How to Prepare for Participating in an Exhibition?

What Is an Exhibition

To begin with, let’s figure out what an exhibition is.

An exhibition is an event that brings together participants from one industry. For example, for printers and advertisers it is the REX exhibition, held every year at the end of September in Kyiv at the KyivExpoPlaza exhibition center. It features booths of printing equipment suppliers (Minolta, Xerox, Canon, Epson, Mimaki, HP, etc.), booths of paper and consumables suppliers, and booths of print shops showing finished printed products. When the Aladdin Print printing house opens in Kyiv, it will also take part in this exhibition, but that is not the point right now.

What Result Do You Expect from Participating in an Exhibition?

First of all, it is worth noting that exhibitions are visited by interested people, that is, potential clients. An exhibition is a marketing tool. For example, at the same REX printing exhibition, the visitors will be representatives of print shops. That is why exhibitors (those who set up a booth and take part in the exhibition) prepare to collect as many contacts of potential clients as possible. Not sales, but contacts, so that after the exhibition they can get in touch with a potential client and continue the conversation.

The main goal of participating in an exhibition is collected contacts of potential clients, or existing clients introduced to a new product.

Secondary goals are:

• meet existing clients, have coffee and get their feedback;
• take a photo report and publish it on the corporate website;
• take plenty of selfies and do a little reconnaissance of competitors’ booths.

Where to Start Preparing for an Exhibition

So, the goals are clear, now let’s get down to business.

You have already decided to take part in an exhibition in your industry. You already know the exhibition, the date and the venue. You contact the organizer and book a spot in the hall. What’s next?

Next, you need to define for yourself which product or service you want to promote and who your potential client is. Recently, we helped a company engaged in wholesale and retail sales prepare for an exhibition, and they had 3 “audiences”: retail customers, dropshippers and wholesalers. Each audience got its own handouts (marketing kits, catalogs, brochures, business cards), and 3 company representatives worked at the booth, each for their own audience.

Exhibition Booth Design

Booth design can vary: bright and original, strict, or classic. First of all, it depends on what your product is and whether it will be displayed at the booth. And, of course, on following your corporate colors and branding. You also need to plan the booth area in advance so that booth staff can comfortably invite visitors in and talk to them.

What to Talk About with Visitors at the Booth

What should you talk about with visitors at the booth? Their needs, of course, and, of course, take their contact details and enter them into questionnaires. What can and should you hand out to visitors? Business cards, product catalogs, flyers, company magazines, souvenirs and, if available, samples of your products.

What Print Materials to Prepare for an Exhibition

So, what print materials do you need to prepare for an exhibition:

• questionnaires (Visitor details should be entered into questionnaires so you can contact them after the exhibition.);
• business cards (Business card printing is a must. If there are several departments\managers, each one needs separate business cards.);
• product catalogs (Hand them out to potential clients so they can order from the catalog);
• flyers (Flyer printing is needed to hand them out to potential clients at the booth or in the hall to attract visitors to the booth.);
• gift souvenirs (Given to potential clients, they improve the image of a hospitable company);
• badges (Identification for booth staff);
• magazines, brochures (The magazine should contain information about the company);
• price lists (Price lists have become ineffective lately. Prices can be listed in the catalog, but it is better not to. If you have many items, better use electronic tools.).

T-shirt printing can also come in handy, since booth staff in corporate clothing will emphasize the status of your brand. Obviously, this is worth doing as the next step after ordering business cards and other print materials.

Here are the print materials most often used for exhibitions that exhibitors order from us.

What should the result be after taking part in an exhibition? The main thing is a collected database of potential clients with whom you can build contact after the exhibition.

Working at an Exhibition: Booth and Booth Staff

Working at an exhibition is a comprehensive job. Besides advertising and commercial print materials, it requires proper booth design and proper work of employees at the booth.

Booth Appearance

Appearance matters. It is the appearance that first brings a visitor to the booth. One look at the booth should make it clear what your company does and, most importantly, what it offers to visitors.

Besides good design, the booth should display product samples. If that is physically impossible, you can replace them with photo wallpaper or video on a large screen (you need to prepare a promo video that will play on a large screen installed at the booth). But real products are much better. Showing the goods at their best, so to speak.

What Should Booth Staff Do?

Booth staff should collect completed questionnaires. To get a potential client’s contact, you need to talk to them. For example, about what problem the client can and wants to solve with your product or service. Find out their “pain points”. Write them down in the questionnaire. And as a result, record the contact details of the person, your potential client.

If your booth comes together as a whole: an attractive booth, samples, commercial print materials, a TV with videos and well-organized staff work, then you will receive the maximum number of potential clients.

We wish you productive participation in exhibitions!