Nigel Wilkinson
Managing Director of Daneswood. Nigel has been in sales and marketing since the 1980's and run digital marketing agencies since 2000.
Last time, we looked at printed materials and how tangibility builds trust and connections. This time, we are delving into one of the places printed materials are often used, and that’s the world of exhibitions.
Exhibitions can be a great part of the marketing mix, both for business-to-business B2B, and business to consumer B2C. It’s an opportunity to see a large number of people quickly, showcase your wares and establish credibility.
This week, I had the opportunity to visit a couple of Expos in London’s Excel Centre and it really highlighted some lessons I’ve learnt when organising and manning Expo stands myself.
When booking a stand at an Expo, the cost of the stand is often thought of as the big expense, and sure enough at places like Excel, it ain’t cheap! But really, that’s just the start point.
Having people manning the stand, you are going to need a minimum of three, often more, for the length of the Expo. That is the biggest single cost. If it’s away from home and you need travel, hotel, and food, it can mount up fast.
Then there is your actual display; you need to ideally stand out from the crowd or at least look professional! If you do lots of Expo’s then you will have that sorted already, if not, there is a lot to think of. A great option is to call Tim at https://200m2.co.uk/ (blatant client plug!) and he will help guide you.
Like any marketing, getting your strategy right is essential. How will you attract people to your stand, how will you break the ice, what interaction do you want and what is the follow-up action?
Let me throw in a few examples from this week. The first chap to approach us offered us a sweet. Not original, but simple and ice-breaking. The sweet was accepted with thanks. His follow-up left us shocked. “Great, enjoy the expo!” No attempt to engage in conversation, ask what we did, why we were there, or promote his product. Catch and release, all in one motion!
The next row of stands was even worse. Not one person spoke to us! We looked at their stand, we said hello, we tried to work out what they did from their display banners. But they ignored us, stared at their phones or chatted between themselves! If I caught my team doing that…!
Finally, a young lady jumped out to speak to us, engaged us, found out how we could work together and introduced her colleague who could explain more. I actually congratulated her for speaking to us! Perfect. Well, not quite. When we went to leave, all we got was a business card.
This was a great opportunity for a flyer, just key details of what they do and benefits. At an Expo, you usually have dozens or even hundreds of conversations (we did, things picked up!) A single business card doesn’t remind you the next day or even two months’ time what product or service they offer.
Equally, a full catalogue is too heavy to carry for the rest of the day. Something light and professional is ideal. Postcard size is great, A4 fold at most. Make sure you add your web address or a QR code, so prospects can easily get more information if they want it.
What’s more, they don’t have my details, so they can’t follow up to see if we are still interested – we are, I have an ideal client for them! NB: If you have been put off selling eCommerce into the EU because of red tape etc, but would love to break back into that market, give us a call, and we can point you in the right direction!
Later in the day, we had lots of great conversations, some we liked the product, but just not the right fit for us or our clients, and that’s fine. Expos should be like panning for gold, you discard those that aren’t right whilst you search for the golden nuggets. One chap gave a lengthy product demonstration, whilst it was very cool and clever, it wasn’t right for us and tied him up for 15-20 minutes, whilst his time could have been better spent on the next person.
The good news was that others offered great samples, and we came away with several well-designed, professional-looking leaflets and postcards that I will follow up with next week.
So, if you are planning an Expo stand, make sure you have a great icebreaker. Train your team and make sure you send the right people who are motivated to engage potential prospects. Have a supply of leaflets that remind prospects of your proposition and the benefits they will get. And ensure you have a process to capture contact details of hot prospects and a system to follow them up whilst the interest is fresh.
The final lesson from the other Expo we visited. Thyme flavour ice cream sounds like something that should never be made but someone is a genius and it’s absolutely delicious!
If Exhibition marketing is part of your marketing mix, give us a call, and we can help with leaflets, business cards, bunting, posters or pop-up display banners etc.