As a broad rule the larger the show the harder it becomes to find what you particularly with shell scheme stands when on a budget.   Many organisers do a great job in colour-coding zones or areas, which helps but you as the exhibitor are not entirely helpless. When is the last time you thought about how else you could brand yourselves at the event to reinforce your presence?  Did you just restrict yourself to a banner or sponsoring the carrier-bags or the ‘You-are-here’ boards?As organisers compete to add value there are a whole range of possibilities that are available for branding and sponsorship – not all may be suitable but no doubt some will suit you perfectly.
Consider the following:

Accommodation Plans – Aisle Ways – Awards – Badges – Balloons – Banners – Barriers – Car Parking – Carrier Bags -Catalogues –  Catering – Catwalks – Cloakrooms –  Coaches/Buses – Coffee Areas – Conference Sessions – Crèche –  Cups – Data Collection/Capture – Delegate Folders – Demo Areas – Entertainment –  Event Parties – Exhibitor Lounges – Exhibitor Manual – Fashion Shows – Floor Plans – Floor Tiles – Freebies – Guides (what’s on etc.) – Light Pens –  Lists –  Lounges (VIP/ Press) – Menus/ Meals  - PR –   Press Office – Preview Days  - Seating Areas – Services (Phones etc.) – Signage –   Toilets – Venue Posters – VIP Tickets/ Passes - WWW/ wifi  - You are Here boards
The list is not exhaustive but the possibilities are endless – limited only by your imagination and the health and safety police!A good tip is to visualise the target visitor on his or her travels through the event.  Are they arriving by car and will parking be an issue for them? They may need to deposit their coat or bags and then get a coffee before looking for a seating area to plan their route.  They may need to use the toilets and at some point probably will stop for a snack.  If they have other interests you can predict those too and identify their possible stopping routes where they can see your name, logo and even a reminder of your stand number.  The calculation on spend should be easy to do.  Calculate the value of a new client and your conversion rate – if the organiser hasn’t offered a branding opportunity it may be they haven’t thought of it so make them an offer. Most of the opportunities mentioned above are not set in stone so be prepared to negotiate – it may be you have something like a membership list or client data that they would also consider as a viable trade. Remember that research shows that repeated exposure (6-7 times) is often necessary to drive home your message and build your client base.

The problem with exhibiting generally is that doing it well is not as easy as it looks. A friend of mine once said “its common sense but not common practice”! The other drawback when considering whether to attend an exhibitor day is the fact that you don’t know what you don’t know. Repeatedly I find that the exhibitors who attend these How To days are usually the ones who are pretty good anyway. It’s the ones who never attend that would so desperately benefit from them.
For those unfamiliar with them, they are usually called Exhibitor Days or Exhibitor Seminars and the overall objective is to help exhibitors understand more about the show in question and then how to maximise your participation at said event. They are offered by most good organisers, many independents, industry trade bodies and – well me! Having worked in this industry for approaching 25 years it still impresses me how you can attend any show (trade or consumer) and see two exhibitors (often direct competitors selling similar products), separated by no more than two metres of carpet and see one stand very empty and quiet whilst the other bristling with customers and selling like crazy. The fact is they both paid the same amount of money to be there. One will return having had a great show the other write it off as a waste of money and time.
The agenda should address the actions and thoughts you should have before during and after the event. Some will also update you with the latest marketing, the PR opportunities that exist and how you can further improve your profile in advance of the event. Spending an extra £100 on a more exotic floral display will not guarantee increased revenues whereas time spent inviting the right visitors to your stand will. The biggest mistake exhibitors make is to rely completely on the organisers. You can do your bit and attract and invite your potential clients. Some exhibitors are reluctant to invite their key prospects in case they meet their competitors at the show. Well the facts are that in all likelihood your key prospects will visit the event anyway. I suggest that it is far better for them to attend with an invitation from you than to come armed with one from your competitor. Often there will be advice about types of stands and how to dress and build your stand. Whilst it may be dreaded, they will typically stress the need to read your exhibitor manual full of tips and advice and ways to save money on everything from electrics to furniture and passes, tickets and other good stuff. Dull as you like but crucial to maximise your attendance. It is then common to understand the behaviours that encourage visitor interaction and those that repel them. Yes common sense stuff but the stuff that makes a genuine difference to how busy you are and how successful you will be. A figure is bandied around the trade that suggests that 85% of your success is down to your people on the days of the event. Finally post event actions that will help deliver a better return on your investment. Sounds like good stuff? It is!

Organisers are simple creatures. In the main they love what they do but they love making money even more. They will sell you whatever you want at whatever price you can manage. Not an indictment just a truism. They also want you to be happy because if you are satisfied you will re-book and ergo more money. They also like visitors – lots of them – and of the right demographic make up. So that’s them. Now what about you – the exhibitor?
You are more complex. In the main you love what you do and you like financial reward. You will exhibit if you know you will get a decent return on your investment. You also know you need visitors again of the right demographic and quantity. So . . . it appears we have some common ground. So how can we work better with them in order for everyone to benefit?
Well as the expert in your market, you will know whom you wish to target. Ensure the organiser is hitting those targets and if not suggest media, lists or other ways of accessing that stream of potential visitors. You may have a membership list, customer database or belong to some association who can access them. Organisers will be only too happy to mail that list on your behalf – often by personalised mailings. Do you have any innovative products or services that lend themselves to demonstration or are they impressive enough to be a crowd puller in their own right? Organisers are constantly on the look out for crowd pullers and pleasers. Could your product become a feature are within their event? In exchange you get the publicity and possibly a sampling opportunity or a data base share. Can your products be used as a prize – a grand draw or competition that will give you huge publicity for the price of a single unit?  Think about your ‘little black book’ of contacts. Do you know a celebrity or member of royalty or parliament or any other notorious figure who could open your exhibit or launch your product at the show? Work with the organiser to see how you can benefit from pre-show publicity and on going kudos throughout the event.  Is there anyone in your organisation who is a recognised authority or name in your field who will speak and present at the event. Organisers need good content and good speakers to engage with their visitors and attract them to the event. It may be you have a sales team or distributor network that could disseminate tickets on behalf of the organiser in exchange for your branding on them.  The rule of thumb is what have you got that is cheap to offer that an organiser would value and what have they got that is valuable for you to receive that costs them little to provide. Then swap!

As a broad rule the larger the show the harder it becomes to find what you particularly with shell scheme stands when on a budget.   Many organisers do a great job in colour-coding zones or areas, which helps but you as the exhibitor are not entirely helpless. When is the last time you thought about how else you could brand yourselves at the event to reinforce your presence?  Did you just restrict yourself to a banner or sponsoring the carrier-bags or the ‘You-are-here’ boards?
As organisers compete to add value there are a whole range of possibilities that are available for branding and sponsorship – not all may be suitable but no doubt some will suit you perfectly.  Consider the following:

Accommodation Plans Aisle Ways Awards
Badges Balloons Banners
Barriers  Car Parking  Carrier Bags
Catalogues  Catering  Catwalks
Cloakrooms  Coaches / Buses  Coffee Areas
Conference Sessions Crèche   Cups
Data Capture  Delegate Folders Demo Areas
Entertainment  Event Parties  Exhibitor Lounges
Exhibitor Manual Fashion Shows  Floor Plans
Floor Tiles  Freebies  Guides (what’s on etc)
Light Pens  Lists   Lounges (VIP/ Press)
Menus/ Meals  PR Opportunities Press Office
Preview Days  Seating Areas  Services (Phones etc)
Signage   Toilets   Venue Posters
VIP Tickets/ Passes www/ wifi  You are Here boards

The list is not exhaustive but the possibilities are endless – limited only by your imagination and the health and safety police!
A good tip is to visualise the target visitor on his or her travels through the event.  Are they arriving by car and will parking be an issue for them? They may need to deposit their coat or bags and then get a coffee before looking for a seating area to plan their route.  They may need to use the toilets and at some point probably will stop for a snack.  If they have other interests you can predict those too and identify their possible stopping routes where they can see your name, logo and even a reminder of your stand number.  The calculation on spend should be easy to do.  Calculate the value of a new client and your conversion rate – if the organiser hasn’t offered a branding opportunity it may be they haven’t thought of it so make them an offer. Most of the opportunities mentioned above are not set in stone so be prepared to negotiate – it may be you have something like a membership list or client data that they would also consider as a viable trade. Remember that research shows that repeated exposure (6-7 times) is often necessary to drive home your message and build your client base.

Experiential marketing is a term for where one engages elements of emotions, logic, and general thought processes to connect with the user. The goal of experiential marketing is to establish this connection in such a way that the user reacts to a product offering based on both emotional and logical responses. We also know that we are predominantly visual and tactile in buying habits. We carried out some work for a chain of high street mobile phone resellers who had noticed stagnation in sales in certain stores. We established the common factor amongst these stores was a higher than normal level of theft. Accordingly the stores in question were reluctant to allow customers to handle the handsets in case they made off with them and only displayed one set at a time. By fitting security doors that could be unlocked and locked remotely, they were able to allow customers to handle the handsets whilst minimising potential ‘run-offs’ and accordingly noticed a corresponding upturn in sales.

Appealing to a variety of senses, experiential marketing seeks to tap into that special place within users that has to do with inspiring thoughts about comfort and pleasure, as well as practicality. To succeed one needs to understand the mindset of your target market. By understanding what the user is likely to think and feel one can steer the customer in a direction to relate with the product, and entice them to act on the purchase impulse.

For successful execution, it is necessary to engage as many of the senses as possible. TV, Radio, Web and other media designers constantly fight to incorporate as many options as possible. With exhibitions and events you have a tremendous (usually unexploited) advantage. By appealing to all the senses, and making the connection quickly and seamlessly, you can attract and satisfy the needs and desires of your audience. You have the ability to let your visitors try, taste, hear, smell, feel, possibly break and handle your products. An opportunity like this simply is not possible with other media and yet many exhibitors do not utilise the opportunities that are readily available at events they patronise. Maybe you could hold an inter-departmental brainstorming session in advance of your next event and see how many senses you can expose your potential clients and visitors to? Even if you have a service rather than a product you can utilise this approach. Think about selling a house – how often have you read the wisdom about baking bread or roasting coffee or lighting a fire? All these are arguably superfluous and incidental to the house sale and yet are often instrumental in delivering contracts. If I ‘feel’ warm, loved and secure on your stand, might I not project that to your service also and onto your team?

Why a good trade show is much bigger than a two-day event

Naudi’s words ranged from the comical: “we’re conditioned as children not to take sweets from strangers, yet at trade shows are full of strangers handing out sweets”; to the witty put down: “if your main aim and measure of success is to see how many brochures you can get rid of, I would like to point out that it is cheaper to hire a skip than a show stand”; through to a thought provoking point regarding quality over quantity: “If you speak to someone every five minutes for two days without a break, you’re only speaking to 300 people, not the 5,000 who come through the door.”

I had to leave before Lee Chadwick of CommuniGator gave his presentation about email marketing, but I’m reliably informed that it was similarly entertaining and full of useful information.

Overall, this was an impressive event that left me thinking about trade events and their value and I look forward to applying some of the teachings of the day when I attend the Service Desk Show, which starts on the 27th April.

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