5 Reasons Exhibition Booths Fail and How to Avoid Them
Prevent an exhibition failure
Exhibitions offer many opportunities. They offer industry professionals the opportunity to network with other leaders from around the world, learn about the latest innovations, demonstrate their products, and make quality contacts to grow their businesses.
However, if you don't have experience planning and executing your exhibition initiatives, it's easy to make mistakes. There will likely be some issues with your first exhibition booths - but it always pays to prepare as best you can to avoid them.
Not everyone can come up with amazingly unique booth ideas for their first trade show. However, there are a few ways to be careful when choosing a trade show booth. The trade show booth rentals you choose can make or break your chances at the trade show. Therefore, it's important to know some details in advance.
Whether your last trade show was unsuccessful and you're not sure why, or you're venturing into the world of trade shows for the first time and want to get it right, here are the top 5 reasons for trade show booth failure and how to avoid them.
1. You didn't plan far enough in advance.
An exhibition booth should never be planned at the last minute. From marketing to the event to creating a compelling presence, preparing your team for a trade show is complex, costly, and complicated.
So when exhibitors don't take the time to implement a well-thought-out trade show strategy, it shows.
Ideally, you should start planning for your exhibition at least a few months before the event. That may sound excessive, but you need to give yourself time to figure out how trade shows fit into your overall marketing strategy. Then decide how you'll track and measure the return of investment for the event, plan your trade show budget, and procure all the resources you need to make the show a success.
2. Your exhibit is confusing, unclear, or uninviting.
For many people you meet at a trade show, your booth is the first impression they've of your brand. If it's cluttered, overcrowded or otherwise uninteresting, visitors will be quick to overlook your booth for that of a competitor.
Be prepared to invest a lot of time and money in designing and building your booth. Make sure your signage, giveaways and other marketing materials reflect your brand. If you're introducing a new product at the show, design an engaging presentation to show it at its best to interested customers.
If you don't have the resources or expertise to design and build an eye-catching trade show booth, you can outsource this process to a company that specializes in trade show booth design and build.
Hiring an outside service provider to take care of everything from booth design and delivery to dismantling and storage gives you more time to focus on the essentials of your event.
3. Your booth staff is unprepared
Nothing is as damaging to customer retention as a staff member who can not answer basic questions about your exhibit, product or company.
Make sure your trade show staff can:
Talk about your brand's mission, values, and products.
Understand your goals for the show and work toward them.
Answer any questions an attendee might have about your product and services.
Provide a friendly, helpful, and inviting appearance to anyone who passes by your booth.
Training is critical to a successful event, whether you outsource your trade show staff or send internal marketing and salespeople to the booth.
4. You didn't market your exhibition in time
Trade shows aren't just for making new contacts, they're also a great opportunity to meet and build relationships with existing prospects, customers and partners.
So once you've settled on an appealing message and a goal for the event, you should write to all the contacts in your database to let them know you'll be at the trade show, where your booth will be and what and who they can expect to see there.
Remember: your follow-ups don't have to be dry marketing emails. Make sure your booth staff is taking notes and recording important, individual details about everyone they interacted with at the event. Use this information to personalize your follow-ups for tremendous success.
5. You didn't ask for help
You're only human. As your company's event manager, you probably already have a lot on your plate, and it's okay to ask for help when you're overwhelmed.
Whether this is your first time attending a trade show or you're a seasoned trade show veteran, it never hurts to outsource certain preparation activities, such as booth design and development, to experienced professionals. Building a trade show booth is a big job, and the best way to make sure it's done right is to hire an outside team that isn't bogged down in the day-to-day operations.
Trade shows offer the unique opportunity to connect with your customers face-to-face - something that is rare in today's highly digitized world. Do not waste your trade show budget by making these rookie mistakes. Remember to plan, market and follow up with your contacts, and ask for help when you need it, and you'll be well on your way to maximizing your trade show participation return on investment.
Connect with our experts and select the ideal exhibition booth design that will increase your return on investment. We have been in the trade show booth rental business for years, so we can suggest some of the most unique yet practical trade show booth ideas for our clients. Browse through our portfolio page know more about excellent ideas for your upcoming trade show. Call us at 02196621490 or email us at info@amitiss.com to get a free consultation with our experts.
