Exhibition Event Planning Guide

What issues should a company pay attention to when planning exhibition activities? This is likely the top concern for event planners participating in exhibitions. The success of an exhibition hinges on comprehensive event planning.

1. Choose an exhibition that matches your company's marketing strategy and brand image

Selecting an exhibition that aligns with your sales, marketing, branding, or other objectives is the first step to success. Before choosing an exhibition, you must answer three basic questions:

1) Does the exhibition's theme cover your company's products or services?

2) Will the exhibition allow your company to reach existing or new target audiences?

2. Set participation goals / Customize participation strategies / Target marketing for participation

The second step toward exhibition success is setting goals for your company's participation. Unfortunately, most exhibiting companies do not set goals—this accounts for 70%. Worse, only half of those that do set goals follow them from pre-show to during the show. However, companies that set goals and continuously measure their achievement achieve great success.

1) Goals and sales

Goals can also motivate sales performance at the booth, especially when measured by the quantity and quality of customer contacts obtained by sales staff. This means employees translate company goals into individual goals to achieve at the show. Research consistently shows that successful exhibitors prioritize setting sales-related goals.

2) Basic goals

When setting goals, event planners must first define which products or services the company wants to sell, promote, market, brand, or communicate at the show, and to whom. Typical goals include the following factors:

(1) Increase sales through new orders and high-quality sales leads

(2) Introduce new products or services

(3) Enhance relationships with existing customers

(4) Conduct market research

3. Targeted marketing

Targeted marketing is the next important step in the exhibition marketing process. In theory, it is simple: contact the visitors you want to see at the show, tell them where your booth is, what you will exhibit, what brand you will build, or what you will demonstrate, etc.

4. Pre-show communication with exhibitors and first-time visitors

Contacting such target audiences involves choosing among many communication methods. Here are some specific recommendations:

1) Advertise in pre-show publications – including print and electronic ads – especially special issues of your industry publications related to the show. Remember to mention key sales information about your exhibit: such as your booth location, who will be at the booth, etc. Pre-show advertising can double your booth traffic during the show because 83% of visitors use "pre-show previews" to plan their visits.

2) Offer small gifts or use other promotional tactics at the booth to position your company and products. Personalize your marketing messages to different audience groups: let them know that doing business with you will be better and help them save money.

3) Utilize new promotional opportunities on the internet. Most exhibition organizers can provide a link to your company's website on the show's website, and there are other great online advertising opportunities. "Banner ads" or "blogs" can effectively draw target groups' attention to your booth's special features and location. Remember to use appropriate language.