Trade shows can be an incredibly effective promotion and sales tool for small businesses. But they can also be a complete waste of time and money. And whether trade shows are a wild success or a wipeout for your small business depends a great deal on your advance preparation.
Here's how to get the best return on investment from any trade shows your small business exhibits at.
1) Set clear goals for your trade show participation. What do you want to get out of it? Do you expect to sell a particular amount of inventory at trade shows, or expect to become known to a certain number of wholesale suppliers? Are you focusing on promotion or hoping to launch a new product?
You can have more than one goal, of course, but the point is that you need to be clear about what your participation in trade shows is going to achieve.
2) Research trade shows. You need to choose the trade shows that will give your business the best return on investment in terms of your goals. If your goal is on-site sales, having a booth at that big splashy trade show where your trade show display is one of a dozen that sell similar products may not be the best choice. You want to choose trade shows that best target the audience that you want to reach, and best suit your participation goals. Find out what the particular trade show's objectives are, and investigate and evaluate the trade show's audience.
3) Once you've chosen particular trade shows, plan your budget and book your space. Find out everything you can about your space, including where it is on the floor, what kind of other trade show displays will be around it, whether it's a high traffic or low traffic area, and the physical conditions of your trade show display space, such as lighting.
4) Plan your trade show displays in terms of your audience. Who is it that you're targeting with your trade show displays? Retail customers? Wholesale buyers? Other businesses in your industry? Different audiences "shop" trade shows differently, and have different needs. 5) Advertise in advance. Put the word out that you're participating in a particular trade show by inviting your clients, customers, suppliers, and other contacts to attend the show. (Be sure you give them all the details, such as your booth number.) If you have one, be sure to advertise your coming trade show attendance on your website as well. So now you're ready to attend that trade show - almost. The next stage of trade show planning is to figure out how to put together a trade show display that will pull and impress the audience you want to attract. These three articles will show you how:
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