Even the most stubborn exhibitors – the ones who refuse to think about the exhibit booth until the show is a month or so out – are likely to gaze out at the exhibit hall at least once or twice and suddenly discover things around them are changing, and they’re not part of the change.
What’s an exhibitor who knows they need to move their exhibit program into the 21st century to do?
Here are five questions they can ask themselves:
What’s the story you have to tell?
Not where is the best place to display new product in order to get more foot traffic or where should the reception desk go? It’s what is my brand and what is the story I have to tell that will create a connection with potential clients and customers?
Which tools do you need to tell that story?
Event technology is no longer just the Wi-Fi connection required to show a prospect a video on a laptop screen. It’s the foundation that helps you tell your story, and it needs to be built into your story-telling process. How do you do that?
How do you guarantee you’re getting your story across?
It’s not just your time that’s being wasted if you come away from a show without the qualified leads you expected. It’s the leads themselves, who have their own ways of evaluating whether the show was worth their time and money. Which of the available measurement technologies should you use to measure traffic, dwell time, lead volume and the dozens of other metrics available to you?
Whatever you decide your plan is, what’s the best way to pay for it?
Exhibitor Magazine recently noted that rental exhibit volume is up 40 percent in the last seven years. Exhibitors no longer necessarily see their custom-made permanently constructed booth as the best way to tell their story. It’s what you put inside that exhibit shell that matters. And exhibit rental providers are increasingly making it easier for you to tell your story with their off-the-shelf, customizable structures.
Finally, how does your exhibit marketing program fit into your overall marketing campaign?
As you’ve heard a hundred times, the tradeshow floor is no longer the ONLY place where buyers meet sellers. You have many channels available to you to communicate with your clients and potential clients. How do all the channels – including your exhibit booth – work together? Where and how does your exhibit program fit into your overall storytelling strategy?
These are the questions that exhibit managers must be asking themselves today.