How to Cut Cost While Displaying at Trade Fairs

Cutting cost has always remained an integral part of trading and marketing. Even the trade fairs haven’t remained untouched by this phenomenon as cost cutting tactics are employed on regular basis in the modern times. Cost cutting does make sense to a certain extent but in some cases it can become a hindrance to the process of organizing a trade show. The skill of a good organizer lies in his ability to efficiently employ cost cutting tactics.

In the today’s world, trade fairs have gained tremendous popularity amongst enthusiasts and serious buyers. The visitors expect high quality in the infrastructure as well as general facilities. In this situation, certain tactics and practices could come extremely handy to the exhibitors and organizers who bear the burden of minimizing their expenditure while maintaining a certain level of quality.

• Use of custom modular trade show display - One of the most obvious benefit of using custom modular trade show display is the reduction in the shipping and drayage expenses. These custom displays are easier to set up when compared to the regular ones. The overall expenditure is curtailed by 75% of the original cost, if the exhibitors employ these displays at the trade fairs.

• Hiring local students for promotion at stalls - Expert professionals when hired over a short period of time at trade fairs can sometime dig a massive hole in the pocket of the organizers and exhibitors. Instead of the specialized professional, hiring college students in the local region for certain trivial tasks like promotion at stalls is much more beneficial and cost effective. In certain cases, these young students could be more useful due to their higher level of energy and enthusiasm.

• Choosing trade venue closer to airports, shipping docks and railways stations - To cut down on the cost of transporting goods from ports and docks, the trade venue should be chosen closer to such destinations. This practice could make a world of difference in the expenditure.

• Focus on trade buyers - The real motive of a trade fair is to do quality business with quality clients. In some cases, unnecessary focus on general public who visit the fairs without any purpose of buying could be a cause of extra expenditure. Exhibitors need to acknowledge the significance of trade buyers and should devote major share of their finances in wooing the actual buyers. This change in approach could be extremely beneficial to them.

If the exhibitors and organizers start following the above mentioned practices and fine tune their tactics, they will definitely be able to maximize their profits at the trade fairs.

Marketing of a Trade Show

Every trade show presents its own unique ways, but there are a number of things that are common in all trade shows. Whether you are attending an International Trade Show or a National Trade Show, there are a few general guidelines you can follow to make sure that you are well prepared and well equipped for your upcoming show.

The goal of every trade show is to generate profits for its company. Although many trade shows allow you to purchase and sell products. Each lead you generate should be carefully recorded in as much detail as possible. A stunning 80% of leads generated at trade shows are not followed up, which is absolutely shocking considering the amount of money companies are willing to invest in expos.

Usually exhibitors purchase a trade show display to highlight their products and services. Many exhibitors make the mistake of overfill too much information into their display space,which in turn makes the booth look bad. The key elements of a trade show display should be your company name, logo, and a few key pieces of information that you want your customers to remember. Attendees will be walking past thousands of booths at your show, so make sure your booth makes an impact quickly.

Although many trade show booths are easy to set up and many require skilled workers.
It is very obvious that the goal of trade shows is to generate profit for your company and maintain brand recognition. Both can be achieved with a high quality trade show booth, dedicated booth staff, and lead gathering technology.

Common Mistakes in a Trade Show

@ Failure in implementing a consistent marketing plan

Exhibiting efforts must be part of an overall marketing scheme that is consistent and engaging. Many exhibitors old and torn trade show displays repeatedly in their booths which in turn ends up looking entirely bad from the rest of their marketing material. So it is important to have a fresh look at every trade show and is also important to implement a consistent marketing plan to build brand recognition.

@ Failure in setting goals and objectives for a trade show

It is important to set measurable and smart goals in advance of your trade show so that it can help in achieving company's targets and increase in sales.

@ Failure to give attendees and other exhibitors a reason to visit your booth

Never assume that visitors will directly visit into your display area without any incentive. There are a number of methods exhibitors use to draw attention to their booths, many of which are put in place before the show even begins such as banners, pre-mailing and making phone calls etc.

@ Failure to follow up with the leads you generate

The biggest and most common mistake exhibitors make is that they fail to evaluate their trade show booth which is the most important thing to do as it helps to correct the mistakes and not repeating for the future trade shows. Unless you have a plan in place, you may as well not even attend the trade show.