How to get more out of expos

Exhibitions can be costly, not least in terms of the investment required to secure a stand, but also the brand assets and merchandise needed and time involved for key team members.

So how can you ensure you’re gaining maximum value and return from involvement in a trade show?

Well, having recently returned from successfully attending and exhibiting at a major retail sector conference, I’ve got thoughts on this to share – in terms of what worked well, and also opportunities we missed.

Start planning yesterday

It probably comes as no surprise that I’d suggest starting with the end in mind, and doing so as soon as possible. Why are you exhibiting at a particular event, who are you looking to target, what would you like to come away with after the event?

To be as successful as possible events need extensive forward planning to ensure you can maximise opportunities to promote your involvement in the lead-up, and develop the best strategy for your stand and team at the event.

It’s likely that you’ll need it to be a team approach to harness everybody’s skills. Our planning was ok, however like most things we could have done with a little more time. Some elements received a lot of focus, others not so much.

Dress (a stand) to impress

This is where, in my opinion, we excelled. Our stand at the recent Natural & Organic Products Europe event in London took months of planning and it showed. Our brand team pulled a blinder in terms of demonstrating our products in the best light, attracting people to the stand and telling our story.

On what basis do I give such a glowing report? Well, because the stand was so busy! Attendees were stopping to find out more, asking for samples, and were interested and engaged in our range of products. Plus, in the main it was the right type of delegates visiting the stand – in our case, senior buyers for online and high street health and wellness retailers looking to add revolutionary new products to their range.

In fact, there are certain buyers that we’d been trying to target previously without success – but when they met us at the expo and saw the stand and our products, they were keen to find out more.

The stand was a real hive of activity. So much so that, on occasion, we didn’t have enough team members to talk to everybody who visited…

Work the team

So, hands up, this is the area where we could have done more.

The temptation with exhibitions is often to put all your energy into designing a stand with wow-factor and devising giveaways or gimmicks to attract people onto the stand. However, often this is at the expense of not giving enough attention to the people you’ll have there on the day and what they’ll be doing.

Firstly, we should have taken more people. Only you can decide what this number looks like. However, consider areas of expertise, who will perform well in a conference-type environment and of course think about competing commitments. Ideally the team you select need to be involved right from the planning stages, not just on the event days themselves.

When you know what your team will be, plan the role of each person on the day and ensure everything is in place for them to perform at their best. Is training needed in the lead-up? Do they understand the event goals? What resources will they need on the day?

Plus, think about how you can maximise the involvement of each team member.

Sweat the opportunities

An exhibition is more than just a stand.

Chances are the event will be jam-packed with your ideal target audience, and they’ll not all get opportunity to visit your stand. So, go out there and find them.

There’s nearly always opportunities to network, particularly during break-out periods – so make sure all of your team have this on their radar and walk around the event (i.e. off the stand). You never know who they might get talking to over coffee.

You might also be able to pre-arrange meetings. Check out the list of exhibitors, speakers and event partners and reach out to those of interest. By arranging a time and place to get together you’ll almost guarantee that a conversation takes place, despite the full-on busyness of trade shows where distractions are plentiful. Plus, most are likely to be impressed by a pro-active approach.

Finally, if you seek it out there’s often opportunity to offer insight and expertise during keynote/seminar sessions. However be careful to ensure content you offer is focused on advice/insight and not just a sales pitch. You’re unlikely to get a speaking slot if it’s the latter anyway – and if you do get through, a salesy approach would be a bit of a turn-off for your targets. However done right, these opportunities provide an ideal opportunity to highlight your brand as a leader in your chosen market.

Remember, these opportunities to network, make new contacts and demonstrate expertise will not come to you on the stand – you’ll need to hunt them out.

We did have a number of productive meetings at our recent event – however there was potential to do so much more. So this is a key learning point for us.

Keep hold of the ball

When you get back to the office avoid jumping straight onto the next priority. When it comes to exhibitions – this is the most important stage.

You’ve invested so much into the event, performed brilliantly at the event and come back with a long list of new connections and opportunities. But without effective follow-up that’s exactly how it might stay – as a list of names.

Follow up your new leads (within days) in whatever way feels appropriate and the targets will be receptive to. A tailored email, phone call or LinkedIn message maybe? All with the objective of securing whatever you have in mind as the next step in your conversations. And avoid generic follow-up emails – all your contacts will want to feel like you’ve carved out some time to reach back out to them, and them alone.

This is what I’m in the midst of now. And it’s the most exciting bit. Where the potential of building the profile of our brand, bringing on board new customers and generating return comes to life. At times it’s hard going, but so worth it.

I suppose it’s like most other things in business (and life). The more you put into it the more you get out.