by Nigel Hilton
Your business needs as much exposure as possible if you want it to be successful, and one of the best ways that you can have that is with attendance to exhibitions and events. You get to gain the attention of prospective clients, you get to network and interact with similar companies to yours, and you had the opportunity to see what other people are doing in your industry. The only problem? As a newbie, you could find yourself overlooked in favour of the established companies that have already walked the walk.
You want to stand out at a business event, and it's not just about maximising your profits, either. You want that brand exposure so that you can look good and up your popularity rating. So, you have to think strategically about how you're going to make your business remain relevant during the event. Let's take a look.
Admin Begins Before The Event
From the signs and brand products that you can start with from the beginning to organising the swag bags that you hand out, you need to start early. Take a look at this link and start thinking about what goods you could splash your brand all over before handing out. Not only that, but you need to up your social media game and start a new hashtag to drum up some publicity before you get there.
Swag, Swag, Swag
We just mentioned the swag bags, but this is the fun bit! You get to put together a loot bag of goodies for all those who come past your stall during the event. Make it useful, though, don't just hand out pens. Brand a Rubix cube or two and throw in some personalised chocolates; it DOES make a difference as to how people remember you.
Be Funny
The whole idea of an event is to create a conversation, and you need to generate a buzz around your stand. Making people laugh is the best way that you can keep people coming back to your stand and want to sign up with what you are offering.
Research
You need to know about the competition and what they're doing. Before the event starts, scope out their event plan and how they layout their stand. See what message they're handing out to people - you need to do one better. Your display needs to stand out more than the others, so invest in a bigger and better display before the day begins.
Have a Presence
You need something to draw people to your stand, and as you may already know, more industry events are rather dull. Be present in the event and make it fun, the more you are the loudest kid on the block, the more you draw the masses. Make sure you have something to give when they come flocking, and your event will go off like a hitch.
Events are supposed to be fun and a way to expose your brand further. Take the opportunity and roll with it!