Standing out amongst hundreds of other exhibitors can be really tough. Being tactful, inventive and well organised will go a long way to ensure you stand out from the crowd. We have curated the following blog post which includes some ideas to really help you, stand out.

Brand Awareness

In an ideal world, everyone that visits an exhibition will be aware of you, your products and your services. This isn’t possible for everyone but you can go a long way to increase the likelihood by implementing the following;

- Create content that you can post on the exhibitions blog page.

- Make use of their mailing list and check to see if they can send news or even the blog post to their mailing list.

- Add a banner to your email signature letting your customers know you’ll be there. This may well be your chance to strengthen relations with your existing customers.

- Utilise your mailing list to promote the show and your attendance.

- Post a blog or news story on your website.

Have a meeting area

If your stand is big enough then create a space in which you can sit down with prospective customers. Offer refreshments and then direct them to a table, this time can then be used to talk your prospects through your best sellers in your catalogue, some case studies of impressive jobs or even find out if you can be of service to them in the short and long term. This time can be used to really make a long lasting impression and build a memorable rapport. At an exhibition we attended in Dusseldorf, we were invited to sit down with a friendly sales representative who offered us a beer and gave us samples of their sweets, this was as memorable as the lady who told us off for taking a picture of her stand, but for the right reasons. This space should be comfortable and away from the busyness of the show.

Product Demo’s

Product demos could range from printing custom T-Shirts to an all immersive virtual reality test drive. This kind of innovative thinking is almost guaranteed to form a que of people waiting to get a piece of the action at your stand. Not only will it gain both attraction and traction, it will invoke a sense of trust with the visitors (as long as you know what you are doing!) as they will be able to see first-hand, the quality of your work.

Innovative Promotional merchandise

It wouldn’t be an exhibition unless you came away with a bag full of giveaways. But that’s the thing, a bag full of giveaways. Put the cat amongst the pigeons with a product that will be well received, memorable and useful. We’ve all come away from an exhibition with 50 pens but there’s normally one product that really stands out. If you do go for one of the classic items, spruce it up with a message that will be remembered. See some of the classics promotional items in this post.

People

The people who exhibit for you can make or break all of your efforts. Ensure you choose people who really want to be there. A member who is there because they have to that doesn’t enjoy conversing with people, is the last person you need. They must be happy, talkative and confident people who know your products and services well. They also need to be well versed to any procedures you want them to follow.

Ensure all team members are easily identifiable by wearing branded uniform that relate to your branding colours in some way. Also allow for breaks as standing up and talking all day can be very draining. It’s vital that your staff are highly engaged and are proactively trying to welcome and invite people onto your stand. We’ve all been to an exhibition and walked passed a stand where the members are turned away from passers-by on their phone. Don’t do that!

Host a seminar

Come up with an interesting talk and make the title easy to decipher and there’s a high chance you’ll be attracting targeted prospects, always give them a reason to come and see you on your stand afterwards. If you have free content to give away that’s related to your talk, then this can be a great opportunity to collect data. Obtain business cards from the people who want the content and make sure to send it to them after. It doesn’t necessarily have to be content and could be anything desirable such as a free audit.

Create a buzz

Keeping people in and around the stand will draw attention, we’ve all seen one of those stands that’s got a low footfall and you always wonder why. On the other hand, the stand that is brimming with people grabs your attention. These are normally the bigger stands that feature in the hall hotspots, if you do have a smaller stand then be creative and come up with ideas to create a buzz to attract and keep attention.

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