Planning a successful trade show strategy starts with determining your trade show goals, as we discussed in last month’s blog. Once you have your goals established, then it’s time to develop a well-thought out plan to achieve those goals. A customized plan that is aimed to the strengths of your business will help with positioning yourself above the competition.

Laying the groundwork well before the show can keep you focused on your objectives and lead to a seamless trade show strategy and productive event.

Here are five key steps to help you get there.

1. Start Strategizing Early

Begin with outlining your pre-show, during-show and post-show strategies to keep you on track. Some examples of this include the booking of flights and hotels, writing and rehearsing any demonstrations, training your staff on effectively engaging attendees, and planning your follow-up strategy with generated leads.

2. Get the Word Out

Generating buzz before the event is a critical component to spreading the word early about what you’re promoting and where your booth is located. Some effective ways of getting the word out include adding an event post to your website, blogging about the show and your attendance, posting on social media pages, hosting a webinar, and publishing an online press release that details what you’re featuring at the show and your booth location.

3. Speaking of Location…

With hundreds of vendors vying for the attention of thousands of attendees, positioning yourself in a prime location can play a major role in the success of your trade show efforts. Registering early can be advantageous to locking in a high-traffic location, and sometimes even includes a discounted exhibit rate for your early commitment.

4. Make an Impact

Creating visual impact with eye-catching graphics and little copy is the way to go to attract attention and quickly let people know who you are and what you do. You only have a short window of opportunity to capture the attention of attendees, so simple and clear messaging is important to reeling them in.

5. Follow-up

Your follow-up trade show strategy may be more important than your pre-show planning strategy. You’ve worked so hard to get to the show and generate leads, but without proper follow-up on those potential customers, your work could all be in vain. Engage your visitors by asking questions, but avoid the hard sell. Be sure to thank every person who stopped by your booth and ask them to fill out a contact card for future follow-up.

Need help putting together a successful trade show strategy? Contact us today to speak to one of our experts!