Tradeshows are organized events that allow companies in specific industries to showcase and demonstrate their latest product and service offerings, study activities of competitors and discuss recent trends and opportunities. Small businesses looking to take their company to the next level of visibility should research tradeshows that will help them gain the exposure they need.

While there are hundreds of thousands of different tradeshows available to companies, it’s important that you research and select shows that are going to target your business best. I would recommend attending a smaller, local tradeshow before investing time and resources into a larger, national show. While some companies may be able to benefit from national shows, it is possible that your small business will find maximum benefit by only attending local or regional events.

If your small business is interested in getting involved with a tradeshow event (of any size), here are a couple tips to help you succeed:

• Network – When attending a tradeshow event, don’t expect people to come to you. You should be engaging in conversation and make attendees (potential customers) feel welcome and comfortable. As attendees walk by your booth, don’t simply yell and force your pitch onto those who pass by. Instead, make eye contact with them and just say hello. Many people will be more open to talking with you because of your politeness. When appropriate, you should follow up with a non-threatening question such as, “Are you familiar with our company?

Mindy Sanderson

When you are away from your booth and walking around the showroom floor, make small talk with people as you are waiting in line, sitting down for lunch or attending a class. Do not give them your sales pitch, but make it known that you are exhibiting and let the conversation go from there. It’s important to remember that attendees are getting the “hard sell” all day long from different exhibitors and taking a different approach can make all the difference in building a worthwhile relationship with a prospective customer.

• Know the audience – You should know what will drive show attendees to purchase your products. This can be done through offering exciting business offers and targeting your marketing materials to the present audience. Needless to say, tradeshows for realtors will have different messaging than the marketing needs for wedding expos.

• Sharing company information – Tradeshow attendees receive a lot of “stuff” when walking the exhibit floor. To help assure your information is read, only give the most pertinent information. To help do this, design an oversized postcard instead of handing out a folder of information. This will force you to focus on the most important information and leave out details that attendees are not going to care for when skimming through packets. A lot of times the more information you hand out, the more likely that it will get thrown out by the attendee, wasting money on your end and more importantly losing a potential customer.

• Giveaway – If you are going to offer promotional items to help build brand awareness, make sure they tie to your company message. Attendees LOVE receiving freebies – whether it be pens, t-shirts or tote bags (to help carry their information at the show). These free products will help you message your company beyond your booth. Because most exhibitors have giveaways, try thinking outside the box.  For eBay Live 2008  tradeshow, Vistaprint conducted a T-shirt giveaway and gave out cash prizes randomly for attendees caught wearing our shirt. The buzz generated from the giveaway proved beneficial to us in two ways: we had folks flocking to our booth to grab shirts and those folks were acting as billboards for our brand as they walked around the show. If your company conducts a giveaway like this, make sure you have a way to track positive results.  Whatever item you give away, make sure to tie in your brand.

• Follow up on leads – The biggest mistake companies make after attending a tradeshow is not setting aside time to follow up on each lead that was generated onsite. Collect names and email addresses and make sure to email everyone and thank them for stopping by the booth and remind them of your offers. Also post-show mailings can be extremely effective. Not only should you mail to your generated leads – but consider making the investment into purchasing the entire attendee mailing list. You should plan on following up a few weeks after the show to ensure the attendee has had time to “unwind” from the show, but has not totally forgot about your company.

Lastly, when you are in your booth avoid sitting as much as possible. When you are seated, you appear less approachable.  If you are standing out front, you appear open to being approached (which you should be!)

Have you participated in a tradeshow recently, either as a presenter or an attendee? What benefits did you find a tradeshow offered your small business?

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