Tradeshows and exhibitions provide excellent opportunities for your company to get recognition, new leads and business opportunities, and engage with clients and customers directly to extend your reach. Therefore, it makes sense that you should do everything to attract as many people to your booth as possible.
But getting them into the booth is only the first step to conversion. So, when you do get them to your tradeshow booth, you need to keep them engaged and create a lasting impression.
How can you do this?
Visual Appeal is Important
The first thing attendees will notice is the visual appeal of your booth — a lackluster display simply doesn’t encourage people to stop over. On the other hand, one with compelling visuals will get their collective feet in your door. Make sure that your tradeshow booth banners and signs are compelling and that they are prominently and boldly displayed.
This means you need to look professional and sophisticated, fresh and compelling. If your current banners and signs are faded or their CTAs don’t strike any chords, re-design or replace them through a custom printing service like Quality Sign Designer before you schedule your events.
The investment is well worth it. These followed by a properly designed and open booth will get a lot of people to check out your business. You should also consider including interactive displays in your booth. Bright colors attract more traffic and play an important role in keeping your audience engaged.
Ensure that Your Pitch is Appealing
A crucial part of your tradeshow exhibit is pitching your products and services. Luckily, it’s not so much of a hardcore sales pitch as it is informing and showing them the benefits of your products.
It also helps to afford your prospective clients the opportunity to see your product and services up close. So, ensure that you know all that you need to know about your business so that you can answer all question confidently and with any demonstrations that are necessary for you to do so.
This is where going with the right individuals comes in. Never attend a tradeshow with someone just because they didn’t go last year. They should go because they are competent company representatives and can make people fall in love with your products or services.
Distribute Promotional Materials
It would be pointless to attend a tradeshow without promotional materials, but it’s bears repeating. Never go to a tradeshow without promotional materials, free samples, coupons, and stuff that people can take a closer look at and remember you by when they wind down in their hotel rooms at the end of the day.
Get Rid of the Tables and Chairs
This is a key part of sustaining engagement. Many times, you’ll get to a booth and find the exhibitor sitting on a chair with a table in front of them. Here’s something they probably don’t realize: that table functions subconsciously as a barrier between you and your prospects.
Since you went to the trade show to gain new clients, this is basically self-defeating. Get rid of those chairs and tables or, if you must keep them, position them to one corner so that your booth is open, inviting and welcoming.
And when an attendee comes around, get off the chair and attend to them. Better still, stand on your feet. Yes, it’s grueling having to stand for hours at a time, but you came to work, and you can always trade off with a partner. When it’s time for your business to shine (and it is), you do what you have to do.
Oscar King is a freelance writer and small business owner who contributes articles about issues affecting the business community, and practical advice for the aspiring entrepreneur.
