Planning any event isn’t an easy task, and almost never comes without its challenges. Among the many hurdles you may face, you never really know exactly how smoothly the event will run on the day.
First impressions are often the hardest to get right. The worst thing that can happen is no one is attracted to your stand and visitors don’t feel drawn to your brand.
No matter what the event is, you need to set yourself a unique set of objectives which are reachable, in order to achieve success. Get the exhibition right, and you are setting yourself up for new business relationships and increased revenue potential. Get it wrong, and you will risk losing the opportunity for new business, which is the main reason any business exhibits.
With this in mind, we have come up with some simple tips to help you drive traffic through to your exhibition stand for your next event.
Be Creative with Your Stand Space
All exhibitions and trade shows work very much the same. There are dozens, or even hundreds of brands all fighting for the attention of the visitor. A brand will very easily get lost in the shuffle if it doesn’t not meet the criteria for that all important first impression.
Go big or go home, it is crucial for your brand to stand out from the crowd. It is important to have quality display equipment that creates a professional and interesting exhibition stand. Before your exhibition check that your display equipment is in good condition and does not look overused and unloved.
Your stand layout is everything, it needs to be inviting, interesting and informative. Visitors should want to engage with your brand right from the beginning.
Your graphic design speaks volumes and its so vital that you get it right. It needs great imagery, little text but enough to explain who you are and what you do. It needs contact information and it needs to have a good design element to it.
Your marketing message needs to be clear, concise and attention grabbing. Always keep your exhibition display inline with your brand guidelines, that’s how people will recognise you.
For help on your artwork read: 10 Top Tips for Exhibition Stand Design
Be Socially Active
Its free, and it’s a powerful and useful marketing tool, what more could you ask for? Most businesses run at least one or more social media platform. It’s a perfect way of reaching new and existing customers to promote your attendance at an exhibition.
It’s a good idea to promote the event before, during and after to really maximise your exposure and reach.
You should be posting to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter throughout the exhibition, using the designated event hashtag. This enhances your reach to new followers.
More and more, event attendees are following social media directly from the event floor to see what’s going on. Post on social platforms to boost visitor engagement and you're more likely to generate some long-term connections, followers and even customers.
For tips on using your social media platforms effectively read: Using Social Media to Boost Exhibition ROI
Hold an on-Stand Competition
Most people have a competitive edge to them, and everyone enjoys getting something for free. Competitions are a great way of boosting engagement on your stand.
The important thing with competitions at events is to make them work for you. You don’t want visitors just dropping their business card into a pot to win a prize and not acknowledging your stand, what’s the point in that right?
You need something that will engage them long enough for you to start a conversation and get them interested in your business.
It can be as difficult or as easy as you like, but, it needs to be interesting. For tips on choosing the right competition for you, read: Exhibition Competitions and Giveaway Ideas
Have Plenty of Marketing Material to Give Away
Giveaways are a simple yet very effective way of communicating to unsuspecting visitors. Whether it’s a branded pen or something else, it is likely your brand will be remembered.
Even a snack or drink offered to passers by in exchange for a few words might provide the exact opportunity you need to create a lasting impression.
While having free giveaways will no doubt increase your foot traffic, you may feel the visitors who stopped by your stand weren’t exactly on-target, and they visited purely and simply for the giveaways. This is something you will struggle to control, but our advice would always be to have something to hand out for visitors to remember you brand.
To make it worthwhile for you it is recommended that you tie the competition to something tangible i.e. signing up for brand emails or similar as a way of retrieving the visitors contact information.
Your giveaways should always include your contact information and where possible a compelling call to action, this enables them to make contact after the event.
For more information on our products and services, or to discuss event your next event, call us on 01733 511030 or contact us.
Permalink:
https://www.xldisplays.co.uk/news/tips-for-driving-traffic-to-your-exhibition-stand.aspx