Trade Show Preparation

Showcasing your business or organization at a trade show is something that requires thoughtful planning, involving more than meets the eye in terms of going from the vision and goals for your presence to the final execution of your booth components. As a guest, there is a lot to take in; the venue, the guests, the participants, among many other things (of course, the swag!). Yet, as a featured vendor at the event, there are many things that must be taken into consideration and thoughtfully planned in advance in order to yield the intended final product, which will ultimately be your amazing trade show booth that’s the talk of the town!

“Trade shows have exclusive benefits for both attendees and businesses,” advises Jaime Henning of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce. “People visiting a trade show have opportunities to talk face-to-face with business owners, gain insight to an unfamiliar industry or get a first look at upcoming trends. As a business owner or marketer, trade shows are an invaluable time to generate business leads, network with other retailers or demonstrate a new product.

The Lincoln Chamber of Commerce will hold the 2016 Lincoln Business Expo on October 18th. When preparing for the Expo, make a progress calendar to keep you organized and on track. Draft every detail of your display four months in advance so you know how you want your booth to look inside the venue. This means considering what our 10’x10’ booths will allow or if you would need to purchase a double booth.

The Lincoln Business Expo is held at the Pinnacle Bank Arena and the space is large. Make use of the height of the venue and consider how to make yourself stand out from eye-level. Interactive displays are extremely beneficial and will capture the attendee’s attention to your product or service. The hands-on experience will keep the guest at your booth for a longer period of time, giving you ample opportunity to present your message in a fun and disarming way.

Marketing pieces require a longer deadline, so waste no time ordering your print and other materials about three months out from the big show. Since the Lincoln Business Expo allows sales on-site, it is easy to incorporate merchandise into your display.

Above all, determine an objective for your booth based on what your business needs. Whether you need to network and interact with attendees, demonstrate a product or let customers interact with your brand, careful and strategic planning will make your place at the Lincoln Business Expo and other trade shows a pivotal point in your marketing mix.”

As you can already tell, there are a lot of key details that participants must be aware of in order to make a trade show a productive use of their time and for the best possible representation of their business. Because of the many different business types and industries that trade shows focus on, each with a different audience being catered towards, the goals and benefits of each trade show may vary. Nevertheless, the central considerations and messages remain mostly consistent show to show, so you will quickly learn what to expect. The main thing to be aware of going into a trade show is how pivotal booth design will be to attracting attendees—if people aren’t interested in approaching your booth, the opportunity for interaction is lost and none of your other goals can be met as a result.

If you’ve ever been to a trade show, you know there are many different ways to accomplish this task. However, it can present just as much of a challenge for someone who is putting together a booth for the first time as for a seasoned trade show vendor looking for something new. That being the case, in the trade show industry there are many trends geared towards maximizing your presence to be aware of if you’re new to the scene, and keep up with even if you are an avid trade show participant.

As a trade show planning must, businesses need to make sure to have product samples available if applicable, or if not, find the most impactful way to clearly deliver details about exactly what they do and the services they have to offer. Having enough business cards to hand out is critical as well as providing promotional items for guests to take with them that are branded with your business information. Not having enough could mean a potential client may not be able to get a hold of you to follow up after the initial point of contact at the trade show. Since the goals of these events are visibility and obtaining leads, everything you plan to do should contribute to either of those objectives. It is important for businesses to build relationships with attendees while still being able to display their key offerings and demonstrate the processes and/or benefits. These interactions are truly critical to your success; therefore, everything about your booth should be inviting with elements that attract attention and encourage conversation.

Again, the main benefit of trade shows for participating businesses remains the ability to gain new clients or referrals by spreading information about the company to many new names and faces. The great thing about these events is that they are also beneficial for the attendees, with plenty of businesses readily available to ask questions along with all of the free goodies. Make sure to greet as many people as possible and have your presentation nailed down ahead of time!

Carol Oliver of Sunflower Marketing emphasizes that enhancing your trade show presence is a key part of the event for businesses. “The best way to enhance your presence at a trade show is to have an attractive and engaging display or booth. This can be done by bringing samples of your products along with various promotional items to hand out for your attendees to remember you by. You also need to make sure that there are enough people to run the booth for those rushes of people who want to interact with you! And, for those who have the resources to do so, presentations that incorporate a multimedia element such as a slideshow are a pretty cool way of showing your product offerings while still keeping the attendees interested.”

Having had trade show events hosted at the venue, the staff at Holthus Convention Center in nearby York, NE has firsthand experience when it comes to the variety of ways that businesses have chosen to present themselves and what has proved to be the most successful and well-received. Terri Carlson of Holthus Convention Center recommends knowing the details about the space you’re working as the first step to designing the best booth possible. “Make sure that you have accurate measurements and dimensions of the space you will be utilizing to ensure that your setup can be executed as planned upon arrival. By requesting a floor plan, you will be able to view where outlets are positioned, along with any columns that may be in the space to block visibility or impede the flow of foot traffic, in addition to other items that are unique to the specific venue that’s hosting the trade show. Many times the venue sends out the information to all participants ahead of time or has it available online too. Also, be sure and check with the facility so that you are aware of any requirements with spacing around entrances and exits in the room or aisles. If anything, simply being aware of your orientation can prevent mishaps and allow you to plan accordingly.”

At a very minimum, keeping your booth space as open and inviting as possible will allow attendees to come in and interact with you, even without all of the bells and whistles that promote further engagement. However, it does help a great deal to have something neat (and unique) that stands out and keeps people talking, at the event and even well after the day is done. As an event where creativity is embraced and the sky is the limit, playing it safe is okay but won’t necessarily get you the optimal results as would taking your concept to the next level with something exciting that hasn’t been seen a million times before.

If you’re able to choose your booth when registering for a trade show, pay attention to the neighboring businesses to avoid direct competitors. Also keep in mind that the end booths or as previously mentioned, the ones closest to the main points of entry/exit are prime real estate.

To recap, the key points of trade show preparation are knowing your space, ensuring that you have enough of your promotional products and business cards on-hand (which will likely require placing your orders by a specific date), showcasing your offerings in a way that attracts visitors to your booth, ensuring that you’re presentation is effective and best represents who you are as a business, and most importantly, putting your best foot forward when interacting with attendees (and making an even better use of your time there by networking with the other participating businesses too!).

If you’re looking for help or ideas, not to worry; there are many local resources to utilize with the goal of taking your trade show presentation to the next level, so make sure to give yourself enough time to explore the possibilities!

Finally, as this commonly gets overlooked, make sure to promote that you’ll be at a trade show both in advance and the day-of through social media and other promotional outlets—the more people who know and where to find you, the better your results!

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