Trade shows happen all the time in this country. There are custom exhibits that feature specific topics like baseball cards or vacuums. There are trade shows that feature more broad topics like technology or social work. There truly are trade shows for just about any topic, product, or service you can imagine.
Standing out at these trade shows can be extremely difficult. No matter what the reason for having the event in the first place, there will be competitive people who want to do better than you. They want to have more people visit their booth, they want to have more people sign up for their services, and they want to make more money than you.
That’s okay — because you do too.
There are a few things you should keep in mind in order to really stand out at these trade shows:
Engage, Interact, and Follow Up
Following up after you engage with people at these trade shows is essential. People, no matter what the case may be, have very short memories. If you’re not on top-of-mind after they leave, you will not be thought about for a long, long time. If you can successfully engage with your booth visitors, allow them to interact in some way, and then immediately follow up — you’ll have them hooked.
Following up on social media is a great way to achieve this. Business cards, at the very least, should be exchanged and it’s important to not just discard them. Use the information they give you to send a quick email or a tweet and let them know you appreciate their time. It can go a long way.
Don’t Sell Your Product, Sell Yourself
Despite what you and even the consumer may think, they’re not there to buy your product or service. They are there to decide if they like you or not. Sad… but true. You can have the coolest product in the world, but if you have a non-interactive exhibit design and are boring, you aren’t going to see many results.
Be funny and let your guard down. Joke around with your visitors. Relate to them and genuinely listen to what they have to say. They’ll be able to tell if you’re faking it — which can be even worse than being boring — so just do it for real. It’ll help business for sure.
Exhibit Booth Design
The first thing you should worry about when attending these trade shows is that you need to make a good first impression. How can you do this? With a great exhibit booth design.
Custom exhibit designs allow you to create an engaging booth that will attract more and more people to you. Once you make your great first impression, that’s when the magic starts to happen and your product or service starts to sell itself.
From having a quality exhibit booth design and following up on social media, to genuinely talking and being nice to your visitors, if you approach trade shows following these tips — you’ll do great.
