How can you tailor your personal brand for different trade shows?

1 Identify your objectives

Before you attend any trade show, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve. Do you want to generate leads, increase sales, build relationships, or raise awareness? Your objectives will help you define your message, your pitch, and your call to action. For example, if you want to generate leads, you might want to focus on highlighting the benefits and features of your product or service, and offer a free trial or a discount. If you want to build relationships, you might want to emphasize your values, your vision, and your story, and invite people to join your community or network.

2 Research your audience

Once you know your objectives, you need to research your audience. Who are they, what are their pain points, what are their interests, and what are their expectations? You can use online tools, social media, industry reports, or surveys to gather information about your target market. You can also look at the trade show website, agenda, and exhibitors list to get a sense of the theme, the topics, and the trends. By researching your audience, you can tailor your personal brand to match their needs, preferences, and values. For example, if your audience is tech-savvy, you might want to use jargon, data, and case studies to demonstrate your expertise and credibility. If your audience is eco-conscious, you might want to use stories, images, and testimonials to show your social and environmental impact.

3 Craft your story

Tailoring your personal brand for different trade shows is best achieved by crafting your story. Your story should be authentic, compelling, and relevant to your audience and objectives. To craft an effective story, start with a hook - a question, statistic, quote, or fact that grabs attention and sparks curiosity. Then introduce the problem your product or service addresses. Present the solution and share the results of your product or service. Finally, end with a call to action that prompts action from the audience. You can adapt your story for different trade shows by changing the hook, problem, solution, or results to fit the audience, industry, and niche. For example, if attending a trade show for health and wellness, you might use a hook related to well-being, a problem related to stress, a solution related to relaxation, and a result related to happiness.

4 Design your visuals

Another way to tailor your personal brand for different trade shows is to design your visuals. Your visuals are the elements that enhance your story, such as your logo, your colors, your fonts, your images, your videos, or your infographics. Your visuals should be consistent, attractive, and memorable, and reflect your personality, your style, and your message. You can customize your visuals for different trade shows by changing the colors, the fonts, the images, or the videos, depending on the mood, the tone, and the theme of the event. For example, if you are attending a trade show for creative industries, you might want to use bright colors, playful fonts, artistic images, or animated videos.

5 Practice your delivery

The final step to tailor your personal brand for different trade shows is to practice your delivery. Your delivery is the way you communicate your story and your visuals, such as your voice, your body language, your gestures, or your eye contact. Your delivery should be confident, clear, and engaging, and convey your passion, your enthusiasm, and your emotion. You can modify your delivery for different trade shows by changing the volume, the speed, the tone, or the emphasis of your voice, or the posture, the movement, the expression, or the contact of your body, depending on the size, the format, and the atmosphere of the event. For example, if you are attending a trade show for professional services, you might want to use a moderate volume, a steady speed, a formal tone, or a strong emphasis of your voice, or a straight posture, a minimal movement, a neutral expression, or a direct contact of your body.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?