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Attending your first trade show? Make it a success with these printed items

Whether you are attending a major industry expo or a smaller more local exhibition, a trade show can offer an excellent opportunity for growing your small business.

Driving footfall to your booth, opening up conversations and developing relationships with prospects or potential partners is what these events are all about. Oh, and spying on your competitors, of course!

In order to achieve trade show success, you will need to make sure you have the right tools at your booth to maximise impact and make anyone that stops by want to know more.

When planning for your first trade show make sure you include these 5 printed items on your list:

The number 1 tool for networking, and a professional must– business cards should always be a part of your marketing strategy for any event.

Offering someone your business card is often a great conversation starter, as well as being an extended invite for conversation beyond the trade show and a solid reminder of who you are and what you do.
These tiny little cards will be one of the most important parts of your tool kit at your first trade show, so you want to avoid finding yourself saying “Sorry, I’ve ran out of cards” at all costs.

Be sure to take a very generous supply of cards with you. It is better to come home with some than run out halfway through the show!

For piece of mind, it is a good idea to get your business cards from a reliable printer who offers a fast turn around. If you happen to run out of business cards whilst at the show (because your booth is so popular!) doing so could allow you to re-order and get them delivered to you or directly to the venue the next day. Panic over!

If your business card design happens to be super creative and fabulous, it may not be possible to have them reproduced on a speedy basis. For example foil elements need to allow for drying time. So, it is also a good idea to prepare a back up ‘simple’ design which you can have printed on a fast turn around, just in case you find yourself running dry.

Put some thought in to how you present your business cards, too. Avoid messy piles on table tops which can be unsightly and cause damage. Instead, invest in some business card holders. A much more professional look plus they keep your booth looking tidy and organised whilst protecting your cards, keeping them looking great!

A step and repeat banner can offer the perfect opportunity to attract people over to your booth at your first trade show.

Popping up a roller banner with your logo, the show’s logo and any other promotional imagery repeated all over it can create a simple backdrop to encourage people to come over to your booth and take some selfies!

You could run a competition for the best photo and ask people to post them to their social media pages with a specific hashtag, offering a prize at the end of the show.

Not only is this really great free advertising, as your brand will be broadcast to all of their friends and followers, it also offers the opportunity for location tagging so other attendees at the show can discover your booth.

Set up a location tag on the major social media channels for your booth, including your brand name and even booth number and watch the selfie lovers flood in!

Bonus is you will have lots of lovely user generated content to use on your website or own social media pages too!

Exhibiting at a trade show is all about making connections, and so wearing a name badge can often help break down barriers when meeting people for the first time.

A badge also gives a nice clear visual of who you or your employees are and your position within the business which can help potential customers or partners to direct their questions at the right people.

They can also offer yourself or your employees an easy and accessible tool for showing off your products or services. For example, including a QR code on a badge which staff or customers can scan to access your website (or see product videos on youtube, for example) can be the perfect invite for a conversation or connection to be made.

People love free stuff, and they expect to come away from trade shows with lots of freebies.

Offering out free notebooks with your branding on satisfies this expectation, whilst also offering forgetful show go-ers something that is actually useful for them whilst at the show (hands up if you always forget paper and pens when you really need them?) as well as being a reminder of your brand once the show is over.

Think about how many people will be walking around the show making notes in your notebooks whilst simultaneously broadcasting your company name and branding to everyone who sees them. More free advertising!

This strategy is also great for encouraging sales as people often feel obliged to make a purchase after they have tried something or been given something for free. This is known as the law of reciprocity and you should use this to your advantage as much as possible!

Last but not least, you should always have a stack of brochures or leaflets showing off your products or services to hand out to every passer-by or prospect you meet.

If you have a wide range of products to showcase or a service that has many levels opt for a professionally printed business brochure to showcase your business.

Remember that show go-ers may be carrying a lot, so avoid making it too bulky — just include your top selling or newest products and services to keep it informative and interesting but nice and slimline. You could even make it A5 size for even easier carrying.

Alternatively, you could opt for a simple folded leaflet. An A4 tri-fold leaflet offers 6 DL sized pages for you to showcase your business in small bite-sized chunks plus they fold small enough to easily slip into a tote bag or backpack.

When designing your brochure or leaflets be sure to tailor the design to visually appeal to your ideal trade show target audience, whilst clearly telling the reader what you offer and how they can learn more.

Your cover should be visually interesting, including high quality images which attract your target audience’s interest, encouraging them to pick up a copy.

The content inside should not simply be a list of your products or services, but instead should answer your target audiences biggest question — how can you help them?

They want to know how you can save them time/money or how working with your business will benefit them. Your content should tell the story of who you are and how you can help them better than anyone else, rather than simply telling them what you sell.

Finally, you will need to include a clear call to action or details on what the reader should do next.

Remember that this brochure or leaflet may not be read at the show. Often people like to take things home to read through at their own leisure so be sure to include clear forms of contact, such as a website, email or street address as well as contact telephone numbers and even social media handles.

Its always a good idea to take more copies than you think you will need, but as previously mentioned making a good partnership with a printer that can offer a fast turn around on printing could help you should you happen to run out of literature whilst at the show!

There is nothing more inviting to an exhausted attendee at a trade show than a comfortable place to take a break.

If you have the floor space, try getting some beanbags in your brand colours, or a few sets of table and chairs to create a lounge area where you can chat about your business over a coffee with your prospects. This will attract more traffic to your booth, as well as keeping people around for longer whilst they relax, chat or flick through your brochures.

Image courtesy of freepik.com

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