Trade Shows
Radio and Television, Yellow Page Advertising , News Paper and Magazine is the first and second alternate way to show to the public about your small business. Do you ever think to advert your business in a trade show?, as you might know trade show is a gathering of companies that are marketing similar products or companies that market different types of products but serve the same markets.
These shows allow companies to introduce their new products, meet customers, learn about trends in the industry, and attract new customers. At a typical national trade show, there will be 1000 companies exhibiting and 10,000 people attending the show. An exhibitor can realistically have 200 visitors to their booth per day.
Obviously, this is a great way to network with other businesses and increase your consumer base. You have the opportunity to create the all important first impression. You will not always have the opportunity to go into detail about your products and services, but you will get your proverbial foot in the door.
Trade shows are a great way for you to break away from the home office and interact with competition, consumers, and industry associates.
Simmons Market Research Bureau study of trade show attendees reported that 91% of them rated the show as an “extremely useful” source for information about products. This percentage was higher than that from any other source, including on-site visits from company representatives. The study also reported that 50% of the attendees surveyed had purchased products or services at the show.
Over 9000 trade shows are held every year in the United States and they offer businesses a great return on their investment. However, since these shows can be quite expensive to participate in, how do you decide which trade shows to attend?
First, you have to determine why you should attend a show. You need to set specific goals that you wish to accomplish by attendance. Answering these four questions can provide clarification.
1) Why are you exhibiting? (Trying to improve relationships with existing customers, introducing a new product, positioning your company within the market, generating leads for new sales, countering a competitor’s claim, etc.)
2) Who is your target audience?
3) What is the message you want to convey?
4) What do you want to get out of the show? (Bring home leads, sell your products and/or services, improve or create a company image, etc.)
Now that you know your purpose for attending a trade show, you can begin trying to locate the best ones at which you goals can be accomplished. Start with your industry’s associations and trade publications. Next, check out the Internet. Sites like TSNN.com, tscentral.com, and FITA.org provide directories of shows around the world in various industries.
The key to finding the best shows for your organization is finding out which shows attract the biggest number of decision makers in your industry. To find out who attends a show, ask the show management for a demographic profile of their attendees. Check out the exhibitor list from last year.
You can also contact former exhibitors and ask for their impressions of the show. Make sure you ask show management how they plan to promote the show. Of course, you can always attend a prospective show yourself and form your own conclusions before committing to it for the next year.
