Unfortunately, without any form of marketing at all, your business can go pretty unnoticed. Consider the fact that you do so much hard work in all areas of your business to get it up and running – would you not want that to be noticed? If you do want it to be noticed, you’ll need to work just as hard at marketing your business. Starting a business up is hard work, and part of that hard work? It needs to be about getting your name out there. The world presents plenty of opportunities for marketing, and it’s all about how well your business can utilize them. There’s no excuse for not to use these opportunities to further your brand. Why wouldn’t you?
One of the marketing opportunities available to a business is that of a trade show. This can come under a bunch of different names – an event, convention or an exhibition, but the same purpose is there. A thriving hub of businesses – vying for attention, learning to grow and making contacts that win. If you’re a startup, your next event might be your first. Here’s how to make it work. Here’s how to be a success.
Firstly, your exhibition or event stall needs to be staffed. This means that either you, or a representative need to be on hand throughout the day, or days, to ensure that there is some kind of physical presence on hand to not just answer questions, but to bring people into your stall and attract attention. Don’t get it twisted though; you’ll still need to answer questions! However, with your stall, you can afford to get creative. What about looking into promo girl staffing, or bringing a bit of innovation and tech to your part of the exhibition? There’s nothing wrong with that! You might want to avoid reaching out to people though, if they are interested – they will come to you, and you can forge something a bit more real than a ‘can I help you?’ – smile, wave and see what happens.
Secondly, don’t be afraid to get involved with the event. Meet your neighbors, strike up a bond and maybe look at collaborating. As much as an event is there for you to make sales and market your business, it’s also about generating leads in a number of areas to ensure that your business has people to sell to, and work with in the future. Don’t be scared to say hi to the stalls next to yours.
When the event is over, follow up. You’ve made an impression; you’ve met new people – make sure that interest continues with the leads that you have generated via the event. Send an email out, give offers out, measure your sales and see if the event was a success. If you’ve done everything right, chances are that it is, and that it was worth attending. Give yourself a pat on the back, and get ready to do it all over again.