- Failure to implement a consistent marketing plan.
Your exhibiting efforts must be part of an overall marketing scheme
that is consistent and engaging. Many exhibitors start from scratch
when designing their trade
show display, and their booth ends up looking entirely different
from the rest of their marketing material. While it is important
to have a fresh look at every trade show, it is also important to
implement a consistent marketing plan to build brand recognition.
- Failure to set goals for your trade show experience.
It is important to set measurable goals months in advance of your
trade show. How can you possibly determine whether or not your exhibiting
experience was a success if you never established what you were trying
to achieve? Suppose you want to generate 50 quality leads from your
trade show. If you make it an established goal, this will be easy
to measure.
- Failure to give attendees and other exhibitors a reason to
visit your booth.
Do not assume that visitors will simply wander into your display
area without incentive. There are a number of methods exhibitors
use to draw attention to their
booths, many of which are put in place before the show even begins.
Using pre-show mailers that highlight specific points of interest
is a great way to make sure your booth is full of activity. Use any
avenue available to you to generate interest in your booth.
- Failure to follow up with the leads you generate.
The biggest and most common mistake exhibitors make is that they
fail to have a plan in place to turn leads into sales. Your pre-show
mailers, exhibit displays,
and booth staff is absolutely useless if all the leads they generate
go to
waste. You would be amazed to learn how many veteran exhibitors
fail to implement a plan to follow up on the leads they generate.
Unless you have a plan in place, you may as well not even attend
the trade show.
