How to exhibit

4 Killer Questions You Must Include in Your Exhibition Plan

So you have worked closely with your contractor to design a stand with displays that reflect your company and your goal. Even if you already know the venue and the show, the businesses that win at exhibitions in London, Dubai, Frankfurt… or any other venue… are the ones that nail these questions. With a great exhibition plan, you can achieve exhibition success.

  • How are you going to build the stand on time and on budget?
  • How are you going to get your potential customers to attend the show and visit your stand?
  • How are your onsite team going to engage with your potential customers?
  • How will you measure your success?

Superficial answers are easy. You need to drill down into the detail to be sure you have everything covered.

Get your exhibition stand right

It will be important that moving forward you work closely with your contractor. Ask them for a list of key deadlines that need to be met in order to ensure a smooth sailing. Stand build and preparation does take time and falling short of these deadlines will put added pressure on you and your team and may result in compromises having to be made.

Artwork is a particular sticking point- so be sure to have this finalised as quickly as possible. Onsite contractors will often put surcharges in place for orders placed within a month of the show. To avoid these, order electrics/internet etc as soon as you can. These unnecessary additional charges can put budgets under pressure. Be sure that you and your contractor work closely with the organisers and ensure the industry’s Health and Safety rules set out in the eGuide are being adhered to.

Get the visitors to the exhibition

We are always surprised by the number of exhibitors who forget to let their potential customers know that they will be attending a show. People often assume that it is solely up to the organisers to fill the exhibition hall with suitable visitors. It is your responsibility too! You know who your potential customers are so use this opportunity to engage with them and give them a reason to take the time to visit you at the show. Make the most of the show’s PR and advertising, use social media and adopt the show’s hashtags, email your existing clients or send out direct mail. Piggyback on the organisers’ efforts to get maximum exposure before, during and after the show.

Get your team ready to win

Think about the staff you have running the stand. Do they all understand your goals? Have you briefed them on the needs of your potential customers? Are they the best people to be on the stand? Will your customers and prospects want to “talk technical” or “talk sales”? Also think about your primary goal – if customers want to talk about technology but you want to generate sales, what process will you adopt to manage that? Ensure your team are equipped with all the information that visitors may ask of them, such as stock levels, lead times, product specs, opportunities for quantity discounts etc. Your team are the face of the company at these events so ensure they are well presented, well prepared and looked after during the event. Book them into a nice hotel, provide them with suitable training and ensure they are supported throughout the process.

Measure, act, measure again

How you measure the success of an exhibition is unique to every exhibitor but in all cases should be based around goals and objectives. To what extent did you achieve your goals? How can you prove if your investment was a well-judged one? If an event was a great success what can you attribute that to- what elements should you replicate or improve on at the next event? You should remember to look outside the show itself. How did your website perform, did you get more sign ups for your mailings, did your social media accounts become more active? Review the tactics your competitors were using and see which ones you can adopt at your next show.