How to Promote Your Business at a Trade Fair?

Trade fairs have grown to be massive productions, where everyone is trying to outdo everyone else and it’s more or less turning into a circus before you know it. You will hear so much about trying to find your theme, having a theme or hosting special giveaways. Not everyone has the time nor the budget to bring these crazy schemes to reality and we’re here to help you understand that you don’t need them. There are simple ways to promote your business at a trade fair that doesn’t draw you back financially.

If you prefer to approach advertising at any trade event in a striped way, we’re here to show you the tried-and-true techniques that always get good engagement and results:

Bring Your Products and Host a Demo

The easiest way to sell your product is to show how it performs. Video materials can only do this to a degree and clients are well aware how much you can fake with the right editor and special effects software. Bring multiples to your booth and host live demonstrations. If you want to take this one idea further, then we highly recommend you also bring in an audience member to interact with the product. The person will have multisensory experience that has a strong effect over the decision making process and you also showcase how intuitive the product design is that even a total stranger can use it without difficulty.

Wear Your Brand Proudly

Although you have to be dressed and groomed appropriately for the business atmosphere at a trade fair, you should incorporate ways to show off your brand through your dress. The easiest way is to wear company initials on pins and badges that can signal your involvement with the brand, but you’ve subtler ways to do so. Carry out branded clipboards, water bottles, phone cases and scarves. One of the most creative takes on this piece of advice is for the entire team to buy clothes that are the same colors as your logo and company website. If you have a whole team that’s dressed in, say, green and purple, you have a far better chance to stand out.

Come Prepared with Promotional Materials

Leaflets, business cards and display boards are staples in marketing for a reason. They work and although they’re evolving there’s still need for them. Display boards engage trade visitors from a further distance and leaflets are highly informative. Business cards promote your brand and give a way for prospect buyers to get in touch. What changes is how you employ these tools. What we’ve seen in recent years is the movement away from physical business cards and going completely digital. There are apps that allow you to create and send out business cards virtually and scan the physical ones you receive for safekeeping and catalogue.

A Good Booth Design Goes a Long Way

Much like wearing branded items on your clothing, an exhibition booth is a passive marketing tool and does the job for you. Because it doesn’t rely on personality of your sales team so much to catch the eye of trade visitors from afar, there needs to be a strong design concept behind it. You want to play with colors, shape and typography in a way that stands out. It’s only through a creative and fun design that achieves enough contrast with your immediate neighbors that you’re able to gain further foot traffic.

Don’t Be Afraid to Position Yourself Close to Competitors

This might be the most controversial piece of advice, because if you’re up against the market leader in your sector, you might not lose more prospect buyers. However, there’s a hidden positive to this arrangement and that it’s you’ll be in a high-traffic area. With so many trade visitors lining up to check your strongest competitors, you’ll have more opportunities to practice your sales pitch and cater to people are not being paid attention to. Another reason to seek out competitors is because trade visitors will want to research as many brands one after the other, and there’s a convenience to being in a cluster all together.

That’s it. Five simple things that will work in your favor no matter where in the world you’ve set your sight on exhibiting in! Tell us what you’ve found to work best for you.