Why exhibit?

How much does it cost to actually speak face to face to interested potential customers?
Exhibitions may be seen as a large investment, but they are in fact a very economical way to make leads which you can turn into customers. No other form of marketing gives you the opportunity to present directly to such a large targeted audience in such a short period of time!

How to get the most out of your exhibition presence
Make sure your product or service is right for the targeted audience, these visitors are often the decision makers if you have the right product for them you need to be able to close a sale on the spot.

Build relationships
Exhibitions and trade shows are the perfect platform for meeting, new customer prospects, to market your business face to face. You also have the opportunity to meet key people in your industry, giving you the chance to network and build new relationships.

Remember to learn about their needs, requirements and business and take their contact details, business card etc.. Don’t forget, the event can also be used as a live research session, ask people opinions of your brand, products, sales pitch and marketing material. You’ll be surprised how much you can learn from a couple of day’s face-to-face marketing.

Exhibition planning
Preparation is vital for success and will maximise opportunities, giving you better value for money. The more thought and planning you put in before the exhibition, the more likely you are to succeed at the event. Follow the exhibitors instructions carefully and ensure you organise everything you need on your stand. Set objectives for the event and put a plan in place as early as possible. This should include all deadlines for getting the stand designed and assembled on site and the information you need to submit to the organiser.

Marketing messages
Make sure all your marketing messages are prepared in advance of the event. Your messaging should be consistent across your stand, company literature and press material. This will ensure you’re communicating clearly to your customers and prospects about, who you are and what your business is about. If you don’t already have one, you’ll need a quick pitch. This pitch should say everything a visitor needs to know about your project or business and your unique selling points in less than 30 seconds. Remember, here in Pattaya Thailand, a large percentage of visitors will be Thai, many more will be English speaking and there will also be a high number of Russian speaking visitors, so you may want to have multilingual marketing messages and staff the can speak the languages.

Maximise your exhibition
Maximise your presence at an event by including something in your website and other marketing materials, to let your prospects know that they can come and meet you in person on your stand at the show.

Use direct mail, e-newsletters and PR to raise your profile ahead of the event. Check the event website to find out who the media partners are. These publications will be running features and articles about the event, maybe they can do a feature on your business or project?

Many of the Real Estate Industry and other local media publishers will exhibit at the event. Prepare a press pack, for journalists attending, with your companies background information, latest news and customer case studies in a press pack. This is an effective way of getting in front of journalists.

Post-event follow-ups
Remember, the event doesn’t end when you’ve left the venue, in fact in most cases this is when the important work starts. Make sure you follow up with all the leads you’ve generated and the people you’ve spoken to. You need to keep your business at the front of your prospects’ minds by staying in touch after the event. This increases the chance of converting your leads into sales.

With the right preparation, exhibitions provide an excellent platform for building brand awareness and generating sales leads. It’s important to build a pipeline of new business opportunities all the time and to keep your current customers happy. Attending an exhibition offers your business the chance to connect with both customers and prospects.