Let’s be truthful here. We are amongst friends. When the pressure is on and we are in the midst of planning for our trade show booth don’t we wish we had a checklist handy to keep us on track? Well when I came across these 8 tips I knew I just had to share it with all of you.
Sure I have exhibited umpteen times in my sales and marketing career but you are never too old (or experienced) to rely on a great planning strategy. That’s why these great tips from Total Displays are truly invaluable.
The 8 steps that they share in their checklist are as follows:
ONE
Know your target market.
TWO
Set your goals for your booth.
THREE
Have a clear exhibition marketing plan.
FOUR
Consider required production time (i.e. for booth construction, brochures, swag / branded giveaways, promotional clothing, etc.)
FIVE
Market your attendance. Let the world know that you will be there via press releases, email broadcasts, social media, etc. Invite those who are attending to visit your booth. Give them your booth number or booth location.
SIX
Organise and ensure that your exhibition team is clear on their roles and your marketing goals for the booth.
SEVEN
Organise. Organise. Organise. Did I say organise? Make sure you will have enough promotional items, banners, equipment, cables, etc. If necessary arrange a roster so that the team is clear when they are needed in the booth and when they will have scheduled snack or lunch breaks. Have water on hand to keep the team hydrated. Make a checklist of your own for this and make sure you have it on hand before and during the exhibition.
EIGHT
And finally this is what I usually call the post mortem stage. After the event arrange a meeting with the team to do a recap of the event. Discuss what worked and what didn’t. Have a action plan for following up on the visitors to the booth and any sales leads that you may have. It is also a nice touch to send a written “Thank You” to the organisers and sponsors of the event. Never know…additional leads may come out of these interactions. Most importantly MEASURE YOUR SUCCESS and give some thought to how you can make it better the next time.
Hope this proves useful to many of you. If there are any other steps that you think we should include in this type of planning checklist share with us in the comments section below.
Happy Eventing!
