Just because your business is in a very drilled down niche doesn't mean you can't attend a variety of industry trade shows and be effective. While it isn't very common, some businesses specifically exhibit at trade shows that are free of direct competition. While the topic of the show might not quite fit your niche, you will be guaranteed to be the only business of its kind at the show.
Now, I'm not saying to go and start exhibiting your hair care products company at a oilfield expo, but there are ways of finding trade shows in industries that complement your product or service. For example, if your business manufactures sunglasses, you could potentially exhibit at an outdoor/hunting/fishing type of show. This is not the same arena, but I guarantee that the majority of people that hunt/fish or engage in any other outdoor activity DO wear sunglasses. There are a lot of opportunities for this method of exhibiting, you just need to think creatively and try to choose shows that are less costly to attend.
Certain industry shows are more expensive to exhibit at than others, so you want to take note of which niches you could potentially complement and not waste your budget on totally unrelated shows. While cost is important, you also want to make sure that the cheaper events you choose actually have the volume of visitors to make your trip worth while, because no event is worth exhibiting at if the potential ROI isn't there.
While this may seem like a risky type of method, it has paid off for many different businesses in the past, as they stood out at the off-topic shows they attended and made some great contacts.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Why Hiring an Exhibiting Manager is a Good Idea
If you have any experience exhibiting at trade shows, you know how time consuming and frustrating it can be to be responsible for setting up, tearing down, storing, and shipping your trade show exhibit. Passing this responsibility on to a professional trade show management company can be well worth the cost. Imagine exhibiting at a trade show and not having to spend any effort on these time consuming activities. Instead, you can devote your time to better preparing your event staff for pitching your products and services, which will pay off better in the end.
I recommend looking for a company offering complete trade show solutions. With this type of exhibit provider, you can get the design, manufacture and management of your exhibit all in one place, which saves money, time, and headaches. Often times these types of companies will offer storage space for your exhibits as well, which can be really nice if you are lacking the space to store you exhibit yourself.
If you are looking for a reputable trade show exhibit company, which specializes in all aspects of design, manufacture, management, exhibiting and storage, you should check out Nimlok Louisiana. Located in Lafayette, Louisiana, Nimlok is the Gulf Coast's largest provider of trade show marketing solutions, and offers services worldwide. For your next industry event or expo, let the experts at Nimlok-Louisiana help make your life easier, while making your brand stand out above the rest.
I recommend looking for a company offering complete trade show solutions. With this type of exhibit provider, you can get the design, manufacture and management of your exhibit all in one place, which saves money, time, and headaches. Often times these types of companies will offer storage space for your exhibits as well, which can be really nice if you are lacking the space to store you exhibit yourself.
If you are looking for a reputable trade show exhibit company, which specializes in all aspects of design, manufacture, management, exhibiting and storage, you should check out Nimlok Louisiana. Located in Lafayette, Louisiana, Nimlok is the Gulf Coast's largest provider of trade show marketing solutions, and offers services worldwide. For your next industry event or expo, let the experts at Nimlok-Louisiana help make your life easier, while making your brand stand out above the rest.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
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.
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.
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