Despite what industry professionals would have you believe, trade show marketing is not rocket science. If you apply common sense to your exhibiting program, you can avoid some common mistakes and pitfalls that plague exhibitors and cost companies money. If you are looking to improve the return on your investment at your next event, you can start by avoiding the following mistakes:
Mistake #1 – Failing to follow up with potential clients after the event.
According to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research, almost 90% of the leads generated at trade shows are never followed up. This number is absolutely astounding when you consider the massive revenue that trade shows generate. You can immediately multiply the results of your marketing efforts by 9 simply by following up with potential clients after the show. For this reason, failing to follow up with clients is the single biggest and most common mistake in trade show marketing.
Mistake #2 – Failure to differentiate your products and services from those of your competitors.
It’s important for your company to stand out and make a memorable impact upon visitors and attendees. Unwilling to take a risk, many companies simply blend into the background and make no effort to positively impact attendees. This is a huge mistake. Before you can differentiate yourself from your competition, you need to understand what makes your company special. What makes your customers purchase from you instead of your competitors? Where exactly does your company fit into the market? What advantages do you have over your competition? If you can answer these questions, you already have all the tools you’ll need to set yourself apart at your next event.
Mistake #3 – Failure to offer incentives to lure potential clients to your trade show booth.
Trade shows are entirely different today than they were 10 years ago. Although you are likely to get some serious foot traffic even without incentives, every visitor counts. Incentives are a great way to garner extra foot traffic without much additional cost. High quality trade show giveaways and other trade show attractions will bring visitors into your exhibit space, but you need to be careful to avoid gimmicky or deceptive incentives, or you may ruin your marketing efforts.
Mistake #4 -Failure to choose the best possible trade show to exhibit at.
If you exhibit at a trade show and you generate very little interest in your products and/or services, chances are good that you chose your event poorly. The ideal place to exhibit is an event that is swarming with people from your target market and free of your competitors. Successful trade show marketing specialists look for these types of events by thinking creatively about their target market and the best way to reach them.
Mistake #5 – Failure to design a high-impact trade show display.
Designing trade show display graphics can be a daunting task, even for an experienced and qualified graphic designer. You only have a few seconds to grab the attention of passing visitors and attendees, and a properly designed trade show exhibit can make a huge impact on potential clients. Your trade show display should serve as a jumping off point for your booth staffers to begin the discussion about your products/services and what makes you different from your competitors. If your exhibit does not stand out in the fast-paced trade show environment, you may be sacrificing valuable foot traffic and losing touch with potential customers.
