Are you planning an upcoming trade show exhibition but not sure if you have everything in place? We get it! Trade show marketing is a huge responsibility, and it may feel overwhelming at times.
But guess what? There’s always a solution. We have specially curated this trade show exhibitor checklist that will help you ensure the smooth execution of trade show marketing activities. Whether you are planning to exhibit in Las Vegas or in any other location, this trade show checklist will help you plan your exhibition smoothly.
We’ve divided this checklist into three parts so that it becomes easier for you to follow and plan your activities accordingly.
17 Checklist Points to Consider For Your Upcoming Trade Show
➔ Pre-event Trade Show Checklist
1. Set Clear Objectives
The first and foremost factor you need to consider before participating in the trade show marketing is to have clear objectives.
Discuss internally with your stakeholders and decide what you plan to achieve with this. Are you planning to achieve more leads? More sales? Better brand awareness? Or launching a new product?
When you have clear objectives in mind for the trade show exhibition, it becomes easier for you to plan your next steps, strategies, and actions.
2. Choose the Right Trade Show
As each service is not meant for every client, not each trade show is created for every exhibitor. Before you register your participation in the trade show, ensure it is meant for your industry and attracts the right target audience that matches your business objectives.
It’s recommended to check previous results of trade show organizers like the numbers of repeat exhibitors, deals closed during the events and their reputation in the market.
3. Decide on Budgeting
Budgeting is a crucial part of trade show participation. When you have a clear idea about how much money you would be spending on exhibition space, booth rentals, marketing materials, travel, food, and accommodation, you can allocate your resources in a better way.
Moreover, a clearly defined budget helps you track your expenses and avoid overspending.
4. Hire Rental Booth Builders
Your booth design can make or break the game at the trade show. Ensure you have hired the best rental booth builders to design a visually appealing and inviting booth that attracts more visitors.
When you partner with the right trade show booth builders like Pure Exhibits, you can create a custom booth design that reflects your brand identity and builds rapport with your target audience.
5. Stock Promotional Materials
After finalizing your trade show objective and booth design, it’s time to arrange a huge amount of promotional material that you can distribute among attendees. You can have materials like brochures, business cards, banners, and branded giveaways that reflect your business information.
Plus, ensure the marketing material you use is of high quality so that attendees can take it back to their homes or offices without any damage.
6. Train Your Team
Moving forward, your team is the biggest asset you can have at the trade show. Train your team about driving meaningful conversations that lead to appointment or demo bookings.
When your team members engage with the booth visitors, they act as the face of your brand – and thus, it’s important to give them in-depth knowledge training about your product/services.
7. Book Travel and Accommodation
The next thing you need to remember is to book travel and accommodations in a timely manner. The more you delay, the more likely you will find everything costlier.
It’s always recommended to start booking hotels and flights three months in advance to avoid the rush of last-minute bookings. Plus, you can also get some extra discounts and offers when you secure your bookings in advance.
8. Market Your Exhibition Participation
If you want more people to know about your brand at the trade show, it’s important to spread the word about your participation. You can use multiple marketing channels like social media channels, search engines, and email marketing to reach more people and let them know about your presence at the trade show.
9. Check for Permits and Licenses
Sometimes, when you are exhibiting in other cities, states and counties, it’s important to ensure you have obtained the necessary permits and licenses required for exhibiting at thetrade show.
If overlooked, this can result in unnecessary setbacks or fines.
➔ During the Event Trade Show Checklist
10. Ensure Technical Smoothness
Technical glitches can disrupt the effectiveness of an exhibit at a trade show and leave a negative impression on attendees. To avoid such situations, ensure all your electronic devices, like LED displays, laptops, monitors, and sound systems, are functioning well.
You can also have a backup plan in place to keep the show going.
11. Plan Engagement Activities at the Booth
Keeping your attendees engaged is the most important thing to achieve your sales objectives at the trade show. You can try multiple techniques like holographic displays, drone lights, AI-powered virtual shopping assistance, high-tech climate stations, and interactive graffiti walls to engage attendees.
With these engagement techniques, you can open doors for new conversations and connections, leading to better business opportunities.
12. Actively Network with Attendees
When you are at the trade show and meeting a lot of new potential clients, it’s recommended to network with as many attendees as possible. Don’t wait for attendees to come to you; rather, you go to them and initiate new conversations.
Ask interesting questions, listen to their needs, and showcase your products or services that solve their pain points.
13. Gather Feedback From People
While you are talking with people at the trade show, ensure you ask for their feedback about your products, features, services, and overall booth experience.
The more feedback you gather, the better ideas you will get for the scope of improvement.
➔ Post-event Trade Show Checklist
14. Send Thank You Emails
When you send personalized thank you emails to every attendee who has visited your booth, you can make them feel very special and valuable. Mention your talks with them at the booth and add special notes to make your thank you email more effective.
15. Follow Up with Leads
Follow-up is the most underrated tool when it comes to closing new deals. Follow up with all the leads you have to nurture relationships and move them further down the sales funnel.
Remember to personalize your email communication while providing value to your leads continuously. Also, show your commitment to meet their needs.
16. Do ROI Analysis
Let’s be honest here: if you don’t do the analysis of your ROI, you will never get to know if it was worth it. When you do an ROI analysis, you can identify areas of improvement and double down on the strategies that have worked for you.
Factor important metrics such as cost per lead, conversion ratio, and lifetime value of a customer acquired through a trade show.
17. Evaluate Your Efforts
Lastly, when you are finally done with your trade show, it’s always a good idea to reflect on your performance. This exercise will help you understand what you could have done differently and redefine your strategies for the next time accordingly.
Plus, discuss all your ideas with team members and stakeholders because the more, the merrier.
Are You Ready to Use This Checklist for Your Next Trade Show?
We hope this blog post about the trade show exhibitor checklist was helpful to you. Ensure you tick off almost everything on the checklist to make your exhibition experience smooth and successful.
You can also bookmark this page to refer to it back for your upcoming trade shows. Plus, don’t keep this knowledge limited to yourself, but share it with your fellow exhibitors so that they can prepare better for their upcoming trade show. Collaboration and knowledge-sharing are the best ways to grow together in this competitive industry of trade show exhibitions.