Businesses have a wide variety of suitable solutions to help them grow. From placing adverts in the local paper to enhancing their search engine rankings, with a whole host in between, it can be confusing which form of marketing to pick.
One highly effective option when it comes to putting your brand on the global stage is trade shows. There are multiple benefits, from having access to the perfect target audience to meeting potential partners that can further elevate your platform. Let’s look at why it’s so beneficial to attend trade shows.
You get direct access to your target audience
Attending trade shows represents perhaps the easiest way of accessing your target audience. All other forms of outreach require careful consideration and planning, and even then you’ll likely be reaching out to a significant percentage of people who simply aren’t interested in what you have to provide.
With trade shows, literally everyone present is there because they have an interest in your industry. They all want to find out more, to be informed by industry experts and to see what the market has to offer. All you need to do is provide that information in an accessible manner.
Fortunately, there are many ways in which you can ensure this information is conveyed clearly and effectively – without having to hand out endless flyers to passersby. After all, studies have found that flyers are simply less effective than other forms of visual content, such as videos and product demonstrations. Moreover, if they’re given a flyer at every trade stand they visit, it’s unlikely they’ll hold onto every single one.
As such, when attending train shows and looking to solidify leads or share content, you should ensure your team is equipped with the latest tech – such as ipads or laptops, that they can use throughout their pitches. For example, they could show attendees their website or encourage them to sign up for your mailing list using this technology. However, this also means that you should look into event WiFi rental ahead of time, too – so that poor signal does not interrupt their efforts. This way, leads can be secured quickly and efficiently.
You can strengthen your brand image
In a world where many businesses solely operate online, many of your customers may struggle to put a face to your brand. Trade shows can provide an effective way of cementing your brand image, by introducing a more human element.
Your brand ambassadors can inform people, while benefiting from the legitimacy of already established brands simply by being in close proximity to them. It’s difficult to quantify the benefits of this, but having a strong brand in the current economic climate is literally everything. With so many companies emerging offering similar products and services, your brand is the best way of standing out from the crowd.
You can learn from the competition
Trade shows are also a great way of gaining some insight into what your successful competitors are doing right. While you will want your brand to be unique, there will be general formulas and strategies that are applicable to all businesses in your niche.
Just by walking around the show and taking notes, you can look at what pricing plans and other incentives your competitors are using to successfully attract customers.
You can benefit from a high ROI
Trade shows are renowned for having one of the highest ROIs of all forms of outreach. To ensure that you maximise the potential of your attendance, it’s important that you get things right – it’s sadly not enough to simply show up.
An important part of this is designing and creating your exhibition stand in an appropriate manner. For more advice on how to get it just right, reach out to industry experts, Focal Exhibitions, who can take you through the process of optimising your trade show presence.
Leave a Comment