Successful Trade Show Displays on a Budget

Are you on a tight budget, but would like to participate in trade shows? Before you consider cancelling, there are a number of trade show displays that are affordable and, if done effectively, will get you the business you want. Smaller display systems can be just as successful as the larger ones, as long as you are using the right tools. Here are a few tips to making a smaller trade show booth stand out just as much (if not more) than the larger booths.

Lighting
Lighting is the perfect addition to add that extra glow your trade show display needs. It is a great accessory to add to draw awareness to your display system. In fact, Exhibitor Magazine stated that lighting can increase the awareness of your trade show booth by 30 to 50 percent.

Simplicity is Key
I know it is very tempting to try to add as much to your exhibit as possible. You want to give your visitors as much information as possible on your products. However, adding more than 2 products to your booth will get you overlooked and will end up hurting your sales. One or two products are ideal for displaying on your exhibit. If you want to inform possible clients of any other products you carry, bring brochures that will give them this information, or hand out cards with your website address so that they can research these products on their own.

Give Your Visitors and Staff Space
If you are planning on adding counters or kiosks to your display booth, make sure that there will still be enough room for your staff and visitors to maneuver around your exhibit. If your booth seems too cozy, these potential customers will most likely move on to the next display that will give them the space they want.

Bold Colors
Use bright colors in your display that will get you noticed, instead of neutral colors. If neutral colors are used, your trade show display will end up blending in to the background.

It is possible to create a trade show exhibit that is just as eye-catching as the larger, more expensive exhibits. These tips should help you create a booth that is not only affordable, but also stunning.

Source: http://www.exhibitoronline.com/tips/tip-display.asp?counter=664

Trade Show Ideas That Will Keep You Visitors Happy

We all want to stand out when participating in trade shows. That is what sells our products. Obviously, our goal should not be to look like every other competitors. No one is going to remember you or your company when there are 50 other booths that look exactly the same. Before participating in a convention, attend a few conventions on your own, keeping a couple questions in the back of your mind:

1.) What drew me to this display in the first place?
2.) Why do I want to purchase from this company instead of from the booth across the aisle?

These are things you need to keep in mind when preparing yourself, your staff, and your booth for your next event. One great way to eliminate the similarities between your display system and the competitor’s is by making a list. While still in the planning stages, make two columns: one column should list the things you would like to add to your trade show booth, while the other column should list the items you saw while attending other trade shows that caught your eye. Once these two lists have been made, begin crossing out the items that are similar on both lists. The goal of this exercise is to find out what ideas you have that are unique and different from your competitors and that will make you stand out. Those are the things you should be focused on.

Although your trade show display is a very important part of your booth, it is not the only piece that will attract people to your display system. Is the staff just standing around or are they engaging potential customers? Are you bringing potential customers in with giveaways, games and promotional material? Once you have them interested, that’s when you should approach them with your sales pitch.

With only three seconds to attract potential customers to your trade show exhibit, it is extremely important to have a display that will set you apart from the competition. However, as I have stated before, this is not the only reason people will stop at your booth. Making sure that you have appropriate promotional material lined up for your visitors, your staff is friendly and inviting, and that your booth is unique is sure to make the sale. If your display is unique and different from your competition, this will help you to stand out from your competition and get the ROI you want.

Are You Secretly Sending Business to Your Competitors?

It is no secret that you need customers to have a successful business, but are you’re marketing efforts focusing on attracting the right customers? According to Laura Lake (About.com), businesses spend 80 percent of their marketing dollars going after new customers. This may seem like a good idea, but it is your repeat customers who spend 33 percent more than new customers. Another effective, low-cost marketing tool is through word-of mouth. It is the repeat customers who will refer 107 percent more than non-customers.

It may seem a lot easier than it really is to keep repeat customers. There are a number of reasons that customers will leave your business and go to your competition instead. Some of these reasons include:

Your prices are too high

With an unstable economy, businesses are going to spend more time researching several companies that will offer the same products at lower prices. They are definitely going to purchase from your competitors if they sell their products at lower prices.

They had complaints that had not been resolved

Nothing is more frustrating than having a problem with a product or service that no one seems to want to help you with. One way to gain your customer’s loyalty is by finding the most efficient way to solve any problems they may have. If you do not attempt to solve these issues, they will look to your competitors to solve the issues you were not willing to solve for them. In fact they may also feel as though you don’t care to help them with their complaints.

Trade Show Booths in this Slow Economy

Trade Show Booths in this Slow Economy

Being in the middle of smaller private companies plans to get more customers we have the first hand reports of how our customers are doing and how they are doing it. It has been a great feeling for our team to receive emails, cards, candy and phone calls from our clients thanking us for the success they are seeing at their trade shows when the people around them are not.
What is this big dark secret that we have that makes a trade show display successful. Of course it is our knowledge base of product fit and overall trade show knowledge but all this is based on fundamentals of human nature and know what the propose of a trade show display is.

1. Keep your space open so they fill free to move about your space.
2. Use a clean simple look to your area so they can immediately who you are and what you do.
3. Have sharp display that is different and well cared for. This does represent your company and how you look to your customer. If your booth is plain and not well maintained how anyone can think your company is any different. It is a very important to look your best.
4. Have your sales staff dressed in new, sharp looking clothing. The boss at the show should wear a suit and represent a business man image.
5. The design of your graphics and all of your trade show booths is key to your success. Show people who you are, what you do and what makes you different or better.

What we do at Smash Hit Displays is blend all of these requirements for a successful show; our only concern is that you are successful at the trade show.

Getting Ahead of The Competition in a Recession

Recession has become a word used in our everyday conversations. In fact, we have been completely consumed with the economy, in both our home and work life. People who have never felt a need to watch the news are now watching it regularly with more interest than ever. Although the economy is slow, it is not the time to cut marketing dollars. Here are some tips to get booming business in a not-so-booming economy.

1.) Rise Above Competitors

These strong businesses work hard to help their prospects and customers flourish during these tough financial times. Finding ways to help you customer base save money will help make your business much more successful.

2.) Protect Your Customer Base

Competitors will try to win over your current customers by promising to save them some money. Not only should you be trying to get new customers, you should also do what you can to keep your current customers. By helping these consumers solve their problems, they will become loyal to your company.

3.) “Survival of the Fittest”

In this current recession, there is no room for mistakes. It is crucial to read up on your industry, attending corporate training classes, and to touch up on basic sales seminars you have attended in the past.

4.) URGENT

Every aspect of your business should be treated as if there is a “sense of urgency.” Just because the economy is slow does not mean your business should run slower.

5.) Trade Shows

When times are tight, your advertising budget should not be cut. Trade shows are a great way to get your business and products noticed. It gives you a chance to meet and greet potential customers. Whether you have a 20 x 20 truss system display or a 6 foot table top pop up display, you will be glad you spent the money to promote your business.

Source: http://www.eyesonsales.com/archives/blog/5_tips_for_beating_your_competitors_in_this_recession

Secrets to Becoming a Trade Show Success

Trade Shows are a great way to meet potential customers as well as business partners. Are you still on the fence as to whether or not exhibiting is worth the time and money? Statistics from Industry surveys show that 79 percent attend shows to help them make up their mind as to what they should purchase and 70 percent intend to purchase at least one product. No Matter how you look at it, these numbers imply that you would get sales from people who normally would not purchase from you. In order to influence these people to visit your trade show display, it is important to not only have a booth that sticks out, but to also have a warm, inviting environment that makes the attendees comfortable and willing to hear what you have to say. Here are some things to consider when preparing for your next show.

Graphics

With only 3 seconds to impress attendees who are just walking by, it is important to have simple, yet bold graphics for your trade show display. When driving down the freeway, are you going to pay attention to a billboard that has a simple design, with a few words, or are you going to pay attention to one that is very “busy” and has a lot of different pictures and wording? If there is too much going on, the attendees will get bored and venture to a display that has a very straightforward, simple message and graphics. Choosing effective colors are also important. Blues, whites, and greens are very professional-looking, yet can blend in too easily. Flashy colors such as reds, yellows, and oranges may grab their attention much easier, but be careful how you use them. These colors may be considered too strong to some attendees.

Lighting

If done correctly, lighting may be used to spotlight certain products you have on display. It is a great way to draw attention directly to the area you would like focused on.

Music

Trade Shows can be extremely nerve-racking for the attendees, especially with hundreds (maybe thousands) of people walking down the aisles in one building. Relaxing music may help calm their nerves (as well as your nerves). Consider using nature sounds or other gentle sounds to draw people into your booth.

Literature Racks

Let’s just say that everyone staffed at your booth were assisting potential leads. Having a literature rack available with brochures and other marketing materials will make it easier for all attendees to get information on your products without having to wait for you.

Booth Design

One of the biggest pet peaves I have when attending trade shows is exhibits that do not have enough room to accommodate a large amount of traffic. You may miss out on sales by not having an ample amount of space available to all of those interested attendees. Truss System Displays are known for having an innovative, dynamic design while still having a sufficient amount of room for those who may be interested in what you have to offer. If you are looking for a trade show display that is a little more low-key, the pop up trade show display may be just what you are looking for. With it’s “small-to-large” pop up frame, it takes a matter of minutes to set up, yet has an open design that will make it easier to maneuver through the booth.

With these tips, there is no way you will go wrong at your next trade, convention, meeting, etc.

Effective Ways to Increase Your ROI

Trade show planning does not stop at the show itself. It takes months of preparations to be successful. Here are five effective tips to becoming a trade show success long after the show is over.

1.) Pre-show Marketing

Although hundreds, possibly thousands of people attend trade shows, letting the public, especially current customers, know where your booth will be located is a good idea. Send out direct mail pieces with promotions that are only for the show. An example of this would be a direct mail piece that was sent out by a cell phone company. They offered free activations (normally a $30 value) and phone rebates that would only be effective if they purchased the phone and service at the exhibit. They received a huge amount of new business from this promotion. With an economy that won’t be getting better any time soon, it is crucial to have coupons or some other form of discounts available to the attendees.

Another valuable pre-show marketing mailer that could be sent out would be to inform potential attendees of a drawing you will have at your booth. Whether it be for a briefcase, vacation, or a t-shirt, everyone loves to get free stuff. This may be reason enough to get them over to your booth.

2.) A Dazzling Trade Show Exhibit

Ah, yes. This is the most important tip of all. Obviously you can’t exhibit at a trade show without a trade show booth. With only a few seconds to gain the attention of your potential new client, it is important to have a display that will catch their attention. When it comes to graphics, less is more. Having a photo of your product with just a few words would be remembered more than having several photos with a paragraph of text. It needs to be something easy to see and read while walking by.

The display itself is equally as important as the graphics. One of the most popular displays is called the pop up display. Just as the name implies, the frame “pops up” into place. It is very easy to set up and take down. Having a display that is simple to setup yet has a unique design is key to gaining attention. The Alumilate Hybrid Display is one of the most innovative displays on the market. With the unique look of the frame and canopy, to the flawless, stretching fabric used to print your graphics on, you are sure to get positive feedback from attendees. This is also very lightweight, keeping the shipping costs at a minimum.

The Xpressions Fabric Tension Display is a three dimensional display that can be configured in several different ways. The graphics are also interchangeable, making a new display at each show. This is a great way to keep your display fresh and unique.

3.) Staff Training

Your booth staff can make or break your trade show success. Consider these two examples: Booth A is staffed by employees who spend more time eating, drinking, talking on their phone, and talking to each other than they do talking to potential leads. These staffers are also not knowledgeable of their products or company. However, the staff at Booth B are professionally dressed, end phone conversations when potential customers enter your booth, do not eat while in their booth, and are very passionate about the company they work for and the products they sell. Which booth are you most likely to visit?

4.) Charming Giveaways

As I said before, everyone likes to get something for nothing. Consider giving away items that can be used regularly, rather than something that is of no use. It is important to have the name of your company on these items in order to be remembered by these potential customers. If you are looking for something that is sure to get attention, consider a giveaway wheel. The attendees will spin the wheel and get the prize shown.

5.) Lead Follow-up

Although the show may be over, the marketing is far from complete. While at the show, get the contact info of those individuals who may be interested in the products/services you have to offer. After the show is over, make sure to follow up with these people. Don’t wait too long though; a week after the show would be a good time to start calling those people back.