Event marketing enables you to expand your professional network, can be used to progress a career, or it can help foster new partnerships. There are different types of events, from exhibitions and expos, to specific experiential marketing stands.
Even if you are sponsoring a local event, you can incorporate this into your event marketing campaign. Have brand ambassadors attend the event, take a display or other form of advertising, hand out leaflets or business cards, and ensure that your representatives are prepared to engage with visitors because engagement is one of the key tenets to ensuring a successful event.
Consider the type of event that you are going to attend. Trade shows specifically target individuals, companies, suppliers, and other entities within a specific industry. Participants will be in the same boat as you, trying to promote their services to guests, and attendees will have at least some interest in the industry, so you will have access to a targeted market.
Booth Location
There’s a reason that booths near the entrance typically cost more than those in the back corner of the room; they give greater exposure for your products and your brand. Everybody that enters the venue will be presented with your brand and your products. Similarly, booths near food and concession stands will gain more exposure, and those that sit and eat will experience longer exposure to your brand.
Exhibition marketing is not all about selling products and services on the day. It can have a huge impact on your branding efforts, because your brand will be exposed to potentially thousands of people. The more often a person is exposed to your brand, the more likely they will be to recognise and recall that brand in the future.
It may not be possible to get the best booth spot every time you attend an exhibition or expo. There will be competition for these spots, and with increased competition comes increased cost. Try and choose the most prominent position that is within your booth budget, but don’t leave yourself short of cash to pay for things like display units, posters, or promotional products.
Striking Design
No matter the placement of your booth, it needs to grab attention and make an impression to be memorable. A plaid, boring display, will have more of a negative impact on your marketing efforts, than a positive one. Remember that your booth design is the first experience that people will have of your business. They will associate your booth design with your business. For example, if your display looks beaten and worn because it has been used for years at every event, your visitors will have the same perception of your business.
Studies show that it takes less than a second for a person to form a first, but lasting, impression of your display and your business. Make sure your booth stands out. Use bright colours that are in keeping with your branding.
Use lighting to your benefit. Not only does good quality lighting provide a more comfortable environment for your visitors. It also
Engaging Display
As well as using bright colours, consider the actual display elements that you use. Three-dimensional cut outs, display units, and other elements not only serve a functional purpose, but they also give a more dynamic and engaging experience. If you can incorporate props, including those that offer an interactive experience to your booth guests, then this will yield an even better-looking design and one that will draw people in.
Engaging Hosts
As well as ensuring that your booth is engaging, and attracts visitors, you should ensure that all elements of your booth is similarly engaging. This includes your own employees that attend. They should be prepared to chat with all guests that attend the booth and they should be approachable.
Ensure that employees have identifying clothing or other identifying elements that will set them apart from the rest of the people at the trade show, encourage them to approach guests without being pushy, and give them supporting literature and other supporting products to help them.
Specials And Promotions
One of the most effective methods of brand promotion, at a trade show, is to give special offers or promotions to guests and attendees.
The branded pen is a classic promotional gift. Not only are they inexpensive and easily customisable, but they are functional. The recipient will use the pen time and time again, and every time they do, they will be reminded of your business and what you offer.
Other items that can be used as effective promotional goods can be as simple as stationery or much more complex. If your business is in the scientific industry, you can give away branded calculators. If you are a high-tech company, offer USB drives, computer mice, or mouse mats.
If the product you give away is relevant to your business, to the industry you serve, and to the type of event that you are attending, it will be even more effective.
Special offers are another great attraction. Provide anybody that buys your services, or commits to buying your products, while at the event, a 10% or more discount. Offer free supporting products when they purchase one of your main items. Alternatively, give your guests a discount code that you only provide at this event. It will allow you to track performance, as well as offer incentive to expo attendees.
Include Social Media
Experiential marketing and expo marketing can be highly effective, but they are at their most effective when combined with other techniques into a universal marketing mix. In the modern business environment, this tends to incorporate social media, and with good reason.
The majority of people are on at least one social network, whether it is Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. Encourage your guests to follow you on Facebook, in exchange for further discount, and once your booth employees have engaged with potential clients, have them encourage visitors to sign up for social media updates.
You can make your combination of physical marketing and social media marketing even more complex than this by offering features like live Tweeting, or a Tweet wall that attendees can post on.
Making The Most Of Your Exhibition Marketing
With expo and exhibition marketing, you really do get more out, the more you put in. Invest in good quality displays, get the best booth you can reasonably afford, and combine expo marketing with experiential marketing, social media marketing, and other marketing techniques. Make every element of your booth, including those that work on it, as engaging as possible, and don’t give up after one expo.
Envoprint.co.uk offers a host of brandable products that can be customised to incorporate your branding. Contact them for details on products like free standing display units to help improve your experiential marketing efforts.
