Exhibitions are an effective way to introduce your work, products, and services to a wider audience. However, planning a show can be a complex undertaking that requires a lot of planning, resources, and effort. There are important steps you must follow to ensure the success of your presentation.
Set your goals
For the exhibition to be successful, you must first define your goals and expectations. What are you revealing? What do you want to say or do with your exhibition? This allows you to define the goals you want to pursue. For example, you might focus on the following factors as variables to measure:
- Number of attendances
- Social media mentions/links
- Return on investment
- Number of contacts created
- Conversions
Promotional materials distributed
Exposure can follow one or more variables together, but remember to keep it realistic. Maybe you want to sell a specific product, attract new customers, or make contacts. By setting goals, you give yourself a building block around which the rest of your exhibition can be built.
Preparation of the budget
Planning an exhibition can be fun but also tiring. When people come together to plan, many ideas often arise. You also need to ensure that you stay within your budget as much as possible to make your exhibition profitable.
Common expenses you should include in your budget include:
- Space Tariffs
- Food and drink
- Professional exhibition stand contractor
- Marketing budget
- Technology
- Special guests
If you’re having trouble coming up with a workable budget for an exhibition, review your company’s financial records to see how much money has been spent on similar exhibitions. Reviewing these documents can help you ensure an accurate return on your investment, plan ways to save money, and determine if your budget is on track.
Create a briefing
Your briefing should contain all the necessary information to ensure you achieve the goals and objectives of your exhibition, including:
- key messages
- Promotions to use before, during, and after the show
- Key metrics for ROI or exhibition success
- A mandatory look at your programs
- Key features of your stand, namely:
- Meeting point/guests
- Creative exhibition stand design
- Audio-visual integration
- Product presentation/demonstration
Location is important
It would help if you placed your presentation in a location that is easily accessible to businesses and visitors and that fits the size and style of your presentation. Consider the location of the facility, ease of access, and size of the showroom. You should choose your location after determining the number of exhibiting companies and the expected number of visitors. We recommend choosing a location near the train station with parking and good transport links.
Marketing Plan
To ensure a successful exhibition, you need to create a good marketing plan. A large portion of your budget should be allocated to marketing expenses. Two approaches are required. First, you need to promote your exhibition to attendees. It would help if you convinced them that the exhibition includes what they want and need and that it is in their best interest to attend the exhibition. To attract exhibitors, you need to convince them that you are attracting attendees that fit their field of expertise. Exhibitors need to know that they will get something out of the exhibition if they want to spend the money.
Logistics and transportation
Once you’ve booked your venue, your exhibitors are registered, and your visitors are looking forward to your visit, you need to make it easy for all your exhibitors to arrive at your venue and set up their stands. Contact your venue and ask if you have partner logistics services that they can offer exhibitors at lower rates. Alternatively, you can consult a reliable exhibition stand builder who specializes in exhibitions and contract with them to act as your exclusive exhibition stand design and other exhibition services.
Research your competitors
Are there any organizations offering similar products or services? Doing this research will give you a good chance to plan, anticipate, and ensure your exhibition stand design captures the attention of your attendees. Ask the following questions:
- How have you exhibited your work so far?
- Have they used any special marketing techniques to attract the crowd?
- Have they used interactive technology such as tablets or projection mapping?
You will need to develop a strategy so that you can really make an impact. It’s also a good opportunity to network with other companies. Communicating before and after an exhibition is a great way to attract audiences from one exhibition to the next.
Create a buzz
The key to a successful exhibition is to attract people through the exhibition stand. If people don’t come to the exhibition, companies won’t be able to earn the expected profits. Address specific target groups and use all marketing tools to promote your exhibition details. If you use social media, you can also provide exhibitors with marketing materials such as images and template posts to leverage your contact database and spread your message far and wide.
