Whether you love or hate them, you cannot avoid trade shows as a business owner. It’s where the most action takes place. You get to spread the word about your brand, showcase your products and services to your target audience, generate new leads, and convert them into customers and sales.
Exhibiting at a trade show requires effort, time, and money. So, you must ensure that you get the maximum value out of it. Here are the top critical trade show mistakes to avoid at your next event.
Mistake #1: Having a Poor Display
If you aren’t pulling out all the stops on designing your trade show booth, you aren’t doing it right! Your trade show booth should be colorful, attractive, vibrant, and engaging. It should quickly draw the attention of your audience. A stall that doesn’t evoke emotions like curiosity, excitement, or joy won’t create a strong impression.
Don’t make the rookie mistake of just putting a small table, exhibiting your products, and calling it a day. Doing so will make your audience walk right on by you. Instead, focus on adding suitable table top pullup banners, retractable banner stands, and more to create a stunning trade show display stand. If you have the budget, you can consider adding a backlit popup banner to make your booth stand apart from the rest.
Mistake #2: Not Generating Buzz on Social Media
It’s 2022, and everything happens on social media. If you aren’t promoting your upcoming trade show on social media, you’re missing a crucial part of reaching your target audience. Before the event, create anticipation about the trade show on your Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Organize small giveaways and get your target audience excited about the event.
Mistake #3: Hiring the Wrong Person to Run the Booth
Here’s another area where you cannot afford to make any mistakes. Many businesses hire temporary workers or interns to work their booths. That can backfire. The role of the booth attendant is not to stand there passively and hand out brochures to event attendees.
The audience sees the employees at your booth as the face of your company. They should have the expertise to answer questions competently and convince customers to try your products.
Mistake #4: Annoying Attendees
No one likes to be ambushed at trade shows. While you cannot passively stand and hand out brochures, you also don’t want to bully people into listening to your pitches. Instead, you can focus on interactive demonstrations that engage your audience without feeling overly aggressive. Hosting games and puzzles is a great way to make the audience stop at your booth.
Mistake #5: Failing to Determine Your Trade Show Goals
Why are you attending trade shows? Is it to enhance brand recognition or collect leads? Whatever the reason, you must determine your goal before setting up the booth. Measure your results after the trade show to see if you have achieved the initial purposes. This step helps you identify what went wrong and what could be done better at your next event.
Trade shows are an excellent business opportunity to land long-term clients and increase revenue. Avoid these five common mistakes to make your business stand out and achieve your trade show goals.