Heading to a Tradeshow Soon? Straighten Out Your Marketing First
You’re all set for your next big trade show. Or are you? Is there something you may be forgetting? The time to make sure is now, before you’ve travelled all the way to the venue, and certainly not when you’re setting up your booth. To help get you situated in advance, here is a comprehensive list of ten important things that every small business owner should have when they land on the tradeshow floor and get ready to meet new customers.
1. Tradeshow Tape
They say duct tape is good for everything, and you never know how true that is until you need it at a tradeshow. It would be great if every part of your display stayed together perfectly throughout moving, setting up, and getting through the day, but it doesn’t always happen that way. When it doesn’t, or when you’re dealing with a frayed cord or other physical mishap, you’ll be glad to have that tape handy.
2. Clipboards
If you’re going to have people filling out contact sheets, surveys, or orders, you definitely want everyone to have a nice, solid-backed clipboard to write on.
3. Backup Laptop
Even if you have all your information on one laptop and only need one user to access it, having a backup is always a good precaution. You never know when your laptop is going to lose its charge, crash, or otherwise cause you problems, and being able to whip out a spare without losing any time (or any sales) can be extremely valuable.
4. First Aid Kit
Anything can happen at a trade show! Be sure you have a kit on hand with Band Aids for those nasty papercuts, aspirin for when the day has gone on a bit too long, and other quick health care items.
5. Breath Mints
You’re going to be talking to a lot of brand new people, and you can’t be chewing gum while you’re doing it, so this item is a must for making the right kind of first impression.
6. Hand Sanitizer
Same idea – you’re going to be shaking a lot of hands, so do your part for keeping the environment healthy by making liberal use of the hand sanitizer.
7. Shirts and Other Promotional Materials
You’ve got to get your brand out there at a trade show, which means you’ve got to have promotional items to give away. For some tradeshow aficionados, a T-shirt with your company’s logo on it is a must, but if you can get more creative with branded items to hand out to visitors as they pass by your both, all the better.
8. Comfortable Shoes
Those fancy shoes are great for making a first impression, but trying to stand on them all day is going to make you cranky, which could make it difficult to put your best face out on the floor.
If you’re not going to wear comfortable shoes the whole time, make sure you have a pair handy to switch into when traffic is low and you have a chance to give your poor feet a bit of a break. At the very least, you’ll want them for when the trade show is over and you’re breaking down the set and going home.
9. Goals
This isn’t a physical item, but you should always come to a trade show armed with your goals for the day. Are you hoping to make five sales? Get 20 prospects? Set up meetings with at least three potential investors? If you know specifically what you want out of the day, you’ll probably have an easier time getting it.
10. Printed Marketing Materials
To get what you want out of a trade show, you’ve got to get people’s attention. That’s why you need to have beautiful printed banners, signs, brochures, and other printed marketing materials that grab eyes and get people over to your booth.
If your company or tradeshow is located in the Portland, Oregon area, you can get all your marketing materials printed fast and at great quality at East Side Printing Company. Before your next trade show, contact East Side Printing Company for a free quote today – we’ll even deliver to the floor of your PDX tradeshow!