Getting Prepared
Once you have booked your stand and planned your objectives you need to think about how you are going to fulfil them.

Look at incorporating the exhibition into your marketing mix.
It is a good idea to list each specific objective and ask the following questions…

How is this objective relevant and who will it affect?
How will the objective be achieved?
What are the time necessary frames?
How will success be measured?

Then you can assess which staff need to be involved in the exhibition campaign and at the event itself, you can plan which key clients should be invited and what type of stand design will best suit your needs.

Do not forget to read the manual that the organiser provides and stick to the deadlines so that you do not miss opportunities.
You might be invited to an exhibiton by the organiser to show you the venue and discuss plans for the event. This is an ideal time to ask questions.

Do not forget to train and brief all staff – so that you get the best return on investment. You can make large profits by training and briefing your stand staff to behave with confidence and competence. It is also worth having a short briefing recap each morning of the show to remind them of their objectives and provide tips and help as required. Click here for event training courses available.

Then plan your timetable of activities until the event including…

  • Preparing financial budgets
  • Marketing your presence
  • Designing your stand
  • List of suppliers
  • Staff
  • Checklists

Do not forget to also think about activities after the exhibition e.g. how you will use data collected, follow up leads and measure success.
Other considerations:

Design relevant response/lead capture devices in line with real objectives.
Think about what details you wish to capture and remember a tick box approach will save you time over one you have to fill in. Also the person or people following up the leads after the event are not necessarily the same ones who take the lead so you need to classify leads by hot, warm or cold status.  Agree these criteria en masse rather than leave it to individual interpretation.

Don’t forget to look at sponsorship opportunities.
A few thousand pounds on branding and devices to drive traffic to your stand will be a better investment than a few more thousand pounds spent on making your stand look prettier.