Trade shows are exhibits that bring businesses of a similar nature together. All of the businesses in one location allow customers to come and get to know local businesses. The customers might be everyday customers or they might be businesses that are looking to expand their vendor options. Either way, a trade show is an extremely cost effective method to getting your business name out there, as long as you are take advantage of the event.
Have numerous marketing materials available
Potential customers will have access to sometimes, hundreds of different vendors at one trade show. They will easily forget about many of the vendors, even ones that were interesting to them. It is important to have a wide variety of marketing materials available. Different marketing materials speak to different types of customers, so a variety helps you to attract customer attention. Some printing marketing materials include vinyl printing banners, flyers, business cards, and postcards. These printed marketing materials will serve as a reminder to your customers after they have left the trade show and are not considering their options.
Gather contact information of potential customers
The primary goal of most marketing efforts is to reach the customer. If possible, you also want to gather potential customers contact information. This allows you to reach out to them at a later point and see if they are still interested in your product or service. Gathering customer information is especially important in a trade show setting because it can be overwhelming for the customer to discuss business there. About 81% of trade show display attendees have buying authority, which means that more than 4 out of 5 people walking the aisles are potential customers for exhibitors. Getting their information for future conversations can be an effective way in increasing your customer conversion rates.
Spend time increasing the creativity of your booth
Although you have the opportunity to come into contact with thousands of potential customers, you have to first attract their attention. As you prepare for your upcoming trade show, you will want to spend time and funds on increasing the overall creativity of your trade show booth. The average company allocates 31.6% of its total marketing budget to events and exhibiting, and more than $24 billion is spent annually by U.S. exhibitors for trade show displays, yet 70% of these exhibitors set no specific objectives for trade show exhibits.
Work with your local printing companies on ensuring that your trade show budget goes to the best marketing efforts. It can also be helpful to develop an expectation plan. This expectation plan contains specific objectives. Understanding these objectives will not only help you measure your trade show success, but will also help you to justify your trade show budget costs.
Use high quality printed marketing materials
With so many competitors in the same space, you have to do everything possible to outshine your direct competitors. This means printing higher quality marketing materials. It means working with your printing company on the best vinyl printing designs to grab the customer?s attention. It means choosing the right type of booth. Your vinyl printing sign may be even more valuable than you thought. A single on site sign costs $.02 per one thousand views, while a 300 line newspaper ad costs $2.81 per one thousand views and might only reach 53% of the market. High quality vinyl printing ads can be extremely useful in the trade show market.
Businesses often allocate a large percentage of their profits into marketing. Marketing is the best way to grow the business brand and increase local customer awareness. Trades shows, specifically, are one of the most cost effective methods of marketing. You are literally exposed to hundreds, sometimes thousands, of potential customers. If you are going to participate in a trade show, however, ensure that you are taking every possible step to make it a success. Use vinyl printing services, provide your customers with numerous take home marketing materials, and gather as much contact information as you can.
