At PrintDesigns we love helping our customers with their promotional efforts, not only by equipping them with high-quality display stands to make their trade show booth look great, but also with our regular blog updates giving tools, tips and latest industry updates in the world of marketing. In these posts you will often find us talking about things to do at trade shows and exhibitions in order to make each attendance successful, but in this post we have decided to turn it on its head. Rather than giving advice on what to do the next time you pack up your newly printed pop up stands and head to a conference centre near you, here is a list of things to avoid doing, at all costs, if you want to come back to the office with a smile on your face and lots of leads to contact!
Failing to research the exhibition
A company will do well at an exhibition if they thoroughly research the wants and needs of the customers and other businesses that will also be there. Although your product or service may be niche, the visitors at every exhibition will be looking for different requirements. Make yourself highly relevant to your consumer by learning about why they are attending the trade show, and editing your exhibition stand and business offering accordingly.
Failing to tailor your stand and marketing materials to the show
Once the research is done, this is no good if you don’t act upon it! Take the time to analyse and edit your literature and exhibition stands so that they reflect your pitch and services for each show effectively. Doing this doesn’t need to be expensive – only print a limited amount of flyers and leaflets in each individual design to ensure that no money (or paper) is wasted, but always make sure you have a copy available online if you do run out! Alternatively, investing in a fabric exhibition stand is a great idea if you feel like you will be constantly changing your graphics, as each new printed panel can be attached with Velcro, ready to be removed and reused whenever is appropriate.
Not capturing contact details
Even if you have researched properly and have prepared your booth with display stands that project the right marketing message, resulting in leads swarming to your stand, this is only useful if you accurately capture the contact details of those that are interested in your product. New customers will expect you, the brand, to contact them once they have made the initial connection at a trade show, so be organised and devise a system to make sure that the contact details of all new potential leads are captured accurately. Without doing this, you will have no new prospects to follow up after the show is over, no matter how busy your booth gets.