Exhibition Checklist

Have You Gone Through The Exhibition Checklist?

Do you have an event coming up?

So, have you done your exhibition checklist?  Are you prepared, have you done all you can before during and after?

There are a number of things that can and should be done before, during and after an event in order to ensure that you achieve the best possible ROI from it.

They are expensive, so it is essential to ensure that you are putting the most effort in so as to get the best possible results out of it.

We have tried to help you get the best out of an event.  You could go onto Google and look for tips, but we thought it best to put them in one post!

Your Checklist

We have put together a simple 10 point guide for you to consider before charging into an event or exhibition:

1. Define goals and objectives – First and foremost, what do you want to achieve from the event?
2. Establish a budget – Money is central to your event, do not over commit beyond your means.
3. Build your team – A good team is the key to success for your event.
4. Pick your venue and date – Be selective in which events you attend.
5. Develop event branding – You have to have your brand stand out in your market.
6. Plan your program – What will you have on throughout the day or day’s?
7. Confirm sponsors, exhibitors, and speakers – Guest speakers are always a hit at events.
8. Identify and select tech tools – Technology is at the forefront of our digital society.
9. Create a marketing and promotional plan – Marketing should spearhead your event.
10. Determine your measurement – You need to measure success after the event.

Each of these points are as important as the next if your event is to be fruitful.

Before The Event

You should really start thinking about an event 4 months before hand. This is so that you can market to your target audience and ensure that they know about the event and will visit you there.

E-mail – why not put a link about the event on your e-mails?  Why not send an e-mail campaign out to prospects announcing a competition.

Telemarketing – why not use a telemarketing campaign to get prospects interested following the e-mail

Direct Mail – why not doing a mailing to prospects to raise the awareness about the event Event Stand – Get the best possible exhibition stand designer to products a great stand

The marketing before the event is possibly the most important thing next to the event itself. If you have paid a lot of money for a stand, for the space, for staff to attend the event, but no-one knows you are there, then it is money down the drain.

During The Event

There are a few things that can be done during the event to ensure that people know you are there, that they can see and hear you, and will visit your stand over your competitors.

Music – Have some music going, people like music

Models – Have some pretty people on the stand (models can be hired)

Gifts – Have some promotional gifts to give out to people (people like presents)

Sales – Get staff walking around the event talking to people, drawing them to the stand

Balloons – Helium balloons stand out – get them up there!

One thing to avoid is having staff hanging around looking bored, eating on the stand, talking to each other, playing on their mobile phones, or ‘in meetings’. Staff are there to work the event, from when it starts to when it ends.

After The Event

When the event is over and done with, it is not over, the event can still be milked. The winner of the competition can be announced via an e-marketing campaign. A telemarketing campaign can be used to follow up on any sales leads from the event.

Measuring success after the event is important.

It is not necessarily about money in the bank from the event, but what orders have you got in the sales funnel.  Do you have new clients in the pipeline?

The mistake that a lot of companies make is by ending the event when the event ends and doing no follow up.

This is a golden mistake.  Contacting visitors that came to your stand is important and capturing the contact information.  This could be though a prize giveaway or raffle of some thought.

Be creative in how to capture the names and contact details of visitors.  This is what your event is all about.

Plan Your Event

Part of your exhibition checklist is to plan the event.  When considering the event, it is wise to consider the before, during and after.  Leaving out one or more of these will mean that part of the money invested into the event is going wasted.

As they say, failure to plan is planning to fail.