Research confirms that exhibiting can offer a great return on your investment. Events like the forthcoming Cross Connections Business Expo in May can give a great boost to SMEs.
However, for exhibiting to be most effective you need to think about these five key areas:
1) Your pre-event marketing – getting your key clients and prospects along to see you.
2) The key message your stand conveys and how it will draw attendees to you. 3) The print collateral you have to give to attendees that will engage them.
4) Have a great competition or prize draw on your stand to attract engagement and obtain contact details for your follow up.
5) How well planned you are for follow-up after the event. How will you get in touch with them and what can you send them as part of that process?
A great new trend that has rapidly grown in the last couple of years is the use of “soft signage” at exhibitions. These are cost effective display stands printed on cloth and stretched over metal frames to create a single skin for portable exhibition set ups.
Traditional pop-up display stands are still very popular, but the prints require careful positioning and the vertical strips don’t always line up when the stand has been used a few times. Stretch stands can come with LED lighting and a wide range of shapes and sizes. Pull-up banners are still incredibly popular for smaller spaces, but they don’t create the same impression as full backdrop displays. If you would like to make the most of your exhibition space, then think about investing in a stretch stand.
Co-ordinating you whole plan for pre-event, on-the-day and post-event follow-up with consistent branding and messages will add to the effectiveness of your efforts. Design and print companies, such as Soar Valley Press, can be really valuable in helping you plan your exhibition investment, and offer innovative ways to get noticed without breaking your budget.
We look forward to seeing you on our stand At Cross Connections Business Expo on May 19th at The Kube, Leicester Racecourse.
Comments