Trade Secrets for Trade Show Success
More than 13,000 shows are held in the US every year. Planning a successful one takes organization, creativity, and resilience. Maycreate has worked with several of our clients helping them prepare strategies and marketing materials for their upcoming trade shows. Before we share a recent success story, let us take you through the steps involved in making sure your trade show participation is successful.
Establish Goals and Objectives
Note, they’re not one in the same. Goals entail big picture items, such as building your brand awareness, generating leads, and forming new business relationships. Once you’ve established your goals, then determine your objectives, which help you attain them. They also lay the groundwork for building your booth and creating effective marketing materials.
Determine Your Budget
This is extremely important. Trade shows are a major expenditure. How much is space rental? What about your exhibit design? Those expenses are followed by shipping and promotional costs, staffing your booth, plus follow-up expenses on your leads, as well as travel and entertainment, giveaways, and any other at-show services.
Utilize Your Goals for Booth Design
The booth should be used to showcase your established goals and objectives. Maybe it’s brand awareness? How do you demonstrate that in a memorable way? Could it be a live presentation? A brief video? You might want to provide seating as well. You could also arrange various product demonstrations in smaller areas of the booth. What about leads? Most shows offer badge scanners for a fee. Or there’s the paper and clipboard method, followed by a business card. Maybe you have a special one or two-person booth for securing those leads. Make it memorable. Before they leave the booth, be sure you give them an unexpected takeaway or tchotchke. Brand giveaways with your name and a clever saying or your tagline, and try to come up with items that align with your brand and offerings. Something they won’t find at a neighboring booth. Something unique enough to keep.
Your Team Makes the Difference
The booth, your graphics, and digital presentations are important, but the most important consideration is the team you choose to work the booth. Make sure they’re outgoing, helpful, friendly and above all, knowledgeable. Set goals and objectives. Take the time to train them. Provide specific talking points. Tips on how to handle lead retrievals. Plus, activities that engage your visitors, creating a worthwhile and memorable experience.
Before and After the Show
Be sure to get the word out before the show opens. Use social media to connect with your audience or launch an email campaign. You could also arrange for some press coverage. After the show, follow up. Have a system in place that the team can easily utilize to reach out to leads. Create a personalized follow-up email or a “thank you” note that arrives a day or two after the show.
“The Best Booth!”
We mentioned earlier in the article that we would share a trade show success story Maycreate had with one of our clients, Happy Feet International. They’re a luxury vinyl floor manufacturer located in Ringgold, GA. This year, as in others, they attended the 2024 International Surfaces Event, the largest floor covering show in North America. The show that could make or break the first half of a flooring manufacturer’s sales year.
Preparing for the Show
Maycreate’s creative and account teams got together for a whiteboard session. Their goal was to create a “trade show booth like no other!” They brainstormed everything from the experience each guest should receive, to the “Wow” factor. The booth also needed to accommodate dealmaking areas and a selection of retail displays.
We already had some very effective point of sale signage and consumer work that creatively told the brand’s story. In addition, we produced and delivered a new 2024 sales catalog, featuring the latest products and colorways. The booth was 50 feet by 30 feet and had a large structural building column begging to be disguised.
The creative team went to work flipping this to our advantage. First, they developed a captivating waterfall bar that was perfectly lit and included upholstered seating in Happy Feet’s distinctive green. A creative wrap was also designed to transform the structural building column and interactive touchscreen monitors were added that allowed visitors to instantly peruse Happy Feet’s website.
The defining point, however, was a gigantic illuminated, 20 x 20 foot hanging sign that pointed the way to their booth and clearly announced Happy Feet’s purpose at “Surfaces,” to stand out just like their products do.
The Night Before the Event
We kept in touch with our client the night before the event. The Happy Feet leadership team supervised installation. They sent our team a photo of the booth once it was complete and ready for the show’s opening. Their team had also walked the entire floor taking in all their competitors booths.
We asked the cofounder of their team what she thought about their booth versus their competitors, which included some of the biggest brands in flooring. She simply replied in a three-word text..."the best booth."
A Roaring Success
The end result? Happy Feet had the best trade show in their entire history. It was extremely successful, and they were very gracious and thankful for our team’s efforts, their booth, and their presence and visibility at the event.
Why not get in touch with one of our account supervisors John Wagoner or Aaron Petticord and find out how our team can help you make your next trade show a success? They can be reached at (423) 634.0123.