A trade show is the best opportunity for companies to access their target audience. These shows will allow the company to communicate directly with the customer, and face-to-face interaction will give the company time to market and advertise to them.

Trade show strategies are what companies use to create their ideal trade show. These strategies refer to their plan of action in the different stages of the trade show. It starts will the planning, then the actual day, and ends with the post-event feedback. All these eras will need their action strategies to ensure a successful trade show.

Most companies only focus on the strategy used for the trade show day. The main problem with this strategy is that neither the planning nor the post-event evaluation will not be completed, and the team will lack equipment, material, or an unplanned script perceived as unprofessional by the audience and attendees.

What Does Trade Show Strategy Mean?

Trade show strategies refer to the plan of action set in place by the team to achieve goals and objectives set for a trade show. Trade show strategies ensure that the entire team understands the action steps and tasks that can be completed to achieve the ultimate goals for the booth at a trade show.

Strategies can be used for any aspect of a business. The idea, however, is to ensure that the team pursues set goals. Many companies set goals and objectives but forget to use a set strategy to find a method to obtain these goals. These action steps will provide the team with guidelines and direction to ensure that they do achieve the goals set by the company.

Why The Need for a New Trade Show Strategy?

With the development and growth within the technology and event industry, companies must observe and evaluate their current strategies. As the industry grows and many companies join the trade show, businesses must find new strategies to stand out. The new strategy will allow the team to achieve set goals rapidly.

The team will have to evaluate old strategies to ensure that they create a more robust and reliable strategy. The key to a successful event is not setting goals but the constant work of fulfilling the system put in place.

Making The Most Of Your Strategy – Before, During, and After the Show

An event strategy has three legs that will guide the entire event. The focus points are before the trade show, during the trade show, and after the trade show. These three aspects will ensure that the team has the necessary action plans to take them through these three stages of the show.

Before the Trade Show

A strategy before the day of the show is to ensure that all the planning and organization are done. The system will provide the foundation of the event. The team must work hard to plan and organize the event to ensure that all the equipment, stock, material, marketing, and vendors are in place for the day of the show.

Outline Your Goals

Setting clear and concise goals is crucial to a trade show strategy. Action plans will be of no benefit if no goals exist. These goals must be tangible and achievable through the event strategy. Setting SMART goals will provide the team with a clear destination, allowing them to create a plan that fits the goals set by the company.

Know Your Target Audience

The target audience is the individuals that will pursue or buy the services and products of the company. The trade show strategy must provide the team with the ideal customer to ensure that they sell and advertise to the perfect customer. The system will give the team the necessary steps to gain sales and target the correct audience to ensure the entire trade show succeeds.

Know The Needed Trade Show Materials

Every trade show will have supporting material. Materials can be pamphlets, business cards, or any other information given to the attendees. The strategy must provide the sales team and customers with valuable information and material they can take home. The materials will allow the attendees to scan and evaluate the company’s products and services. The trade show marketing strategy refers to the marketing team’s action steps to ensure that the current and potential key customers will see the upcoming trade.

Scheduling Important Connections

Another essential part of a planning strategy is building connections and capitalizing on the network the company has. The team can make the strategy and tasks around utilizing the relationships the company has built over the last few years of trade shows.

These connections can be in booth installation, flooring, or creating material that will be provided for attendees. Using these connections, the team can obtain high-quality products at a cheaper and more consistent rate.

Look for Opportunities to Speak

A strategy before the event can be to speak and advertise as much as possible. The team must learn how and when to speak up to ensure that all the desired material, booth design, or other information meets the standard or chosen strategy. The speaking opportunity will provide all the material, and the design is up to company standards.

During the Trade Show

The strategy during the show can shift between two main focus points. The first strategy is to talk and interact with every possible person across the booth. Employees and sales members will bombard potential customers with as much information as possible to ensure they know the company’s products and services.

Another strategy is to use the booth and additional information to do all the talking. The sales team will be there to connect the company to the individual. The group, however, must focus on obtaining sales leads and information on potential customers to provide the company with numbers indicating how many attendees were interested.

An email list can be created by obtaining a customer email address. This can be transformed into an email newsletter or email campaign to keep all the customers updated on the news and progression of the company. 

Check Out Trade Show Marketing: Get More Leads:

Post Trade Show

The post-trade show strategy will focus firstly on the success and the achievement of the booth within the trade show. The company must evaluate whether the team has achieved all the set goals communicated to them. The team must create a post-event evaluation to receive feedback from the qualified leads to ensure they host a quality event. 

Another form of the post-trade show strategy is to contact all the leads. This will allow the sales team to transfer potential customers into buying customers. The team must have a set script and material ready to ensure that they can answer all the questions. The key is to transfer trade show attendees into customers. The team can receive feedback on the attendee experience.

FAQs

How Can I Make My Trade Show Booth Better?

The key to a good trade show exhibit is to set clear and concise goals and a set strategy for the booth. After implementing these two principles, the team can build a high-quality booth to draw customers. Another focus point must be placed on the sales team and the material the team provides to the customer, and make sure that both are accurate and high-quality.

How Can You Draw A Crowd?

The best way to draw a crowd is to advertise or sell what they need. Companies must aim to fill a need or fix a problem that the customer is facing. Customers will be drawn to a product or service that will improve their recurring problem. Thus drawing the crowd towards the company booth.

Final Thoughts

Trade show strategies can decide between a successful and unsuccessful trade show booth. The process will provide the team with direction and guidance throughout the planning and action steps of setting up and running a stall.

Companies want to draw and sell all the products and services through the trade show, and the problem, however, is that they do not follow any strategies. The team can create and build a plan that will ensure the following of attendees at the show. A strategy lays the foundation and provides direction throughout the entire trade show.

Sabine Ghali

Kelly Murphy

PRESIDENT & FOUNDER

Certified Meeting planner with 20+ years of event management experience, founder of ConferenceSource, expert in meeting facility sourcing & contracting in North America, Europe, South America and Asia. Kelly will manage your budget as if they were her own, negotiating the best possible rate and hotel contract to benefit and protect every client and exceed all expectations for all planning aspects for sales meetings, educational meetings, product launches, incentive trips down to a small board of directors meeting. We make meetings easy understanding your meeting objectives and delivering meeting matched components.