Trade shows are wonderful for showing off your products and what your company can do. Not only that, but you get the chance to scope out your competitors and see what they’re doing with their business. Trade shows are also a fantastic way of scoring new clients, new products, and simply getting your name out that little bit more. But, to maximise the return that you can get from a trade show, you should prepare yourself and today, we’ve put together a guide on the essentials to have for your next trade show.

Hype up Your Audience

While there will be a plethora of people that come to the trade show, it’s important to let your customers and followers know that you’re going to be attending to give them chance to book themselves tickets and transport to the event. There are many ways in which you can do this:

• Write a blog post for your website detailing what you’re going to showcase and give out the dates, exhibit number, and who to look out for.
• Share photos on social media from the event website and give as much information as possible.
• Create an advert in the local newspaper alerting people of your presence at the trade show.
• Create a press release and send it to journalists and magazines to spread the word for you.

Prepare Loads of Merchandise

One thing you’ll need on your stand is merchandise to give out to your customers and other interested parties. Merchandise such as t-shirts, baseball caps, pens, mugs and lanyards are popular and cost-effective items to give away. By doing this, you’re giving people something for nothing and also gaining free advertising in the long run. You can find loads of merchandise examples here, but make sure you’ve got a logo or slogan that people are going to remember.

Give People a Reason to Visit Your Exhibit

At a trade show, it’s likely that there’s going to be a dozen or more exhibits that are very similar to yours, and to receive the attention you’re after, you’ll need to give people a reason to visit yours over everyone else’s. Here are some ideas to consider:

• Offer free food such as cakes, sausage rolls, and other kinds of finger foods for people to graze on.
• Design a presentation that’s hard to miss using video walls, high-quality speakers, and a confident member of staff to draw people in.
• Reveal a sale on the day of the exhibit that is hard to resist.

Take Plenty of Pictures

Finally, people who can’t make it to your trade show will want to know how it went down, who was there and have a chance to take a peek into the event. Take plenty of pictures, do mini-interviews, and have someone updating your social media so that nobody misses out on your trade event.