A step-by-step guide to exhibiting and how you can drive value from your participation and guarantee return on investment

Exhibitor Resources

EXHIBITING SUCCESS

Introduction 3

Planning and preparation 4

Deciding on your booth 5

Pre-event marketing, sponsorship and advertising 6

Exhibiting essentials 7

Partnerships and sponsors 8

On with the show

Choosing your ‘ambassadors’ 9

Make an impact during the show 9

Use social media to generate interest 10

After the event 10

Measuring the success of your presence at a show 11

Return on investment 12

Useful links 13

Contents

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IntroductionSo you’ve decided to take the plunge and showcase your company’s talents and products at an exhibition or trade show – congratulations! Taking your business ‘on the road’ is a significant investment, not least in terms of the cost of exhibiting and time spent in planning and representation on your booth itself.

However, Smarter Shows is here to help. Our world-class team is specialized in delivering shows and events that drive the highest return on your time, resources and budget. All you need to do now is grab a coffee and let our Expo Guide help you through the next steps of taking your exhibition planning off the drawing board and onto the show floor.

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Our world-class team is specialized in delivering shows

and events

Planning and preparationAsk yourself – who is my audience? What are the goals for your business by taking a booth?

● How many sales leads are you aiming to generate? ● Is exhibiting a brand awareness exercise? ● Are you looking to grow your database?● Are you launching a new product at the show? ● Are your competitors exhibiting? ● Are any of your existing customers exhibiting or visiting? If yes, is

there an opportunity to arrange meetings with them? ● Who is the target audience? Which companies attended the event

last year? ● Think about your goals and how you will measure success.

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Who is the target audience? Which

companies attended the event last year?

● What size booth do you need? Feature booth for a large display?● What kind of equipment will you need – and will it be cost-effective to

bring the display equipment with you or hire it on-site? ● Remember that designing an ‘impressive’ booth is not as important as

communicating your core message – which may be done from a ‘simpler’ platform.

● Take care with graphics/dates emblazoned on your booth that could render it a single-use investment only. If you are likely to attend many conventions, you should consider investing in a booth that is flexible and easy to assemble and transport.

● Ask your retailer about the warranty on the booth – this will give you a good indication of the confidence the retailer has in the product.

● Are you bringing in equipment or a vehicle? ● Are you happy to be close to competitors – or do you want to set yourself

apart to emphasize differences in products or methods?● Positions near entrances and exits attract plenty of traffic, especially

those near registration areas. ● Setting up shop near the refreshment area can be a great way to promote

your business over a drink and a snack.● Who will be representing your company at the event? See our tips on this

later in the guide.● If you are planning to give out samples or catalogs (and possibly some

goodie bags) you’ll probably need storage and display facilities. ● When considering the ‘interior’ of your booth, aside from furniture, think

about how you will use/store display equipment.● Plan ahead and order your marketing materials and merchandise to get

better prices.

Deciding on your booth

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Smart Tips►► Prices and quality of booth

designs can vary greatly, so get some initial quotes and draft designs from several sources – but bear in mind you’ll need to do this at least a couple of months in advance.

►► Well-chosen color schemes have the ability to create the impression of space and direct visitors’ attention to your featured products, so check out how best to harmonize these with your corporate colors/identity.

►► Make sure all your boxes are clearly labeled on all sides. It might sound obvious, but quickly knowing which box contains the stuff you need will save time – and tempers.

►► Check your checklist! All your careful planning will amount to nothing if you arrive at the event and can’t remember what should have arrived with you. Make sure everyone involved has access to the most up-to-date checklist.

● Are you taking advantage of the free marketing and PR opportunities available to exhibitors?

● We can help with organizing e-invites, website/signature banners, social media and press releases. Add to that the pre-show Preview magazine, speaking opportunities and Show Dailies, which are great opportunities to raise your profile before and during the event.

● Set up PPC campaigns specific to the trade show. ● If you are about to launch a new project or initiative, your booth could

make the ideal launch pad – in which case you may want that product to be the dominant feature of your exhibition presence.

● Have you considered sponsorship or advertising? There are a range of outlets available including Show Guide, Show Preview, e-newsletter advertising options plus event, branding, digital and thought leadership sponsorship opportunities.

Pre-event marketing, sponsorship and advertising

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Smart Tips►► Keep in mind the benefits of

social media for informing existing customers about your exhibit.

►► Here is one example of how to reach out to potential targets.

We can help with organizing e-invites,

website/signature banners, social media and

press releases

A checklist and timeline of essentials to be completed before your exhibition debut will make your task run smoothly and help you ensure success. The Smarter Shows checklist has been developed for just this purpose and is outlined here:

Complete online company profile for the A-Z exhibitor list and on-site Show Guide listing. This company description gives visitors the opportunity to understand more about your company’s background, activities, products and services.

ASAP

Upload company logo – this will strengthen the branding of your online listing. ASAP

Order your complimentary marketing materials. Promote your exhibit to enhance booth traffic. The Smarter Shows marketing team can provide customized banners, ads, email signatures, invitations in pdf or html formats and a highlighted floor plan for you to distribute via your own database.

ASAP

Let us help you with public relations. Our PR team works hard to secure as much editorial as possible within the industry. The PR team is in constant contact with the press, who are actively interested in writing about our shows, exhibitors and their products and services.

ASAP

The more information we receive from you regarding your company, products and services, new launches and special events, the more we can promote them to the media. Please email all press releases to marketing@smartershows.com.

ASAP

Add the show website address and logo to your own website and email footer to let your clients know the dates, how to register and the booth number so they can find you.

ASAP

Many of our media partners will be running show previews, so consider advertising in those too. ASAP

Consider sponsorship opportunities before and during the show to increase your show presence. ASAP

Consider advertising in the official show publications. ASAP

Promote booth on corporate website, attach promotional banner to email signature using unique registration link. ASAP

Submit details of exhibit, e.g. a new product, equipment, demonstrations, etc. 12 weeks out

Many of our events have a ‘Win a Booth’ competition – ask us for details. 12 weeks out

Final deadline to submit your company profile, which will be listed in the Official Show Guide. 10 weeks out

Social media: Join the LinkedIn page and start or engage with group discussions. The page is a great place to interact with potential customers and visitors to the show.

8 weeks out

Tweet to promote your presence at the event and talk about what you’ll be doing and showing. Use the official hashtag (contact us if you are unsure about this). We will pick up on this and will potentially re-tweet it to our followers. Comment on what we’re tweeting and get your voice heard by the industry community!

8 weeks out

Don’t forget to follow and contribute to the event you are attending via the relevant social media pages such as Facebook and YouTube.

8 weeks out

Ensure that you have sent out your complimentary invites to your database. 8 weeks out

Order customer badges via the N200 Partner Portal. 6 weeks out

Prepare press release announcing participation and product/service. Send to marketing contact. 6 weeks out

Press offices at our events are visited by all journalists attending the show. Each exhibitor can prepare up to 20 press packs, which will be displayed within the press office for journalists to peruse and take away. This is a great opportunity for you to raise your profile with the press, invite them to any on-site events or promotions taking place on your booth, and help you obtain fantastic extra coverage.

4 weeks out

Contact press for confirmation of attendance and arrange meetings. 4 weeks out

Arrange meetings with key customers. 4 weeks out

Schedule tweets 2 weeks out

Download our Tradeshow Planner to ensure you plan your participation effectively

Exhibiting essentials

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This could be an ideal way of sharing or offsetting some of the cost of your booth. For example:● If you are a developer or supplier of green technology products, check

out what support might be available from government departments or agencies via your local trade association.

● Try to get a contribution from the manufacturer of the products or services you will be promoting on your booth – after all, it’s a great opportunity for them too!

Partnerships and sponsors

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Try to get a contribution from the manufacturer of

the products or services you will be promoting on

your booth

Remember that first impressions really do count. You’ve got a great-looking booth – but do you have the right staff in place to really sell your services?● Think about whether your team appears too young or inexperienced for

the industry or task in hand. ● Your team needs to know that they should be on show, on time – and not

(visibly) nursing a hangover from last night’s networking reception!● Think about image and branding – what should your

representatives wear? ● Most importantly, your firm’s ambassadors should be friendly, outgoing

and know your company and its products inside out!

● If you are not launching a new product or service, your exhibition booth still gives you an ideal platform to host an event or experience to maximize the investment in your presence.

● The scope of hosting a personalized event will depend on the size of your booth – in addition to your budget. Remember, small is beautiful too. When it comes to giveaways, make sure your gifts are relevant and memorable branded merchandise.

● Whatever you decide, keep it safe, simple, fun and engaging. Why not ask your staff what they would expect to see and do?

● Take advantage of as many on-site marketing opportunities as possible, including video interviews, show dailies, social media, press events and press releases.

Choosing your ‘ambassadors’

Make an impact during the show

On with the showOn with the show

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● Social media is the perfect traveling companion and is also an ideal way of reaching out to exhibition visitors who are all your potential customers.

● Coordinate your social media traffic to blog and tweet regular updates about what’s happening at your booth throughout the show – and channel this through your presence on Facebook and other platforms.

● Use the event hashtag and tag the event Twitter account to further increase your visibility during the show.

● Prompt follow-up on the contacts and leads generated by your booth is critical. It pays to have your after-event campaign ready to launch, so that response emails can be sent and calls made to help you stand out from the crowd.

● But don’t just dump names on a marketing or newsletter mailing list – invest time in tailoring what you send to potential customers to maximize the impact and nurture those all-important sales.

Use social media to generate interest

After the event

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● There are many ways to do this – and your initial goals should form part of the calculation. Here’s one link to a fairly straightforward and accurate way of estimating revenue that could be generated after taking part in a trade show.

● Immediately after attending an event, evaluate your performance, identify areas of improvement and put a plan in place for next time. Key areas to cover include:

● How did you perform against your exhibiting objectives?● What could you do differently to improve next time?● What were the major challenges at the show?● What happened that you did not expect or for which you were

unprepared?● Were there areas for which you could have planned better?● Could/should the booth itself be modified?● How effective were the staff on your booth?

Measuring the success of your presence at a show

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Smart Tips►► Why not invite a select group of

visitors, including established customers, to your booth to give their views on your look and performance?

►► Think about budgeting to give those who take part in your survey a token gift or reward for their timely feedback.

►► If you have leftover branded merchandise from an exhibition, think about doing a good deed for your community and spreading the good name of your brand. You could donate pens, bookmarks and mouse mats to local organizations and charities.

Could/should the booth itself

be modified?

● Managing and measuring ROI on your next event really begins a long time before you even enter the exhibition hall and start setting up shop. For example, you should already have a clear sales or marketing objective in mind. Remember, the event you are attending is a means to a profitable end for you!

● Add your reasons for taking part in the exhibition in the first place to the ROI measurement mix. Are you attending to boost sales and awareness, or to nurture a relationship with a business partner? Understanding your firm’s objective up front will make it easier to decide how you can evaluate success.

● To track the ROI from your investment in an event, start by logging all your leads in an effective customer relationship management (CRM) system. This will allow you to track follow-up over an agreed period of time – which will relate to your firm’s usual sales cycle.

● If your attendance was in support of long-term sales cycles, the show may be more about making good impressions and capturing leads. In which case, leads should turn into opportunities, which should eventually turn into closed deals. Knowing in advance how many opportunities and closed sales you want from the show, and within what period of time, will help you create some post-show milestones for evaluating effectiveness.

Smart TipsOur six best ideas for basic ROI measurements:►► What were your specific goals

and what progress did you make toward them?

►► What was the actual total spend compared with the exhibition budget?

►► How many orders were received, and what was the total dollar amount of orders written after the event? Try measuring post-show sales at the 90 and 180-day points, unless you have a very long sales cycle. Also take into consideration the frequency of the show.

►► How many leads did you capture – and how many of them were ‘A’, ‘B’ or ‘C’ leads? What is the estimated total sales potential of the leads?

►► What was your cost per lead? (Divide total number of leads captured by total show investment to find this figure).

►► What did it cost you to generate a face-to-face contact? To work out this figure, multiply your total lead count by 2.4. This will give you a reasonably accurate way of calculating total traffic at your booth. Then divide total show investment by estimated total booth traffic.

Check out this blog for some extra ideas for formulating your ROI calculation.

Return on investment

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To track the ROI from your investment in an event, start

by logging all your leads in an effective customer relationship

management (CRM) system

The Smarter Shows team is constantly working to provide you with the ultimate exhibition experience, and will work with you to increase your company’s exposure and return on investment. We’re also here to help you draw on a whole world of innovative ideas that can help your booth stand out.

Here is a selection of useful links offering ideas to enhance your company’s presence on the exhibition floor.

● Get fruity with your exhibition marketing. For a fresh and healthy approach, why not offer booth visitors a taste of some corporate-branded fruit and drink snacks while you talk to them about your product – an ideal appetizer while you tempt them with your product as dessert!

● Show your company has global reach by offering a personalized wi-fi hotspot on your booth. Visitors can check their emails for free – and contact details can be collated instantly off-site via wi-fi or 4G, allowing your sales team to get a head start on leads.

● Color your perfect mobile marketing environment. You don’t have to have a complete overhaul of your brand to show that you are a modern and fashionable company. Check out the colors that are trending and ideal for helping you stand out from the corporate shade.

● Packing for a trouble-free start. Whether you are a major company or small startup, packing what you need for your booth can be stress free with a little forward planning.

● What if… insurance coverage is a sensible part of your exhibition planning, and you should seek professional advice.

Useful links

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