Get your stand looking good
Remember that your stand only has to get potential customers attention. It’s not there to do your job for you and explain every aspect of your business.
The best looking expo stands are the most simple. They require a headline, logo, a one sentence description of your product or service and basic contact details.
Your headline should ideally include some sort of business benefit of using your product or service. If you think your business creates many benefits then only use the one that is the strongest or most relevant to your expo audience. If you have space then add some bullet points but again, keep these short and straight to the point. It’s a good idea to invest in a designer to design your stand for you and try to provide them with a few good quality, large images at 300dpi resolution. Keep all copy in the top half of your stand above waste height, anything below this won’t be seen.
Use multimedia
If you feel your business needs more explanation, then a great way of doing this is by using a multimedia display playing a looped promotional message. You can create these presentations yourself in Keynote or Powerpoint and then set up a laptop to play the message on repeat. Some displays will play these directly off a USB stick.
If you want something more elaborate then consider investing in a designer or animator to create a professional presentation for you. Keep the promotional message down to 20 seconds maximum and get to the point quickly. Delegates won't have time to stand and stare at your display for long.
Collect leads
Use the badge scanners provided by the organisers to record leads. But don’t just simply collect names. You need to qualify the lead as best you can on the show floor and collect conversation notes. Blindly scanning badges, without any notes attached, slows effective follow-up and greatly reduces the value of the show.
Having sales literature readily available is essential, but leaving it out to be grabbed by a casual passer by is not ideal. You need to make contact and collect information so that each visitor to your stand becomes a lead. Prospects who walk away with your literature will feel that they now have everything they need and don’t need to speak with you.
If someone asks for literature, tell them you’d be happy to send it to them, so they don’t have to carry it around the show. Get their contact information and qualify them.
Follow up
If possible, do your follow ups at the end of each day while its still in the mind of the contact. Refer to your conversation notes and mention it in your message. Delegates will have spoken to many people during the day so try to differentiate yourself.
If you have their email address, prioritise emailing them over any other method so that they get used to seeing your name and email in their inbox. Send a connection request via Linkedin in case you lose their details.
Evaluate the show
Make notes about what worked well and what didn’t, so you know how you could improve things if you exhibit at the same event next year.
Think about what you learnt from talking to people. Are your prospective customers asking for a feature your product doesn’t currently include? Are people asking you similar questions all the time, which tells you that they don’t fully understand your service? Don’t forget to post photos from the expo on social media.
