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17.12.2020 16:26:00

How to attract visitors to your stand and get the most at no cost

How to attract visitors to your stand and get the most at no cost

To get the maximum return from participation in any trade fair, it is not enough to rent the space and construct the stand. The groundwork for success is laid long before the fair throughout a comprehensive advertising campaign.

Organizers are very interested in trade fair’s effectiveness for each exhibitor (otherwise they lose exhibitors and their business as well). Therefore, the best you can do as the exhibitor is to cooperate with the organizer and use all possible channels to attract visitors to your stand.

The simplest and most obvious tactic, though often ignored, is to tell everyone what you’re going to do!

A survey by the CEIR (Center of Exhibition Industry Research, USA) showed that 83% of high-performing companies took the effort to invite their existing and potential customers to trade fairs.

We’ll give you some simple recommendations on how to do it at no cost, having only desire and a little time (or some employees who fulfill your wishes within a specified time).

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ANNOUNCE YOUR PARTICIPATION IN TRADE FAIRS USING YOUR OWN RESOURCES

Today, there is probably not a single company that does not have its own website, social media pages or marketplaces. Use them!

- Publish news on the website;

- Publish news on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter... Everywhere!

- Place trade fair banners.

Please note that it is not enough today to simply inform visitors that you are participating in the fair. They should be persuaded to invest their time and money in visiting your stand. Give the strongest arguments for working with your company; describe the benefits of your products.

News item should contain basic information (what, where, when and why). For example:

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If you update news on your website once a month or even less, one news item will be enough. Just try to make it as interesting and informative as possible.

As for publications in social media, participation in the trade fairs is a great reason to solve SMM problems and saturate your pages with interesting contents on the one hand, and to increase the efficiency of your participation on the other hand. You can easily make 10 to 20 unique posts with different accents.

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It is known that the desire to visit the stand is effected by three key factors: products presented at the stand, people you can talk to, and information you can get from them. Visitors are interested in:

Novelties that are presented for the first time;

Promo and special offers that are effective only during the fair;

Sales hits (most popular products);

Exclusive products or services that are presented only by you at the fair;

Demonstration of a product in action;

Master classes, workshops and professional consultations;

Information materials (catalogues, price lists);

Product samples;

Competitions and prizes;

Souvenirs, gifts, etc.

Be sure to accompany your posts with photos to make the message more visible and attract more attention.

If you have a non-standard or exclusive stand, place its graphic image in the announcements. It will be easier for visitors to find your stand, if they know not only the number it has, but also what it looks like.

You can just place a photo of how you prepare for the fair. You can show how your stand is being built and decorated, how the exhibits are being displayed, and how the staff is prepared for work.

A separate focus can be made on products presented at your stand. If possible, offer potential visitors to test them.

The announcement may contain names, photos, positions and responsibilities of your employees, days and hours of their work at the fair, so visitors can know in advance whom, when and what questions to ask.

Record and place on social media a CEO’s message inviting to visit your stand. The video should contain dates and location of the fair, hall number, stand number, and reasons to visit your stand.

Add a detailed roadmap showing how to get to the fair and plan of the fair. The less time visitors spend on the road and search for your stand, the more time they will spend communicating with you.

Ask your customers to pre-register on the fair’s website, so they can avoid queues and save time.

Offer a special bonus to those people who will come to your stand from social media.

Be sure to answer all questions and comments to your posts.

The fair’s banners, logos, and even ready-made text announcements can be obtained from the organizer. For example, all necessary materials of BABY EXPO are already available on the website: https://babyexpo.ua/media/banners.php. In addition, you can always send a request for a custom-sized banner with your stand number or your logo on it.

SEND E-NEWSLETTERS.

Currently, the simplest thing you can do is to send e-newsletters.

- Send personalized letters from your company’s e-mail addresses, preferably on behalf of a CEO or owner.

- Use special mailing facilities to ensure that each customer does not receive a list of other recipients.

- Clearly define the subject of your message. Do not attach additional files to the e-letter (instead you can use a link to your website or provide information upon request).

- You should not repeat the same messages. In order not to cause annoyance, the content should be different. Find different news hooks every time.

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MAKE CALLS.

A week after the first letter, your customer contact manager should proceed with phone calls, additional letters and invitations to convince a potential customer to visit your stand. Do not be satisfied with simple promises, find an individual approach and arrange a meeting at the stand. The customer will most certainly attend the fair, if you’ve arranged a meeting.

CHANGE SIGNATURE IN YOUR E-MAILS.

From booking area at the fair to beginning of the fair, change your signature in your e-mails — add information about your participation in the fair.

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COOPERATE WITH THE ORGANISER.

We have already said that organizers are always ready to provide exhibitors with materials for announcing their participation. Besides, organizers offer free goodies very often.

As for BABY EXPO, each exhibitor is offered free placement of news on our resources:

https://babyexpo.ua/

https://baby-fashion.ua/

https://www.facebook.com/babyexpo.ua

https://www.facebook.com/childrensfashion.acco

https://www.instagram.com/_baby_expo_

https://www.instagram.com/childrens_fashion_fair/

We are also pleased to place interesting news in our e-digests sent for more than 20,000 professionals employed in the industry. Tell us what interesting things you are planning to show at the fair, provide us with newsworthy information.

It’s a good option to participate in a business program. Maybe you have something interesting to share with a wider audience?

WHEN TO START WELCOMING VISITORS TO THE STAND.

The advertising campaign can be conducted in several stages, increasing the pace as the fair approaches. The active phase commonly starts 6 to 8 weeks before the fair.

When setting a specific time frame, consider when your customers usually decide to visit the fair, how much time they may need to organize and plan a visit (buy a ticket, book a hotel, get a visa, etc.). Simply put, the further way your customers are, the earlier they should be invited to the fair.

WHY TO INVITE REGULAR CUSTOMERS TO THE FAIR.

Exhibitors often object to inviting their regular customers to the fair. Here are some arguments for inviting regular customers:

- Provision of information, display of attention, formation and strengthening of customer loyalty.

- Saving time and money to maintain relationships; holding a large number of meetings in a short period of time. Meetings with customers (especially regional or foreign) at the fair are much cheaper than at any other neutral location. You don’t have to spend time and money to go to your customers, they come to you themselves.

Organization of an event for regular customers and partners.

Time management. If possible, arrange meetings with regular customers in the morning (09:00–10:30) and in the evening (16:00–17:00), so that they do not distract you during the most active hours.

Your customers and partners can visit the fair anyway. If you do not invite them to the fair, they can be invited by the organizer or by your competitors. If you invite them to the fair, they will spend most time at your stand, not at competitor’s.

We also recommend you to check our previous articles:

Obvious things can be not so obvious. Main secrets of successful participation in trade fairs

Check list of printed materials to be prepared for any trade fair

How to organize your stand space

In the following articles we will explain how to instruct your stand staff and communicate with various types of stand visitors.

How to get to the fair

  • Fair location:

    Ukraine, Kyiv,
    Prospekt Beresteyskyi ave. (Peremohy), 40-B

  • Working hours:

    10:00 – 17:00

  • Phone:

    +380 44 456 3804

  • Metropoliten:

    М1 red line, Shulyavskaya station

  • Taxi:

    +380 93 012 3223