EXPOS ARE FACE TO FACE NO BRAINERS.

BUT BE PREPARED

I say this because before you decide to invest, you must understand the pitfalls of not researching the subject, not doing so will lead you to failure, or at best, achieving only a small percentage of what is available to you.

We all know that with all the online marketing that is available, face to face events are being put aside in the hard basket.

A recent survey suggests that online marketing and selling is keeping it’s momentum and growing, BUT not in all sectors and not in all demographics. You will have to establish that your business is one of those that is very reliant on online marketing, before you can conclude that Trade Shows are not for you.

Here is another survey result I came across recently, which may give you some idea where you are at present with your marketing strategy (see attached) 

*According to the CEIR Study

As YOU can see person-to-person events are ahead of the other strategies by a country mile.

Once you have established where your business stands in the marketing sphere, you must come to the conclusion that, as the figures above show, Expos are still a medium that you cannot ignore when establishing face-to-face contact with your clients and prospects.

Being at these person to person events, doing the expected face to face interaction will not only benefit your clients and your prospects, but it will also teach you and your staff more about your business, your product and what your customers want.

Not only does the face-to-face contact provide you with sales opportunities, but the conversations you have with prospects will challenge your knowledge (and the knowledge of your stuff) and highlight any missing links in your marketing.

There will be many lessons to learn, and decisions to make.

DO NOT INVEST BEFORE YOU HAVE ANSWERS TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS.

Are the organisers experienced in your field? 

How many exhibitors did they have at same Trade Show over the last two years?

This will give you confidence that this is an Expos, that your competitors have been willing to invest in.

How many visitors attended this Expo over the last couple of years, and what was the main demographic of those that visited. This will give you the indication that the visitors are the same demographic, you believe are more likely to be interested in your product or service

What is the marketing campaign for the Expo going to be like?

What is the nature the advertising campaign

Are there going to be any Industry recognised speakers?

Where are they going to advertise the Expo, which magazines, what TV stations and what time slots.

Who are the major sponsors?

All of this should indicate to you if this is going to be a trade show you want to invest your hard earned money in, if the organisers are not investing, then neither should you.

You also want to exhibit because you have some very important business goals you want to achieve.

SO SET YOUR GOALS

If you are thinking of going to a Expo because that is something you do every year, then you should think again.

When you set your goals it is advisable to make a list of goals,

Just one or two, as otherwise it will become a list of wishes and dreams, and probably achieve nothing.

Focus one of or two.

Here are some goals that may suit your business:

To enhance the awareness of your business and your product to the B2B marketplace

Launching a new product.

Generating qualified leads.

Getting noticed by a new segment in the marketplace

To survey the position of your company and your product, against that of your competition.

As you can see these are not goals that are very compatible with each other and therefore you cannot take them all to the same expo and hope you can achieve all of them. In fact, it is more likely that you’ll achieve nothing at all.

There is no doubt that Expos offer marketing opportunities that a business marketing mix should not do without, but like we said in the beginning, it’s not for the faint-hearted and a lot of work and planning is required to achieve maximum success.

The one thing that we do not want to see happening is going to a Expo unprepared, and unarmed. In most cases, this will lead to the notion that the Expo was unsuccessful, and it did not make the revenue expected, and therefore GIVE UP.

Grab an info pack for the 2018 Brisbane Small Business Expo on 11th May by emailing paula.brand@livingwithit.com.au or call 0475 411 793