During my nearly six years in business I have only exhibited a handful of times. The exhibitions I did try were generally badly attended and didn’t lead to much new business. As a result I’ve been highly sceptical of the benefit. However, I do see the benefit (and I enjoy :-)) standing in front of a group of people and talking about social media (it is what I do all the time).
Last October, I noticed a call for speakers for the Berkshire Means Business event and immediately volunteered to speak. Of course I needed to purchase an exhibition stand and thought that I would take the risk. The stand wasn’t outrageously priced and I thought it would be worth getting the opportunity to present.
So, I attended Berkshire Means Business yesterday. I have to say it was really well 
organised and well attended. The stands were comprised of a 3 sides of a box (if that makes sense) so leaflets, brochures etc. could be stuck to the sides and each stand had a defined area. Lunch was provided along with tea/coffee vouchers and the lunch was a ‘proper lunch’ – sandwich, crisps, fruit, chocolate and drink! Thanks to Gemma and her team at BMG Events for fantastic organisation.
My 30 minute presentation was in a fantastic space overlooking Reading football pitch with a good sized screen and lapel mic. My presentation was well attended and I got good feedback both face to face and through Twitter. You can see my slides here.
During the day, I sold some of my ‘Social Media Made Simple‘ books and made a significant number of contacts (attendees and exhibitors) which I will follow up over the course of the next few days.
So has it been worth it? My gut feel says that it will be. Taking into account the cost of the time to attend as well as the cost to exhibit, we will need to get a few new clients to see a return, so only time will tell, but as a brand awareness exercise it was very successful.
What is your experience of exhibiting? Please share.
Exhibiting at a trade fair or conference will give you the opportunity to launch and showcase your products to a targeted audience of qualified buyers with face to face meetings. Using promotional items and giveaways can significantly increase traffic to your stand and promotional giveaways can be a clever marketing tool but handing giveaways out to anyone that passes your stand can be expensive and could blow your budget so look for special offers and low cost options for the day. Consider giving any literature or giveaways in customised, personalised bags so everyone attending will see your brand being carried all around the event.
Amazingly a lot of companies spend thousands exhibiting but then fail to follow up on leads generated and potential new clients. It is vital to follow up on any potential leads and attendees you spoke to on the day otherwise all your hard work and effort has gone to waste. When you give away promo items try and capture details about these customers and record details of the conversations you have had and the customer’s requirements rather than just hand literature out to anyone who passes. Most attendees of exhibitions will return back to the office with a bag full of brochures, flyers and freebies that will often get stuffed under a desk and forgotten about. Send a follow up email and a postal mailing including a promotional item that your customers will use back in the workplace and one that will serve as a continuous reminder of your services like a branded mug, mouse mat or sticky notes that are cheap and cost effective to mail out.
Big factor for B2B shows are well organised stand spaces – BMG have been around for years and know their stuff, When I used to design stands for my clients I hated doing little B2B’s as it always seems to be about the organiser not the exhibitor. Sounds a good show to get involved with – but of course doing a star turn is always going to be good. So in answer to you first question are they a cost effective form of marketing – as an ex exhibition designer I have to say yes. However, if you have a boring stand and spend the whole day looking at your mobile phone, then no. In fact it’s a bit like social media but without the like button!