How to Get the Most out of Exhibitions
May 31, 2010 Categories: furniture
Exhibitions are one of the most powerful, versatile and costeffective tools available. To get the most out of them, check out our top tips on effective exhibiting, covering everything from setting objectives and designing your stand, to following up and measuring effectiveness.
A strategic marketing tool – Exhibitions, like advertising, direct mail, PR and direct selling, are a strategic income and marketing tool. They should be used as part of an overall marketing strategy, not in isolation.
Consider the benefits – To make the most of your participation, you need to comprehend exactly what benefits exhibitions offer:
Highly targeted – With their carefully focused profiles, and highly targeted audiences, exhibitions grant you to direct your income and marketing effort accurately and cost-effectively, with minimum wastage.
The buyer comes to you – Exhibition visitors are pro-active buyers. They make a conscious decision to attend, and set aside valuable time to do so. Many are specifiers and influencers who it might otherwise be impossible to identify.
3D income & promotion – Nothing beats the impact of a live demonstration. At an exhibition, buyers can see, taste, touch and try your product for themselves.
Face to grappling contact – The most persuasive form of selling, and of building customer relationships.
Neutral income environment – The buyer feels under no great pressure to buy, while the seller is not intimidated by visiting the buyer on his home territory.
Fast market penetration – You can reach a massive proportion of the market in a short space of time, achieving more in four days thankyou might otherwise achieve in months.
A powerful combination – Exhibitions combine the mass reach of advertising, the targeting of direct mail, the persuasive power of face-to-face selling, and the networking benefits of the Internet, to create a one-of-a-kind environment in which a wide range of income and marketing objectives can be pursued, either singly, or side by side.
Prepare Some Preliminary Costings – Costs vary enormously depending on the type of presence you want to have. A shell stand/pipe and drape can cost you less than a page of trade press advertising, but you will need to spend at least the same amount again on equipping, manning and promoting the stand.
Be Realistic About Your Expectations – Exhibitions generate millions of dollars worth of business apiece year but it is uncommon for exhibitors to do so during the event. For most companies, the orders will come in the weeks and months after the show. You must be prepared to oppose your leads vigorously, and to track them on an on-going basis, so that they can trace as many income as doable back to source.
Exhibitions Require Time and Effort – Don’t underestimate the amount of planning and preparation required to exhibit successfully. Effective planning and followup can mean the difference between a bad show experience and a good one. But it can also mean the difference between a good show, and a truly exceptional one.
Maximise the opportunity – Exhibitions are suitable for a wide range of specific income and marketing goals, of which the most widely used are:
Generating income leads – Reach massive numbers of buyers in just a few days, and maximise income impact through product display and demonstration. Exhibition enquiries have an excellent conversion rate when followed up after the show.
Launching a new product or service – Stands featuring new products are a major attraction for buyers and the media, the vast majority of whom attend exhibitions ‘to see what’s new’.
Penetrating a new market – Exhibiting is one of the quickest and most cost-effective means of exploring and entering a new market, providing mass exposure and an instant database of eligible income prospects.
Building customer loyalty – Regular contact with customer’s shows that you care and exhibitions are an extremely time and cost-efficient means of keeping in touch.
Positioning/repositioning a company/brand – Exhibitions can be used to swiftly establish a new indistinguishability or change market perceptions about a company and its capabilities.
Market research – Exhibitions bring together a complete crosssection of a market, making them saint for customer research and offering instant feedback.
Building media relations – Exhibitions offer a rare opportunity to meet and influence the press ‘en masse’ and to generate coverage on new products or services, and or company developments.
Recruiting new agents or distributors – Agents and distributors use trade exhibitions to find new companies to represent. If you are looking for new representatives, be sure to highlight the fact in your catalogue entry, and on the stand.
Obtaining competitive intelligence – Exhibitions are an excellent place to notice competitors and assess their products and marketing messages.
Set clear objectives – Choose the exhibition to suit your objectives, and not the other way around. It might sound obvious, but companies have been known to book into events that can’t deliver their target audience in sufficient numbers to make their presence worthwhile.
Be consistent – Exhibition objectives should be consistent with your company’s wider marketing strategies/goals. This way, advertising, PR, direct mail individualized selling and exhibition activities are working to reinforce apiece other, rather than in isolation.
Set achievable targets – Nothing is more likely to demotivate staff than goals they can’t possibly achieve, whereas realistic targets when accomplished are a real stimulus to effort.
Prioritise your objectives – If you have more than one objective, rank them in order of priority so you are clear where your greatest efforts should be directed. Don’t try to do too much, or your resources will be stretched and your participation will demand focus.
Communicate your objectives – Objectives, having been established must be communicated to the entire exhibition team, so that everyone pulls together and shares a common sense of purpose.
Appoint an exhibition co-ordinator – Put one mortal in charge of the project with overall responsibility for planning, budgeting, stand management etc – someone with dominance who can see the project successfully through to its conclusion.
Appoint a reputable stand designer – Draw up a shortlist of suppliers and place the job out to tender. Insist on seeing a portfolio of apiece company’s work. Speak to previous clients and ensure they are capable of working on time and within budget.
Set measurable objectives – Set achievable targets against which to measure your success. If generating income leads, for example, base your target around your potential audience, number of stand staff and total number of opening hours.
Read the manual – Read your exhibitor’s manual carefully, as soon as you receive it, paying particular attention to stand rules and regulations, and noting the deadline dates for returning order forms. Late orders and last-minute changes might incur a surcharge.
Confirm your exhibits – Give your product managers plenty of warning, to ensure products are acquirable and in a suitable condition for display. If exhibiting working equipment, remember to organise spares in case of breakdown
Publicise your presence – Prepare your press release(s) and catalogue entry and submit them by the deadline date. Mail out invitations to your prospects, giving them an incentive to visit your stand. Event web sites offer many publicity opportunities – check out your options.
Check out stand packages – Many organisers offer ‘stand packages’ comprising space, modular stand/pipe and drape, furniture, lighting etc for an all-in price. Promotional packages are also commonly available. They are an excellent aid to budgeting and cost control, and can save much administrative time and effort.
Co-ordinate media activities – Maximise your promotional budget by coordinating your exhibition promotions with other media activities. Drop a flash on your trade adverts saying ‘see us on stand XXX’, include invitations in direct mail, and publicise your participation in customer newsletters and on your web site.
Prepare a detailed budget – Expect all likely items of expenditure before committing money, prepare a detailed budget breakdown, keep a close eye on expenditure, and a central record of all buy orders and invoices.
Select and brief stand staff- Choose staff primeval to ensure availability and grant sufficient time for training. Draw up a duty roster and ensure all staff are fully briefed on the stand exhibits, their role, and the company’ objectives.
Devise an efficient system for handling enquiries – The way you capture and remember visitor information at show will determine the speed and efficiency with which you can follow up leads. Devise an ‘enquiry form’ for use by stand staff on which vital visitor details can be swiftly recorded (e.g. products of interest, purchasing authority, date of intended buy etc)
Draw up a timetable of key
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