Maximising your return on investment in an exhibition stand

Exhibiting at a B2B expo is one of the most cost-efficient ways of casting your net to reach a wider business audience. But it is still an investment.??

Maximising the return on that investment is easy to do, but many businesses fail to put together a strategy to fully realise the potential that an exhibition stand offers.???

There are many ways to maximise the return on your exhibition stand investment.?

Promote your involvement?

Promoting your involvement ahead of the event across social media, in your email signature and on your website, encourages people to visit your stand. Inviting people to say hello, tagging the event page and using an event hashtag on social media will help to increase traction.?

Ask yourself what a successful exhibition looks like to you?

Once you identify your target market and your exhibition goals, you will understand what a successful exhibition stand looks like to you. This is different to each business. The design of your exhibition stand and any promotional literature can be directed towards that target market and achieving your exhibition goals.??

To understand how successful an exhibition stand has been, it is advisable to make your results measurable, perhaps through media codes or exhibition-exclusive incentives.?

Carefully consider the design of your exhibition stand?

Yours will be one of many stands at an exhibition. You need to stand out and be memorable.?

While it needs to be vibrant, eye-catching and conspicuous, your stand also needs to make your business offering clear to engage your target market.??

Interactive elements such as games, demonstrations and prize draws will attract people to your stand, out of curiosity if nothing else. How well you engage them from that point will determine how successful the exhibition stand is.???

Promotional giveaways?

Branded promotional gifts handed out at your exhibition stand continue to promote your business long after the event. Whether it’s pens, notepads, mugs or other bespoke gifts, your business name is on products used by visitors to your stand for as long as they keep them, which could be several years! If possible, a gift that relates to your business sector is most ideal.???

Train staff on how to promote the stand and interact with visitors?

Don’t assume that your staff know how to promote your business on an exhibition stand. Make sure you spend time with them in advance of the event going through any key messages, product information and who your target audience is.?

Train them on how to break the ice and instigate conversations, perhaps through role play or providing examples. Sitting behind a desk is far too passive to maximise the potential of creating new connections. Explain why this is the case and how body language and personality can make all the difference.?

Have a strategy on following up leads?

You should come away from an exhibition with lots of potential leads. Don’t forget them! Leaving them to fester in a box, digital document or notebook wastes your investment in the exhibition stand.?

Create a strategy for following up leads, particularly if more than one person is doing it. Be clear on how to contact people and what incentive you will give them to engage with you.?