Entrepreneur.com highlights six common errors to avoid in order to achieve a successful trade show.
Charles Dugan, writing for Entrepreneur.com, has listed his six tips to get the most out of a trade show, and to ensure your money and time is not wasted. The primary error that Dugan pinpoints is a poor display in your booth, citing a lack of vibrancy which will disengage potential visitors and clients. Dugan advocates utilising your budget to create a fun display which instantly tells people what your business is about.
The second key error highlighted is lack of social media; not just citing a lack of social media altogether, but furthermore, failing to integrate your social media accounts with those of the trade show itself. To use social media to integrate, interact, and promote, according to Dugan, is to define your company as industry experts. Having a defined goal is another key requirement, knowing what it is you wish to accomplish and how you’re going to make that happen.
Throughout the show itself, there are further commonplace errors that can be so easily avoided. One such error is the wrong choice of person in your booth – Dugan argues that if your clients are speaking to temps with no intimate knowledge of your business, the whole show becomes a wasted opportunity. Another in-show error is to ‘ambush’ attendees, forcing them into conversation against their will. However, it is also a mistake to remain too passive and hope people will make their way to you – you must create a reason for potential clients to come forward.
The final main mistake listed is the failure to follow up on the leads generated from the show. A Salesforce survey showed that 80 percent of exhibitors at major trade shows fail to follow up on the leads gathered throughout the show. Dugan asserts that the trick is to reconnect and turn leads into customers as soon as possible after the show’s conclusion, whilst your conversation is still fresh in their memory.
