Strategy Planning For A Successful Trade Show

If you’re like many managers who are put in charge of event planning for a trade show, you may find you have more questions than answers on how to begin to plan for the event.

For 25 years our firm has designed and placed displays in trade shows all over the U.S. and abroad. We have worked with all manner of firms and associations in strategy planning, floor plan design, display design and installation of trade show displays. Our experience has shown there are many things you need to know to help ensure a successful trade show, no matter where it is located.

Advance Event Planning
It’s optimal to begin strategy planning at least eight months to a year prior to the event. This gives you time to receive input from others in your company or association, and to arrange for a team effort that will be critical to the success of your project. First, you’ll need answers to a number of questions. Those include:

• What are the top three things you want to accomplish by being in this trade show?
• Who are the customers or members you will be contacting directly through this event?
• What is the bottom-line criteria you will use to determine if this show is a success for your firm or association?
• If you are introducing a new product or service, what are the major benefits to your potential customers?
• Who are your logical competitors and what is their sales strategy, pricing and market penetration?
• What image must you convey to cause a potential customer to stop and ask questions about your product or services?
• What are the budget goals for the event, including the maximum that can be allotted for all booth activities?

These ground-level questions will get you thinking about what you need to accomplish at your event. They also pin down up front what kind of budget you have to work with, which will be instrumental in helping you select the type of display you can afford.

Selecting Your Event Team
Select team members who are creative, get along and are pleasurable to work with. Strategy planning is a long-term effort, and it calls for positive people who are up for a challenge. Keep your team small -- six to eight people --, with designated roles for each. Roles typically include research, working with management to understand what is expected from the event and developing creative ideas that will project what you want the customer to see and hear. From both a creative aspect and budget considerations, your team will also be selecting the display firm you will work with. The display firm will become part of your team effort. Once you have a firm idea of what you would like to present, you may want to interview several firms and have them present design ideas.

Start With A Blank Sheet, But An Agreement On What Needs To Be Done
When it comes to the various creative aspects for your booth and display design, it’s important in the beginning to keep your options open and to be as flexible as possible in order to encourage “green light thinking,” which means no idea is a dumb idea. It is equally important to get top management involved at the outset in answering the ground-level questions outlined earlier. This will keep your entire team on-focus as to what needs to be accomplished and your budget considerations.

Get Show Facts Up Front
Contact your show administrator and ask for the three-ring binder provided by most that outlines what vendors can and can’t do. It should answer all your questions, but if it doesn’t, call. You don’t want any surprises when you get to the show; for example, hanging a high sign may entail a lift truck and four union employees at a minimum number of hours.

Selecting An Effective Display
Once you determine what you want to present, the next step is to select the best media and display that will most effectively project your idea to potential customers. This may include video, large graphic display panels and modular displays. Keep your overall theme simple, easy to understand and one that can be easily conveyed in many forms of media. Sounds easy, but it’s not. Centering on a very simple, yet extremely effective idea is a matter of understanding thoroughly what you want your customers to remember about your firm or association after the event is over and they are back in their offices. Finding that magic idea that ties it all together is an art form.

Think of all the TV spots you have seen lately and how many you remember, both the product and the firm’s name. This is where your team effort will pay off, big time. It is the type of challenge that is group fun, and when it works well is very, very effective. It can inspire your team to use the idea in many media and can help you select the trade show display that works best. It can be a theme you use in all your advertising and press releases. It can inspire a direct-mail program prior to the event that invites customers to your booth. It can be sent in the package to all your show leads. It can be another way of measuring the success of your event -- long after you pack up and head back to work.

Strategy Planning For A Successful Trade Show

If you’re like many managers who are put in charge of event planning for a trade show, you may find you have more questions than answers on how to begin to plan for the event.

For 25 years our firm has designed and placed displays in trade shows all over the U.S. and abroad. We have worked with all manner of firms and associations in strategy planning, floor plan design, display design and installation of trade show displays. Our experience has shown there are many things you need to know to help ensure a successful trade show, no matter where it is located.

Advance Event Planning
It’s optimal to begin strategy planning at least eight months to a year prior to the event. This gives you time to receive input from others in your company or association, and to arrange for a team effort that will be critical to the success of your project. First, you’ll need answers to a number of questions. Those include:

• What are the top three things you want to accomplish by being in this trade show?
• Who are the customers or members you will be contacting directly through this event?
• What is the bottom-line criteria you will use to determine if this show is a success for your firm or association?
• If you are introducing a new product or service, what are the major benefits to your potential customers?
• Who are your logical competitors and what is their sales strategy, pricing and market penetration?
• What image must you convey to cause a potential customer to stop and ask questions about your product or services?
• What are the budget goals for the event, including the maximum that can be allotted for all booth activities?

These ground-level questions will get you thinking about what you need to accomplish at your event. They also pin down up front what kind of budget you have to work with, which will be instrumental in helping you select the type of display you can afford.

Selecting Your Event Team
Select team members who are creative, get along and are pleasurable to work with. Strategy planning is a long-term effort, and it calls for positive people who are up for a challenge. Keep your team small -- six to eight people --, with designated roles for each. Roles typically include research, working with management to understand what is expected from the event and developing creative ideas that will project what you want the customer to see and hear. From both a creative aspect and budget considerations, your team will also be selecting the display firm you will work with. The display firm will become part of your team effort. Once you have a firm idea of what you would like to present, you may want to interview several firms and have them present design ideas.

Start With A Blank Sheet, But An Agreement On What Needs To Be Done
When it comes to the various creative aspects for your booth and display design, it’s important in the beginning to keep your options open and to be as flexible as possible in order to encourage “green light thinking,” which means no idea is a dumb idea. It is equally important to get top management involved at the outset in answering the ground-level questions outlined earlier. This will keep your entire team on-focus as to what needs to be accomplished and your budget considerations.

Get Show Facts Up Front
Contact your show administrator and ask for the three-ring binder provided by most that outlines what vendors can and can’t do. It should answer all your questions, but if it doesn’t, call. You don’t want any surprises when you get to the show; for example, hanging a high sign may entail a lift truck and four union employees at a minimum number of hours.

Selecting An Effective Display
Once you determine what you want to present, the next step is to select the best media and display that will most effectively project your idea to potential customers. This may include video, large graphic display panels and modular displays. Keep your overall theme simple, easy to understand and one that can be easily conveyed in many forms of media. Sounds easy, but it’s not. Centering on a very simple, yet extremely effective idea is a matter of understanding thoroughly what you want your customers to remember about your firm or association after the event is over and they are back in their offices. Finding that magic idea that ties it all together is an art form.

Think of all the TV spots you have seen lately and how many you remember, both the product and the firm’s name. This is where your team effort will pay off, big time. It is the type of challenge that is group fun, and when it works well is very, very effective. It can inspire your team to use the idea in many media and can help you select the trade show display that works best. It can be a theme you use in all your advertising and press releases. It can inspire a direct-mail program prior to the event that invites customers to your booth. It can be sent in the package to all your show leads. It can be another way of measuring the success of your event -- long after you pack up and head back to work.