Exhibitions certainly aren’t a new thing. Almost everyone in a marketing role will have attended an exhibition, as a visitor or an exhibitor. Yet for an activity that is so well established and something that people have such experience in, it’s amazing how often exhibiting mistakes are done.
The good news is mistakes can be avoided! We’re here to walk you through the 4 most common mistakes when exhibiting, and how to prevent them – we hope you’re not familiar with too many of them!
1. Exhibition stand size
Far too often people make the mistake of booking the biggest exhibition stand space their budget can afford, without thinking about the cost of the ideal stand size to fill it.
If you have a large stand space with a very basic and sparse stand structure, it can look like your exhibition stand was an afterthought, or a last-minute decision to attend!
How can you avoid this mistake?
Space and stand size aren’t everything, so don’t fixate on this and instead focus on your stand design and messaging. A slightly smaller space with a great stand structure and brand messaging will always generate more inquiries than a large, unthought-out sparse space.
As a rough rule of thumb, for an exhibition at one of the main UK venues such as Excel, NEC, SECC, or Manchester, you should budget to spend as much on the stand structure as you do on the floorspace, to ensure you make a great impact.
If you’re currently unsure of the ideal stand design, size, and space for your next exhibition, book a stand consultation with our experts!
2. Vague exhibition stand tag lines – what does your company do?
You won’t walk around an exhibition without seeing at least one great-looking exhibition stand that gives no clue to what the company actually does!
The usual culprit for unclear brand messaging is a tagline. Regardless of how fancy a tagline can be, there’s nothing fancy about saying “connecting people”, or something similar, if your target audience can’t determine whether you’re providing mobile phones or CRM systems – it’s anyone’s guess!
How can you avoid this mistake?
When you’re investing in exhibiting with a new stand, make sure you establish your objectives in your exhibition stand plan, and create a clear messaging plan in your design.
Research shows you have 3 seconds to tell people who you are, what you do, and why they should engage with you. With the average person able to read at around 240 words per minute, you need to deliver your message in 12 words.
That’s not long to tell people what you do and how you can add value to them, but that’s the challenge the Clip team can help with! Our exhibition services team can help you spell out the benefits your product or service delivers, even in a 12-word explanation of who you are, what you do, and why people should engage with you.
Exhibitions are a time to be obvious, so leave the vague tag lines out of your stand design!
3. The exhibiting staff huddle
Your staff may well be your company’s biggest asset, but if you’re relying on intuitive stand etiquette, think again! The biggest issue you will see at every exhibition is a staff huddle.
Even if you’ve not experienced it on your own stands, you will definitely have seen it on others. Staff in branded team shirts, all huddled together talking and avoiding eye contact with any stand visitors is not a good look, and defeats the point of why you are exhibiting – engaging with potential clients and generating sales leads!
How can you avoid this mistake?
Having an open and inviting exhibition stand is the first step, but having educated and motivated staff to showcase your brand is the key to optimal exhibition success.
By undergoing some stand staff training prior to exhibiting, you are giving your staff the tools they need to understand your exhibition objectives, their roles and responsibilities, and how to effectively engage with visitors.
Training will not only maximise your chances of good leads but will also set your staff up for a good event experience.
For some additional tips to ensure staff success, check out our blog ‘How to Train your Staff for an Exhibition’.
4. Avoid wasting your exhibition leads
After every exhibition you’re going to follow up on the leads you’ve generated, right? – Well, shockingly not everyone does!
According to an exhibition industry survey carried out a few years ago, almost 60% of exhibition leads are never followed up. The work put into organising an exhibition, and an exhibition stand for it, doesn’t stop after you’ve finished the show – everything up until now has been to generate the leads to increase business.
Whilst hitting a lead target is a good start, they’re only great if you’ve converted them into qualified sales opportunities, quotes, and orders – so why stop when you’re halfway there?
How can you avoid this mistake?
Before your exhibition, agree with your team on a plan for how you’re going to ensure you’re chasing the best leads. Create a simple summary form to record the conversation on each lead, and use a simple lead qualifying score, like the following:
A – Red hot lead. Has an immediate requirement and needs contact ASAP.
B – Warm lead. Interested but does not have an immediate requirement. Contact within a month.
C – Has used our type of product or service in the past but has no requirement in the next 12 months. Add to a database to nurture and include in general marketing messaging.
D – There is no need for our products.
Mark every lead with one of the above codes, prioritising the strongest leads, and make sure you book time for the relevant people to follow up on the leads when the show has finished.
The reality of attending any exhibition is that any prospect that you speak to will almost definitely have spoken with your competitors as well. Therefore, a prompt and efficient follow-up is the key.
What works well for Clip is taking a photo of our team on the stand and including that in any written follow-up to help the lead remember which company you were! More handy tips can be found in our guide on how to successfully collect and follow up exhibition leads.
Can you learn from other exhibitors’ mistakes?
No one said exhibitions were easy, but if you make sure you avoid the four most common exhibiting mistakes detailed above, you will be able to guarantee that your exhibition is a great success for your company, and ultimately for you, before, during, and post exhibition.
For more expert advice and services to help you avoid these exhibition errors, contact the Clip team today.
Good luck!
