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What Do You Do to Attract More Visitors to Your Stand?

The one true metric to determine success for an exhibitor at a trade show is to keep a count on just how many trade visitors stopped by to take a look. The longer the list of sales leads you have, the better chance to convert later and compensate the expenses behind your exhibition stand and your travel. This brings us to the age-old question – how do I attract more visitors to my stand? It’s not a simple question to answer, because there are so many variables that go into play, and exhibitions are notoriously competitive to begin with.

But we have been in the events industry for over a decade, and we have seen what works when our clients showcase their brands and products in these space. These are their pieces of wisdom:

Design Your Stand with the Utmost Care

A beautiful stand catches the eye. It’s a signal that pierces through the visual landscape where all other stands blend together, and guides visitors its way. In short, you can’t afford to be forgettable. A boring design is a cardinal sin when it comes to exhibiting anywhere. You need to utilize every bit of the exhibition stand to captivate and excite be it through graphics or a color palette that’s a curious decision. But in order to arrive at a spectacular end result, there is a process you have to go through and it all begins with the trade show organizers.

Inquire about stand sizes and prices. We recommend you put significant thought in the selection of a stand, because you don’t want to crowd yourself in a smaller option and you don’t want to overspend on a bigger stand that you don’t need. Think about functionality first, because how you appear, feel and perform in your exhibition stand determines how customers will regard you. You also want a professional design. Do not think just because you have some Photoshop skills you can substitute a professional designer. It’s worth the investment. Trust us. If your company has a designer on payroll, delegate the task to them. Whatever you do, don’t overdo the design. Busy on the eye works against you.

Generate Interest in Your Stand before Launch

Winners take matters into their own hands and this most definitely applies to attracting visitors. It is a little known strategy to talk with clients before a trade fair even begins. One way to ensure a steady stream of visitors is to go through your client list and check up with them whether they’ll be making the trip to the event. Advertise that you will be an exhibitor there and wish to meet. Leveraging existing contacts is underused, but should feature more extensively as a practice. You wouldn’t be where you are as a company without past clients and a trade fair is an excellent time to reconnect and build upon your relationship. Have them recommit with new purchases.

Once you receive a confirmation they’d be there, schedule meetings. You can do the same with the companies, influencers and experts you respect and want to attract to your company. If you’ve accurate information that they’ll be going, it costs you nothing to reach out, introduce yourself and request a formal meeting during the exhibition at their convenience. Have you exhausted the wish list of potential prospects? Advertise your appearance. One technique that never fails to get you noticed is to promote your stand number with a map where in the exhibition centre you’re going to be located. It’s all about preparations!

Be Approachable and Interactive

Perhaps most intuitive of all is to appoint cheerful staff members who have interpersonal skills and can talk to visitors in a way that doesn’t come off as artificial or too heavy on trying to sell. You need to be approachable and welcome everyone who stops by with a genuine warmth. Building a real human connection is stronger than any other form of marketing and the first hello can set you up to win over a customer or lose business. Sales pitches are fine, but you also need to break up how you approach visitors. Games and giveaways have shown their effectiveness in amplifying social interactions.

Have a Product Worth Stopping For

Last on our list, but first on your mind. You can have the most compelling exhibition stand in the world, but you won’t move product, if what you’re selling has no value. Having an outstanding product is the first requirement to even considering exhibiting at a trade show in the first place. It takes time to arrive at the right version for your product and sometimes it’s best to wait before you enter such a public arena.

Conversely, a terrific product can be dulled by a subpar demo and uninspiring merchandising. We wind back up to being memorable and engaging interest in visitors. To that end you need a demo that manages to communicate the strengths of your product all the while entertaining. It’s a fine line to walk, but when done successfully, word of mouth spreads about your stand and you get the so-called organic traffic!