If you have some events coming up on the calendar and it’s time to start planning how your business is going to show up. Instinctively, many will go straight to what their exhibition stand design is going to look like. They picture the structure, the colours and start working out how much it will cost them.
If that is exactly the thought process you go through ahead of your trade show, you are not alone! We see this ALL the time.
28% of trade show exhibitors start planning their marketing strategy just 1–2 months before the show. (Source: Display Wizard research)
The truth is, this isn’t what converts business. If all resources and attention go here, you are just hoping for the best. That does not deliver consistent, measurable results.
It’s hard to fight this urge. I know how easy it is to get swept up in the design delivery because it’s what your business will ultimately get judged on. It’s true, most of us will walk the aisles judging “a book by its cover”.
In a loud environment with many messages vying for our attention, our primal brains are wired to protect us, rapidly sifting through information and determining if anything is a threat, or in this case, worth deciding if we should stop at a booth or if we should keep walking.
So, knowing all of this, how can you supercharge your exhibition stand so it isn’t just pretty, but also effective?
Here are 3 reasons why exhibitors fail to deliver results, despite having beautiful exhibition stand designs:
1. Creating their design before their strategy
They’ve missed a crucial step in the planning process.
If I was cool enough to get a tattoo, I’d almost consider getting “Strategy first” placed somewhere on my body. I truly believe this wholeheartedly and it is categorically the number one reason why people don’t see success from trade shows.
Showing up because of FOMO or “because we want to look like market leaders” is never going to get you in the right frame of mind to make your appearance part of your sales process.
Doing what your competitors did is just reacting, it’s not a real strategy. Outdoing each other with activations is only going to get you so far.
We’ve all had an incredible sales experience where you know in your bones that the everything flows… The messaging, the experience with the team and any activities on the booth and because it is well aligned, it becomes memorable.
2. No clear objective
If you don’t know what success looks like, how will you know when you’ve achieved it?
When you don’t have your North star it’s easy to get lost.
If you don’t know what your main trade show objective is, you really aren’t going to align your approach with one that will generate results.
It’s likely you are showing up because:
… “we want to look like market leaders”
… “because our competitors are”
… “don’t want to look like we have gone our of business” or
… “to wave the flag”
… “we have a new product”
Any variation of the above is some serious FOMO in action and not a great starting base for obtaining ROI or ROO (return on objective) at an event.
Step one is to work out what you want to achieve.
Step two is figuring out how you are going to get there creatively within the constraints of your budget, team and timeline (but that’s our job!).
3. No post-show plan
What happens after the show is just as important as what happens on the show floor.
This one’s juicy. There are a lot of businesses with highly skilled sales teams and something I see frequently taking place is the assumption that “they’ve got this!”.
The massive problem with this is clarity around where one job starts and stops. It’s making the assumption that because they are skilled, they have the entire process worked out.
You know what they say about assumptions 😉
Complete harmony between the marketing team’s expectations and what the role of the sales team needs to be mapped out as part of your event strategy.
The best post-show campaigns are fleshed out well before the show commences.
Who, what, when, where, why is an oldie but a goodie. Fill in the blanks before the show even starts. That’s how you will close the loop on what should be a number of great touch points with a prospect/client/partner.
There isn’t a single tactic or fix that will guarantee you great trade show returns. Instead, think of it as many smaller changes that need to be strategically woven together.
The exciting part is that when these changes compound, they deliver serious results.
If you’re planning your next event and want to make sure your investment drives real results (not just compliments), let’s talk. Happy to share some insights and help you get some clarity before you commit to your next event.
If you’re not sure whether your next show is set up to deliver the outcomes you want, happy to jump on a 15min call and take a quick look together. No obligation, just clarity.
If that's something you're open to, here's a link to my diary.
