Recently updated on September 11th, 2024
Trade Show Booth Success Tips
Overseeing trade show logistics can feel like juggling. Worries about unions, drayage folks mishandling crates, and electronics not syncing up can cause sleepless nights. To avoid these concerns, use this Pre Trade Show Checklist. It will help ensure everything goes smoothly at your show. Trade show professionals often work late at the headquarters hotel with clipboards, while others relax before opening day. The responsibility of managing a trade show is enormous. For those who do only one show a year, maximizing presence is crucial.
Following a pre-trade show checklist from the start can be a game-changer. While it won’t guarantee a glitch-free event, a solid checklist can keep you organized and prepared, helping you relax and enjoy the experience. This checklist will put you in control, impress attendees, and generate leads. Each of these 12 tips has been tested by trade show professionals. You can adapt them to fit your personal or corporate style, showcasing your brand’s glory. Ready to find out how it feels to excel in the big leagues? Start with this checklist and make your trade show a success.
Why Preparation is Key
Preparation is essential for a successful trade show. It helps you avoid last-minute problems and ensures smooth execution. When you plan ahead, you can address issues before they arise, saving time, money, and stress. Being prepared also lets you focus on connecting with attendees instead of worrying about logistics.
Experts agree that planning is key. A study by Exhibit Surveys Inc. shows companies that plan see a 45% rise in qualified leads. The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) found that those who plan are 68% more likely to meet their goals. Trade show expert Marlys Arnold says, “Preparation creates opportunities.” Thorough planning can turn an average show into a great success.
Tip #1: Personally Invite Your Best Customers to the Show and Reward Them for Showing Up Too.
Don’t overlook your current customers by focusing only on new ones. Show them they matter by sending personal invites to your next trade show. This small gesture can strengthen your relationship.
At the booth, make them feel special by designating them as “special attendees.” Offer them show bags with useful items like water, breath mints, tissues, lip balm, candy, and aspirin.
This extra effort builds loyalty, shows you value their business, and sends the message that you want to keep working with them in the future.
Tip #2: Don’t wait until the last minute to sort out details.
Waiting until the last minute to reserve booth space means missing out on prime spots. Others have already secured the best locations.
The same goes for checking your booth setup, booking a hospitality suite, and arranging drayage services. Also, make sure to reserve hotel rooms early, so your team isn’t staying far from the event.
Lastly, distribute and bring your pre-show checklist. This keeps everyone on track from start to finish.
Tip #3: Hold a pre-opening onsite meeting at the venue to get everyone motivated.
Coaches motivate players before a game, and entertainers have rituals to boost performance. It takes little effort to energize your trade show team before the event begins.
After setup is done and the booth is ready, take a moment to recognize everyone’s efforts. Acknowledge both the setup crew and those staffing the booth during the show.
Provide snacks, pizza, or treats as you give a quick pep talk. This can lift spirits and motivate the team. Remember, trade show prep can be so busy that people often forget to eat!
Tip #4: Make the first impression that counts.
You don’t have to be a mathematics whiz to realize that first impressions count. Behavioral scientists say that it takes 1/5th of a second for a person to get an impression of your booth presence and guess what stuck in their minds? How the booth is designed and laid out.
Ever wonder a show and see a booth in such disarray, the last thing you want to do is enter to find you what they’re selling? It happens more often than you may imagine.
You can’t do a thing about landing next to an exhibitor with a booth that stops traffic, either, but you can make sure that your space is neat, inviting, brand-representative, and a gateway to staffers who have obviously put out a welcome mat.
Tip #5: Rely upon signage and graphics to be a silent salesman on your behalf.
Most trade show signage regulations give exhibitors leeway to staff their booths with as many signs as they can cram into space.
But too many signs in a too small a space—-even if those signs are beautifully designed—-could confuse attendees or turn off people strolling the aisles because their visceral response to clutter is to avoid it.
On the other hand, there are myriad ways to use signage to your advantage by making sure your installs are visible from all directions, sending clear and compelling messages, matching the booth’s design, and employ graphics that are as eye-catching as they are appropriate.
Tip #6: Liven up the show in your booth.
Can you make your product “interactive”? This means creating an experience that engages people on the show floor.
Get attendees into your booth by involving them intellectually or physically. If they enjoy themselves, they’ll stay longer. The more fun they have, the more curious others will become about your booth, even if it means waiting in line.
If you can bring touch-screen kiosks with quizzes or games related to your product, you could draw a crowd. This interest will attract even more attendees to see what’s going on.
Tip #7: Give away trade show premiums people want.
In 2018, these items were the most coveted, according to Business.com: Magnification reading glasses, cell phone fans, solar phone chargers, reusable, folding water bottles, rainbow sun catchers, lip balm, fidget spinners, and branded food.
According to a “New York Times” business section article, “including promotional products when conducting outreach to prospective customers can increase response rate by up to 17 percent.”
By 2019, these were the must-haves for any trade show attendee: Personalized notebooks, portable chargers, pop sockets, phone wallets, bottle and can sleeves, audio devices, and custom t-shirts. What do all of these have in common?
The answer is: Every item on your list should have your logo splashed all over it!
Tip #8: Discover the magic of lead sharing.
If the very idea of giving away your marketing hit list makes you break out in hives, think about “the good old days” when co-op advertising was not only a good deal, but partners saved money by sharing the cost of media buys.
Fast forward to 2019. Can you look across the aisle and find at least one company that’s not in competition with yours? There’s a good chance you will spot more than one.
They’re at the show selling and promoting something that you’re not, so what can you lose if you trade leads and contact information? Not only can you boost your lead numbers, but by the time the show ends, you’ll have made valuable professional contacts, too.
Tip #9: It doesn’t have to be all about you.
If your company is already altruistic and you show it by promoting charitable giving and sponsorships, why not take your philanthropy on the road? Showing trade show attendees that you care about more than the company’s bottom line makes your company look generous and caring.
If your company already supports a charitable cause (one that would be recognized by show attendees), you can arrange a modest fund-raising effort or just promote the cause itself. Get as creative as you like.
A good example of this was described in a recent “Huffington Post” article which shows visitors could try lugging “two 40-pound jugs of water across a 50-yard platform” to experience what third-world villagers go through to retrieve river water located miles away.
Tip #10: Follow up on the leads you generated promptly.
After showcasing your products and services, attracting visitors, and being as welcoming as possible, your job isn’t done yet. Once you return from the show, it’s time to contact your leads.
Reach out while the event is still fresh in attendees’ minds. They’re likely thinking about the show as they organize the items they collected. This is especially important if you were testing a new concept and need feedback.
While you’re busy calculating ROI based on your goals, don’t delay follow-ups. Waiting too long can weaken the connection you worked hard to build.
Tip #11: Don’t be afraid to steal everything that isn’t nailed down!
Ideas are like butterflies: they land on everyone’s shoulders but the possibilities they bring with them are ultimately determined by the beholder. Before the show closes down for the season, take a good hard look at what’s been going on everywhere in the exhibit hall.
Check out furnishings, layout, and electronics to get ideas for your company’s future trade show participation. Borrow clever ideas—whether they come from your competitors or from a company that has nothing to do with your industry. Use your electronic device to snap photos of things and ideas you’d like to explore down the road.
Some of the best ideas can be gleaned from companies who know how to treat their sales force like royalty by holding competitions, contests, and games that add an element of fun that pays off with incentives. Trade shows are great venues for snagging ideas.
Tip #12: Always hold a post-mortem as soon as you return to home base.
Also, following up on leads too quickly, you need to sit down with everyone on the team who was involved in the trade show. Go around the room and ask about the good, the bad, and the ugly, and log in all comments so you have a road map for the following year and upcoming trade shows.
If the booth proves too small to conduct business, the headquarters hotel won’t win any prizes for service, and traffic walking past your booth is heavier than usual, this is no time to be shy about perceived flaws in everything from your game plan to your promotions, signage, and outcomes.
One of the best ways to wrap your post-mortem is to take out that pre-trade show checklist to figure out what you left off, what you did that was a waste of time, money, and energy, and how you’ll apply lessons learned next time around. As long as you follow the process in your pre-trade show checklist, you will be able to ensure that your event runs smoothly. Make sure to integrate your pre-trade show checklist for every event you attend, this will help with building good habits and create better conversions.
