Market your Brand Effectively at Trade Shows

One of the most overlooked forms of direct marketing is trade show exhibition. Many businesses never consider this method of marketing due to the assumption that the cost of exhibiting is too high. While this can be true for some small businesses, there are many opportunities for small businesses to have a presence at these conventions and expos without breaking the bank.

Many business owners are under the impression that a successful exhibition will cost significantly more than the return the business will see from it. This is a real possibility in any industry, however, a well managed exhibiting campaign can provide a lot of return on investment.

The first step in being successful with trade show exhibits is to come up with a budget for the entire campaign. The cost of booth space is going to be the first cost you need to account for. If your industry has multiple trade shows each year, you may not be able to participate in all of them. You need to do your homework on which events will be most cost effective. How far will you have to travel to exhibit at a given trade show? What will exhibit shipment cost you? Do the prices vary by show? Take all of these into account when selecting the events you intend to exhibit at.

Everyone knows that a well designed trade show exhibit can help generate more traffic to your booth space, but it doesn't have to cost a fortune to be effective. Making use of eye-catching graphics that will get your message across to passers by, is probably the best way to save money while being attention getting. By deploying a smaller sized booth space, with trimmings that grab visitors attention, you can save a ton of money. One thing to remember when using a smaller booth space, is to make sure your area can accommodate more than just a few visitors at a time. Nothing can drive away potential visitors like a crowded trade show booth. To accomplish this, you must utilize an exhibit that doesn't have a large footprint. You can achieve this by having a main portion of the exhibit at the back of your space, with smaller satellite displays near the front or sides of your booth space. These can be vertical banner stands, which provide extra floor space in the exhibit area, and can also be seen from a distance by potential visitors.

Regarding the graphics you will use, it is always a good idea to invest in some very high color graphics that will draw attention. Also, you can save some money by printing a main graphic that will be relevant for a few trade shows. This will keep you from having to invest in all new graphics for each event you exhibit at. You may only need to replace the graphics on your satellite stands, which will be significantly smaller, and less costly.

Another cost saving method is to avoid spending heavily on promotional junk that will just fill the garbage cans at the convention center. If you invest in items that are inexpensive, but will still find their way into someone's office, like customized flash memory sticks, you can be sure that they will hang onto them and potentially think of your business down the road when using their nifty little handout.

Combining all of these ideas, and carefully budgeting will allow you to successfully exhibit at multiple trade shows, and provide good return on your investment.