At most exhibitions and events, you are surrounded by competition all vying for the sales and leads that you are also so determined to claim. Therefore, it’s important that you make a great first impression on your potential customers. You need to show them that your brand is the one they should be engaging with. How do you achieve this though? Should you focus on visual appeal? Should you put a huge emphasis on the sales team? Maybe you could create some sort of memorable spectacle? The thing is, as the quote below shows, it could well be that you need to combine all these factors and maybe some more, to ensure that everyone leaves the exhibition as a new customer, or at the very least knowing who you are!
We’ve all heard the saying that “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Experts say that 55% of first impressions are made by what we see so you need to work hard to stand out from the crowd! And this could be through a whole host of ways. Sight, smell, sound, taste and touch can all be utilised at an exhibition and if the product lends itself to even just two of these, you could be making tremendous headway
Here are 5 key tips that we think you need to know to make an impression at your next event:
Create impact with your exhibition display stand
You need to make sure your stand can’t be ignored! Great stand design will really help you get noticed. Consider a cool theme, bright colours or unusual designs that fit in with your brand. Perhaps incorporate screens, maybe a demo area, and space for your team to be able to work effectively. You want the stand to make people talk and remember you, and sometimes, this may work best with a less is more approach. Simplified, yet vibrant, powerful yet subtle. These could well be the key to creating a lasting impression. Ultimately though, it all comes down to your audience. So, conduct research, look at your audience and assess what crowd you are going to be hosting, what the event theme is and how other exhibitors commonly present. Discover what makes a good exhibition stand so that you get it right first time!
Utilise exhibition lighting for maximum results
Humans are attracted to light, and if you can factor this into your exhibition stand, or through a light show, you are bound to create an impression. Light shows will work as a tremendous spectacle that provides entertainment, attention and hopefully sales. A light box display on the other hand helps illuminate your brand message and the exhibition stand as a whole. Recent technology has enabled stand design to incorporate LED lighting into the display stand creating ambience and interesting effects to attract attention. Furthermore, LED lighting is much more economical than other forms so you can be saving money too!
Customer engagement is key to any exhibition
The customer is the King or Queen of the exhibition and they make the decisions, however, you have the tools to persuade them of pretty much anything!
Once someone has spotted your display, you want them to love it, you want them to ask questions that only you have the answers to. You want them to feel inspired, curious and hungry for more but ultimately you need to hold their attention. You need to convert the visit to the stand from a mild interest into a confirmed lead or sale. This is the moment your sales team come into their own.
You have already drawn in the prospect with a fantastic-looking stand, now is the time to focus on the other senses such as taste and smell. You may want to consider enticing refreshments or edible giveaways to get visitors to increase their dwell time with you. Maybe you could factor in a game or competition for visitors to participate in. The prize? A discount on your product, a free trial or some brand-themed items that help keep the brand in mind. The cooler and more original the idea the better! Engaging with new customers at an exhibition can be the first step to securing customers for years to come.
Provide an exhibition environment that feels like home
Well, you don’t quite want it to be like home, but you do certainly want visitors to feel like there is no pressure to buy and no pressure to leave once your sales pitch or demo has ended. Providing a space where visitors will want to stay can help them consider using your stand as a meeting point, which in turn could generate additional leads. In addition, selecting an exhibition counter that incorporates space for furniture could help you keep people there where they, in fact, host their own meetings. However, make sure you have a system in place to move people along to avoid congestion or missed opportunities.
Staff training for an exhibition
Your display stand is your shop front but the people who greet potential customers are the key to your success. Invest in your staff. You need to train and incentivise them to meet your objectives. Passionate people, with a full brief of your objectives and suitable product knowledge, help keep leads interested and convert them into sales. Make your team the lead performers by letting them embrace their outgoing nature, you’ll be surprised by how many people buy into people and then in turn buy into the product! Staff Training in readiness to create an impact at an exhibition is the tool that can bring the whole event together!
There are of course many ways you can create impact at an exhibition and a large part comes from your exhibition stand and the team you have working on it. Should you be on the lookout for some advice or guidance, Contact us, we have hundreds of ideas that help get you noticed at your next event! We can even help you with a free designing exhibition stands service so you can review and amend your stand so it looks just right come the big day.
