Exhibitions are often a valuable way of meeting new prospective clients. Providing you plan carefully and choose the right exhibition, you could potentially create the foundations for growth in both contacts and sales. It will also give you the opportunity to check out your competitors and see what they are doing.

There is no actual rule of thumb, costs can vary from venue to venue. The exhibition organisers or events organisers calculate their charges based on the space you occupy and the location within the venue. This rate will take into consideration the value of the potential traffic which will pass your stand, for example if you are opposite a cafe you are likely to have a larger audience and will have higher price for space rent. Other cost that will occurs when exhibiting are booth construction, electrical services, furniture rental, digital printing, souvenir gaveaway, staff training, and accomodation.

Public and Consumer shows can generate instant cash, unless you are promoting kitchens or garage doors. Trade shows are not likely to generate you instant orders – the real world is done following up after the show to make sales, and in many cases buyers wait until they see you again next year to make sure you’re still trading. Trade shows are generally a long-term investment. It is vitally important that you keep a record of all the visitors who have expressed an interest in your goods, services or company. This could be a visitors book for recording follow ups or a bowl that contacts can put their business cards in. The bigger exhibitions often use a variety of technologies to help you collect visitor data, the most common are barcode scanners which will read the badges I.D.s of the visitors to your stand. The contact details of all those visitors are then sent to you after the event. Bear in mind that there is often a surprisingly long lead time between making first contact and an order being secured, so measuring cost-effectiveness has to take the long-term view.

You need to exhibit at shows that are relevant to your industry, there is no point exhibiting at a electronic show if you are in the fashion industry. Look for shows where most of your target audience will attend and avoid general shows. Request last year’s show guide from the organisers and see if the well-known names from your industry are there. The organisers will be able to give you a detailed breakdown of exhibitors and visitors from previous years. Check this to see if your rivals, customers and targets are shown. It is best to do your research and visit first before booking up for next year. This also gives you an idea of the best spaces to book (if they are available within your budget). Try to avoid shows that are run for the first time, they take time to become established and recognised.

Plan well in advance atleast 6-7 months before the show, as exhibitions can be expensive and good planning usually saves you money. Make sure you have set clear objectives and goals for what it is your aiming to achieve at the exhibition. Are you launching a new product or want to raise your profile and improve brand awarness? Create an overview to include a list of services or products to be displayed, show details, logistics etc. Have a look at our stand brief form this will help. Good exhibition organisers produce detailed manuals giving cut-off dates for when certain items must be booked – electrical requirements, water & waste, show catalogue entry, fascia name etc. Printing and Design takes time.

When choosing your stand location, it’s essential to know where your competitors are, who is around you and the main aisle positions. If your next to a large exhibition stand, then you have an opportunity to attract traffic from them. On the other hand, if you have a fairly small stand next to a huge stand, then you might not get noticed. A key factor to your position is footfall/traffic and this is also one the most important factors to consider. While you want your stand to be in a great position where plenty of people see it, they have got to want to come on to it, be inviting and open! Another good way to choose your exhibition stand location is from previous experience. A number of shows have their own querks, which will only be realised from previous experience so we advise that you speak to people who have exhibited their before.

Not everyone is suited to manning an exhibition stand effectively, you must have a positive attitude to attract new customers and expect to be on your feet for a long time. Whoever you choose must have full knowledge of your products and services and be comfortable to present and demonstrate them. It is important to have the right people on the stand, they should have look presentable and, most importantly, must be able to interact well with visitors. Also make sure your staff are easily identifiable to visitors. The number of people required depends on the size of the stand, ideally even a small stand you should have at least two staff – what happens if you need the toilet or want some lunch. A pre-show meeting is a great opportunity for marketing, management, and sales to review your mission. Also have a meeting each evening after the show, this gives everyone a good opportunity to discuss and review how well you performed, make any improvements to the stands functionality, and generally prepare for the next day.