Trade Show Tips: 3 Things That Shouldn't Touch Your Area

When you head to the trade show, you are hoping to improve your return on investment (ROI). However, if you take things onto the trade show floor that have no business being there, you are simply asking for disaster. Here are a few things that you should avoid at all costs and never take with you into your exhibit area:  

1. Cheap Promotional Items

If you're trying to target top-tier executives with your booth, then you should know you won't make it far with $0.50 pens with your business name on them. After all, the pen that your prospect has in his or her coat or purse is probably worth 10 times that.

High-level executives don't do cheap, so neither should you. You are only wasting your time and hurting your image. In fact, you'd be better off not giving away anything at all than giving away those flimsy, inexpensive pens.

2. The Flea Market Table

If you're actually taking the time, energy and money to enter into a trade show, you probably have high-quality products. For that reason, you want to make sure that you avoid looking like you have something else: junk products. One way to make it appear that your products aren't worth near as much as they actually are is by displaying a flea market table.

The best way to display your products are on monitors or via online galleries. If you are in an industry that requires prospects to visually see and physically touch the product, make sure that you still use technology to your advantage while also bringing a couple of your best sellers and newest products. Another solid idea is using a trade show model.

3. Giveaways Open to Everyone

Giveaways are one of the best ways to attract trade show attendees to your exhibit. However, you have to keep your end goal in mind, which is likely to generate honest-to-goodness leads.

So, rather than allowing anyone that walks into your booth sign up for a giveaway, make sure they're qualified to be a potential lead before they register. You can do this by having them answer a few short questions that would demonstrate their ability to become a prospective client.

Ultimately, if you're headed to an exhibit at a trade show, you need to make sure that both your image and standards successfully match your end goals. Own your space and make the absolute most of it. This is one of the best marketing investments and tools that you could ever get in on when it comes to trade shows.

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