How to Plan a Trade Show Event in 10 Easy Steps

Planning your first trade show event? Looking to improve your exhibiting experience but don’t know where to start? There are hundreds of articles on how to plan out your next trade show, but we have narrowed it down to ten easy steps for any type of business looking to exhibit. Trade shows can be a great way to raise awareness about your brand and generate leads and industry contacts. Exhibiting effectively is somewhat of an art, but the more shows you attend, the more familiar you will become with the process. Designing and running a trade show booth doesn’t have to be stressful! If you follow the following tips, you’ll be sure to have a great exhibiting experience.

1. Establish a strategy

First thing’s first: you’ll want to establish a clear strategy for your upcoming trade show. If you don’t have a clear vision and understanding of your business goals, you won’t be able to properly execute your campaign. What are you looking to communicate to your visitors? Who is your target audience? How are you looking to improve on your previous exhibit? What marketing channels will you be promoting? How large will your budget be? Answering all of these questions will help build you develop a winning trade show strategy.

2. Create a calendar

The more time you give yourself for scheduling and planning the better. Trade shows should be planned at least six months ahead of time for new shows. Once you have done the research and found a trade show that will be beneficial for your business, you should create a realistic calendar with major benchmarks. Be sure to include submission deadlines, booth order dates and shipping times, printing and supply timeframes, staff training sessions, and pre and post-show promotions and social updates.

3. Know your competition

A key to successful exhibiting is knowing which of your competitors will be present at each trade show and anticipating what they will be displaying. You want to be sure you are giving them a run for their money. The more research you do, the more prepared you will be. Be sure you are following them on social media and subscribing to email lists to get an understanding of where their marketing and product strategy might be lacking. This will allow your company to step in and fill any gaps in their strategy, or present something completely new and exciting!

4. Develop a color and graphic scheme

Your company most likely already has a corporate identity that you use consistently in your logo and website, but that doesn’t mean you should cover your entire display in the same shades. You want to decide on something that is appealing and just bright enough to grab attention without hurting the eyes. Selecting colors in multiple shades of light and dark will help you create depth in your display, which will help draw visitors in. Your color scheme of three or 4 colors should be applied on all components of your booth– including your staff uniforms.

5. Pick a booth design for your target audience

With so many booth design options to choose from, you want to be sure and design something with your audience in mind. Having a clear understanding of your brand, product, and consumer will help you determine what type of display will be the most effective. Some audiences might be drawn to an impressive, industrial truss booth, whereas others might enjoy an elegant, modern modular display. If your target customer is interested in the latest technology, consider a backlit display or mounted video monitors. If your demographic is slightly older, you might consider including a seating area. There are many options available for display walls and booth accessories.

6. Properly train your staff

One of the most reliable ways to streamline your trade show experience is by properly training your staff. Being able to rely on great, friendly employees will help take the stress out of exhibiting process and generate more business than ever. Be sure to invest a little extra time in the weeks before the show to go over people skills and organizational tips with your booth employees. The more training they have on how to handle stressful situations, the more they will be able to keep things running smoothly. Your staff should be friendly, approachable, and knowledgeable in order to generate as many leads as possible.

7. Make it interactive

It might seem like a simple concept, but many businesses don’t take the additional steps to make their trade show booth interactive. No matter how visually stunning your display is, show attendees won’t take the time to learn more about your business if there is nothing to engage them. Get creative with how you interact with visitors! Consider hosting product demonstrations or talks with industry influencers. Even if it as simple as a branded swag giveaway or incorporating touch screen devices, interactive trade show booths are much more likely to attract attention.

8. Package and ship your display correctly

Another way to become a trade show expert is by learning how to package and ship your display correctly. You want to be sure that everything shows up to the event in pristine condition in order to avoid any last-minute stress. Make sure you have a clear understanding of how your display fits together and all of the pieces it includes. Fragile pieces should be wrapped with extra care, and bundling similar components and attaching them to pallet bases will also provide some structure. You should decide on a freight carrier that has experience with trade shows so that they understand the drop off and pickup process. Be sure to include all relevant information on each piece, including your name, company name, address, booth number, event address, and date. Once you have figured out a packing process and shipping carrier, you can stick to it for years to come.

9. Keep lead information organized

During the event, there will be a lot of information passing back and forth between your staff and visitors. Networking events are great for increasing business and securing clients, but not so great for staying organized. Digitizing as much information as possible using mobile apps, spreadsheets, and project management software will help you keep a large amount of information while saving space. Taking photos of business cards is also a great way to back up networking contact’s information. You should be sure to gather as much information as possible from potential leads without seeming too intrusive. Having some kind of contact form readily available using a mobile device or social media platform is a great idea.

10. Always follow up!

After a trade show, it is important that you follow up on all of the valuable industry connections you made. Client leads are only important if you follow up with them, so be sure that you record as much information as possible about them at the time. After the show, you can then reach out to them on a much more personal level to bring in their business. It is also important to follow up on general industry connections with a “Thank You” post-show email to your subscriber list. This will help keep your brand fresh in the minds of your visitors. Be sure to invite them to connect with you on social media, and maybe even offer them an exclusive discount if you interacted with them at the event.