4 Exhibition Tips for Small Business Owners
When it comes to supporting local communities, small businesses are the real heroes.
However, in the hectic business world, survival is possible only through a good marketing strategy for a small business - something that often takes a backseat.
Whilst exhibitions and trade shows are considered a traditional form of marketing, they’re a highly effective way of letting your target audience know all about your business and why they should consider you. They also provide the opportunity to engage with your audience and build relationships.
However, in order to make the most of the event, you need to have the right tools to successfully showcase your brand and all that your company has to offer. While you may already have your modular exhibition stands or modular display stands ready from an expert like A3M Designs, there are several other things you need to remember.
We’ve compiled a list of exhibition tips for small business owners to use to leverage the event fully.
Let’s get started.
1. Define Your Goals
Making the decision to exhibit might be easy but if you don’t know how to represent your business, it may leave you confused. Since the planning has started, all the tasks will begin to pile up and if you don’t have your goals planned out, it might lead to confused strategies for your marketing campaign.
Since most businesses will have to put together specific goals they want to achieve, ranging from boosting brand awareness to increasing revenue, formulating strategies once these goa ls are decided becomes a lot easier. As a small business owner, defining your goals gives you clarity about what you wish to achieve from the exhibition.
With this, you can start putting everything into place step by step and stop yourself from becoming overwhelmed with what you should focus on.
2. Create a Budget
While your business may have decided to take part in an exhibition, you can’t blow all your funds on this event. Creating a budget is key in helping you stay within your means, especially for small business owners looking to increase their revenue.
By defining what funds need to be allocated to which areas, you get a better understanding of your expense limit and what kind of products you should invest in. From a modular exhibition stand to additional lighting, there are certain things you need to focus on more than the others.
Keeping this in mind, make sure to allocate funds accordingly so that you invest in the right things.
3. Maximise Your Exhibit Design
As mentioned before, investing in the right things is essential and while the budget may be tight, one area that you shouldn't cut on is your exhibit design. Your exhibition display is what attracts customers to your business which means you need to get innovative and have a well-designed stand.
Since visuals are key in retaining the attention of the visitor, have a well-designed stand with powerful graphics so that your brand is represented in the best way. Based on the space assigned to you, optimise the area to skilfully showcase your products / services well.
If exhibitions are something you want to add permanently to your strategy, you might want to consider purchasing one instead of opting for a rental as it can prove more affordable down the line.
4. Prepare Your Staff
Your staff are important to the event as they represent your business and what it stands for. While you may be short-staffed, if they're well-equipped with all the required information to engage with your visitors, that can be all that is needed to expand your customer base.
Hiring external staff may be an option but if you’re under budgetary constraints, it might not be the best idea. While preparing your stuff, make sure to supply them with the required literature including the pamphlets, flyers and any other item that provides them with essential information.
Additionally, based on your goals for the exhibition, brief your staff accordingly so everyone's understanding of the event aligns with it.
To Sum Up…
Participating in an exhibition is exciting for every business owner, but as a small business with specific targets in mind, following a few exhibition tips can be exactly what you need for your business to be successful.
With these tips, make your business’s exhibit impactful in building your brand & improving visibility.
