Exhibition Management Tips 2020 – A Handy Guide for Trade Shows and Events

So, you’ve decided on your first trade show or event and saved the date in your calendar.

You’re probably getting excited for the event and rightly so: a successful trade show can hugely benefit your business, connecting buyers and sellers, boosting your profile on the market and drawing in substantial revenue gains as a result. But there is so much more to the event than simply turning up and setting up your stand on the day. Key to your success will be the planning and preparation you put in beforehand to ensure you hit the ground running and that you wow potential customers with your presence, knowledge and exhibition prowess on the day.

Below are some tips to help you achieve the goals you have set.

Tip 1 – Installation and Set-Up

Success at any event involves making a great first impression. Stands and exhibition displays are a great way to create a professional image for your business.

As well as thinking about display design and structure, do you know how to set it up? It might seem a simple task but with a million and one things to do on the morning of the event, what might have seemed a ten-minute job can quickly turn into a nightmare scenario as you struggle to assemble parts and get your display up before the doors open. Be clear in advance of how to install the stand – if possible have a dummy run or simply use a professional stand management service. You only get once chance to create a first impression, so it pays to invest in taking this seriously.

Tip 2 – Plan Early

Research in advance and generate awareness and interest with businesses and potential customers of what you offer and where they can locate you at the event. Be ahead of the game and aware of what businesses are looking for so you are ready for them on the day and well placed to help solve their problems and provide tangible value to them. Think through budgets so you know what you want to get out of the event and how much you’re willing to spend in total. An event management company can often help bundle all these costs together to help save you time and money.

Tip 3 – Know What Everyone is Doing

Incorporated into your prior planning must be a plan for the day itself so that everyone knows well in advance what their brief is at the show. A sure turn off for anyone passing by is employees chatting to each other or immersed in their phones and not engaging with the industry. Involve your employees in planning and in the build-up to the day. Generate excitement amongst your colleagues: it’s a day out of the office, meeting new people, promoting and selling your product, boosting productivity and revenue. Ensure your whole team arrives well before the doors open so that any glitches can be sorted before the first customers arrive and so that you and your team present a confident, professional, competent and united front. Having sorted all that, show prospective buyers you’re glad to be there, greet them with a cheerful smile and get on with enjoying the show.

Tip 4 – Exhibit in Style

With so many people exhibiting, the competition for attention is going to be high. This is where you need to ensure you stand out above the rest, that your displays and stands attract attention and that they draw the crowds. A really stylish and professional design goes along way, as too do games and videos and other interactive features. With our past experience to draw on and our endless options when it comes to features, finishes, shapes and display, we are well placed to make your offer distinctive, gain attention and catch the discerning eye on the day.

Tip 5 – Learn about the Venue

You’ve probably chosen a specific trade show or venue for a reason: location, reviews, type of attendees, right time of the year to exhibit there, etc. Having made that decision, find out everything you need to know about it: its size, the area, transport links etc so that you include that information in any promotional materials you send out to prospective customers. Additionally, know the lay-out of the building and have a plan to hand so that you can direct clients to your stand, or can point them to the nearest port of call for a comfort break if they need a space to consider any offer you may have made.

Tip 6 – Understand Health and Safety Procedures of the Venue

Make sure you’ve located the nearest emergency exit and toilets, be aware of the health and safety procedures of the venue and be prepared to act fast should an emergency occur. Your informed stance will add to your confidence on the day and make you well equipped to deal with any unexpected events that may occur. This means that you won’t be caught off guard should anything happen during the day.

Tip 7 – Communicate with Event Organisers and Understand Expectations of the Day

You’ve done your personal planning prior to the event, communicated your expectations to your team but have you considered the expectations of the event organisers? You may well want all your staff to be there two hours before the event but will you be able to get in? How long do you have at the end of the day to clear your stand and vacate the premises? Is it possible to return in the morning to remove anything you’ve been unable to take away on the day?

Event organisers will have a very clear brief for the day in terms of timings, parking restrictions, accessibility etc. Make sure you communicate with them in advance so you are quite clear what expectations are and so that nothing challenges you and your planning on the day itself.

Get Started with Smart Display

Hopefully this article will have given you some pointers as to how to organise a hugely successful exhibition avoiding some of the most common pitfalls along the way. At Smart Display, we are extremely well placed through our experience and huge diversity of exhibition stands to help you add that extra cutting edge to your event and display. We can custom build to your requirements but also offer a quality selection of rental exhibition stands should storage space or budget dictate.

With a vast range of solutions at our disposal and our striking and innovative 3D designs, we at Smart Display are your first stop for high quality exhibition stands.

For an informal discussion about how we can help meet your needs, get in touch today.