10 Tips to Maximise Your Impact at Exhibitions

Telling your brand’s story in an interactive and visual way is a great way to stay in your target audience’s mind.

Exhibitions represent the perfect opportunity to spread the word about your brand, cementing your reputation as a market leader and attracting new customers. Follow our top 10 tips based on the Merit 360 approach to maximise the impact at your next exhibition or event.

Tip 1 – Plan, plan, plan

Just like most things in life, having a well thought out strategy for promoting your brand will put you on the road to success. Think about what you want to achieve for your brand and ensure that everything you do – from exhibition stand design to promotional activity – ties in with your aims.

Tip 2 – Create a buzz

Start early by getting the word out on social media. And don’t forget to ensure that your web copy is updated with your plans. For example, if you’re running a competition on the day or planning some fantastic giveaways, then a blog post is a great way to ensure your stand will be well-attended.

Tip 3 – Aim high

If you’re going to make an impact, your branding needs to be visible. And, in a crowded room, the best place to get your brand seen is by positioning it above the rest. So, rigging or balloons will help get your brand as high as possible, drawing in the crowds from the far side of the venue.

Tip 4 – Use your products wisely

You don’t want your products to take up too much space and detract from your hospitality. However, it’s important that your visitors are able to interact with them and experience it for themselves. So use them within the stand structure and build where possible. And, if you have a physical product that can be drawn as a CAD model, then augmented reality, or virtual reality, is a great way to let your visitors physically interact with your products in their working environment.

Tip 5 – Utilise imagery for large applications

You can’t showcase your larger products effectively at an event. However, the back walls of your display give you the ideal opportunity to showcase large application imagery.

Tip 6 – Tell a story about your brand

Telling your brand’s story in an interactive and visual way is a great way to stay in your target audience’s mind. Leveraging technology – videos and iPads, for example – can be incredibly effective. Essentially, you need to demonstrate your brand values and make clear to your target audience that you understand what you’re all about.

Tip 7 – Use 3D to stand out

Grab attention with 3D illuminated lettering. High impact and unique, it’s an incredibly effective way to differentiate your construction brand and stand out from the crowd at your next event.

Tip 8 – The right team is crucial

Your people represent your brand. So it’s crucial to ensure you have the right ones. Not only should they have the ability to connect with your ideal customers at the event, they’ll also create the right culture on your stand. Ultimately, you need to look after your visitors and treat them as though they’re attending the event just to see you.

Tip 9 – Thumbs up for effective giveaways

Using branded corporate gifts and bags is great, but you need to make them something that delivers real stand out for your brand. It’s also a good idea to ensure they’re something that your target customer will actually use. Branded tape measures, for example, can be very effective. That way, your brand will be at the forefront of your customer’s mind when they’re ready to make a decision.

Tip 10 – Follow up to gain ROI

At any event, following up leads afterwards is the only true way of getting ROI. And that’s still the case if you sell primarily through dealers or builders’ merchants. Ensure that they get details of all your post-show activity, competition results and promotions. What’s more, if you’ve been taking orders from visitors on the stand, it’s critical that you follow up every lead within the first two weeks.

And, simple as that, your brand will be soaring above the rest!