We are well and truly into the exhibition season again and many businesses in the borough of Richmond are recognising the benefits of getting out and exhibiting.
I’m evangelical about the power exhibitions can have on your business – so much so that I’ve written a book about how SMEs can make a success of exhibitions. Exhibitions can help you build your database, raise your profile and generate paying clients – but only if they’re planned and executed the right way.
I work a lot with exhibition organisers – running seminars on “How to exhibit” for their exhibitors and last week I had the pleasure of talking to exhibitors at the Best of Richmond’s Richmond Business Expo to help them understand some of the steps they can take to make sure of success.
Here are a few things I got them thinking about...
1. Know why you’re going and what you want to achieve. What’s your goal? Your key message? How can you tailor your message to the show? How can you tap into what’s motivating the visitors to attend the show?
2. Think creatively about how you can bring your business to life. And don’t settle for boring when it comes to the design of your posters or your giveaways. Be creative, imaginative and bold.
3. Run a giveaway to capture data but make sure what you’re giving away is both relevant and enticing to the visitors. Bottle of champagne giveaways won’t build you a targeted list – just a list of people who want to win a bottle of champagne. A waste of time!
4. Follow up on your leads quickly - before your competitors do! Write emails and follow up letters beforehand and clear your diary for a couple of days following the show so that you can deal with the follow up properly.
5. Have a strong and targeted marketing plan that helps you build relationships with your leads, position yourself as an expert and keep yourself front of mind over the year that follows the event. Exhibition success doesn’t happen overnight so be prepared to work hard and it will pay dividends.
Flourish Design and Marketing