Target your message;

Make sure your message is relevant to the show you’re attending.  Know your crowd and convey your message to that group.  For example, if you are at a show that attracts millennials, incorporate messages that are meaningful to them – transparency, social impact and assurances based on their goals. 

2.      Have good visuals;

When attendees walk in to a show, they are hit with tons of information from the very get go.  All of the exhibitors are vying for their attention, all at the same time. 

The visuals you choose to display will determine how quickly and how much you will stand out.

So, choose your colors, images and have your booth energy set up in a way that will attract the people you want to visit your booth.

3.      Booth Experience;

You need to ensure that you have a plan going into your tradeshow.  You need to ensure that you are providing or offering a positive booth experience to your visitors.  People just scanning name tags or giving out SWAG and a card is not a positive experience.  People won’t come back if they are not engaged. 

Offer something of interest.  Have something fun in your booth to draw a crowd.  You want to make sure that they come in from the aisles to check out your booth.  Some ideas for that would be; magicians, games/prizes, massage therapists, great SWAG (I know someone who can help you with this part)