Trade shows generate a lot of business – billions of dollars each year, and there is nothing better at driving prospective customers to your sales and marketing team better than a trade show. Prospects are usually much further down the sales decision making process which means that you have an opportunity to acquire new business faster and with a lower overall investment of your marketing and sales budget. The Return on Investment (ROI) for trade show sales is typically very high compared to other sales channels.

Trade show displays are a key element in attracting attendees, but this is only a part of the solution for maximizing the benefit to be gained from exhibiting at trade shows. There is also a great deal of work to be done before the trade show in terms of promoting your attendance in the first instance. As soon as you have committed to attending the trade show, you ought to be working on promoting your attendance – this is newsworthy in itself so look at mailing and contacting existing customer and prospect lists. Identify attendees and fellow exhibitors who may offer you business opportunities, you already have a degree of commonality in that you are all going to be at the trade show together (contact trade show management for contact information).

You also need to pay considerable attention to the overall design of your trade show display – for this it is a good idea to look at what other companies are doing with a view to seeing what works and what doesn’t. Check in with your trade show partner who is supplying you with the display and accessories because they will have a wealth of experience in terms of what is selling well at that moment in time – the trade show industry is very sensitive in terms of fashion and trends.

Giveaways are a trade show staple which should never be underestimated or taken for granted. Use them wisely and have several levels of promotional gift – cheap gifts are for all and sundry, but depending on how much interaction takes place with the attendee, you can reward this behavior with an appropriately better gift. Trade show promotional gifts should be something which will ensure your name and contact information are kept in front of the attendee for as long and as frequently as possible – mugs, slide rules, mouse mats, calendars, pens, desk toys and the like are all great candidates. Again, check with your trade show supplier for information and advice on what’s hot and what’s not – this is again a very trendy activity and promotional gifts change frequently so keep a weather eye on your supplier’s inventory to see what is coming in.

Finally, there are the people you place on the stand on the day of the show. Obviously there will be your own staff to meet and greet, and more relevant, discuss business. There are also promotional staff – booth babes, musicians, magicians, artists, comedians – these are the people who will help bring in the crowds and keep them hanging around the store, which means more opportunity for you to talk business.

Author Bio: Rena Patton is the president of ExhibitWholesale, a leading provider of trade show displays and accessories such as pop-up displays and banner stands. ExhibitWholesale can be found online at: ExhibitWholesale.com .

Category: Marketing
Keywords: trade show hints, trade shows, trade show, about trade shows, trade show promotional ideas