As the vast majority of those in the business world will already know, it is often necessary to resort to somewhat unusual or even guerrilla tactics in order to succeed. Of course, what we are talking about here is not cheating or doing anything underhanded, but rather taking your own future and success into your own hands and making sure you do not miss any golden opportunities.
According to the folks at RAL Display, it is exactly the same when it comes to being successful at trade shows. With hundreds of rivals in attendance and literally just a few feet away from you, there’s really no situation or scenario where it’s more important to go above and beyond in order to be successful. Trade shows have the potential to be uniquely beneficial and can give any business at any level the huge kick in the right direction. Of course, there’s only time and room enough for a select few businesses to tower over their rivals…the key therefore being to ensure that your business is one of them.
But how can you make this happen in a real world scenario?
Reel Them in With Force
Well, first of all it is important to remember that there is nothing out there which says you must remain behind your desk at all times and wait for attendees to come to you. The fact that you occupy only a very small space in the exhibition hall means that statistically it is inevitable that plenty of prospects will either pass you by or be stolen by the competition. As such, it simply makes sense to step away from the desk and use a little proactive force and persuasion to bring them in manually. This is neither cheeky nor cheating – it is a fantastically effective way of getting things done.
Interactive Display Stands
It is simply human nature to want to prod and poke things rather than simply look at them. At a trade show, the vast majority of stands will feature little other than posters, banners and other conventional marketing materials. By contrast, a select few will also bring a little interactivity into the mix and these are more often than not the stands and businesses that not only capture but retain the most attention. Quite simply, give them something to play with and chances are they will do exactly that.
Give Something Away
There really are not many people out there who could honestly say that they can resist something on offer free of charge. It really doesn’t matter what it is, just as long as it is free, chances are they will want it. You can of course use this to your advantage at the trade show by simply adding a few gifts into the equation. From pens to pencils to coffee to gift vouchers and really anything else across the board, some might call it trying to buy the attention of your audience and they are indeed right… But it works every time.
Research and Outpace the Competition
Prior to turning up at a trade show, or even planning your plan of attack for that matter, carry out a little research into the competition. What you are looking to do here is to find out exactly what your rivals plan to offer and to bring to the trade show in order that you may then come up with a better offer in order to outpace them. This is in essence the very fundamental basic strategy for any business looking to be successful – as in finding something that is already being done and doing it better. The only difference with a trade show being that you are doing it in a more confined space.
Set Up Spy Points
Last but not least, the idea of researching the competition is one that you should be continuing throughout the day right to the very end of the trade show. Specifically, you should be looking to set up a handful of spy points around the trade show hall in order to find out what the competition is doing and once again, do it better. Find ways of improving what they are offering, see why they are attracting more attention than you are or just get down and dirty by trying to physically steal their customers and bring them to your own booth. Never forget – there is no such thing as cheating as it is all in the spirit of fair competition…those with the most to offer will always win the day.