6 Ways to Guarantee You're Remembered After a Trade Show

Trade shows often feature hundreds of exhibitors, many of whom are presenting similar services and products. This can make it difficult for individual businesses to stand out and make an impression. Considering that trade shows are one of the best places to meet large numbers of potential new customers and business contacts, you need to do everything you can to get noticed! There are lots of ways that corporate gifts can help you achieve this.

Here are 6 things you can do to increase your chances of being remembered in the days, weeks and months following the big event.

1. Design an Eye-Catching Booth

Bold branded signs and banners are a start, but you can make your booth even more exciting for passers-by by doing something a little out of the ordinary. For example, you could play music or use a video screen to catch people's attention. The aim is to create something which not only demonstrates the essential information about what your business does, but also conveys your brand identity, story or history.

Depending on your budget, incorporating unusual lighting in your booth could help to make it stand out!

Corporate gifts can be used to make your booth more attractive. You might want to consider using balloons as decoration, or make your staff part of the display by getting everyone to wear company branded clothing! Branding consistency will certainly help ensure your booth's atmosphere is attractive and memorable.

2. Invite Guests in Advance

Planning your trade show well in advance is essential to ensure nothing is left up to chance. You can increase the chances that people will stop by at your booth by contacting other attendees beforehand, introducing yourself and arranging set times to see them on what will likely be a very busy day. This will ensure you are more memorable for these attendees, but could also help to make your booth look busy and buzzing.

A notepad-pen combo will be useful to attendees on the day of the trade show

One way to really encourage attendees to pay you a visit would be to send out letters containing corporate gifts - you could include something small, like a pen, with the promise that they will get a matching notepad when they come to see you on the day.

3. Train Your Staff

Your employees are representing your brand so should all be trained in conveying your key marketing message, as well as able to answer any questions that attendees have. You could hold one-on-one or group training to make sure everyone is well prepared to do their bit and win over new business.

Providing staff with branded name badges will help make them recogniseable as your brand representatives

Remember that staff will perform and represent your brand best when they feel valued and motivated, so you might consider providing them with branded gifts to thank them for their help. Or, you could add a competetive edge to proceedings and promise an award to the staff member who performs best.

4. Provide Promotional Literature

It can be difficult to convey everything you want about your business to a new customer when you're pushed for time and have hundreds of other people to chat to. This is why you might consider using marketing materials that contain more information about your products, prices and special offers. Handing out promotional literature to all attendees will ensure that, even if you can't speak to everyone, they will all be leaving with plenty of information about your business.

A promotional leaflet or pamphlet can tell people about your business in more detail and answer questions they might have forgotten about when speaking face-to-face

Promotional literature doesn't just have to be a leaflet or flyer. You could use a branded banner pen which doubles as a promotional gift, or a mouse mat containing a few key pieces of information you want new customers to take away with them.

5. Try Different Ways of Interacting

Trade shows are a day out of the office and an opportunity to be sociable, so help attendees to enjoy themselves by being friendly and upbeat. People will be looking for more than just a sales pitch, so you could offer alternative ways of interacting that are more fun and memorable, such as games, tactile displays that stimulate conversation and product demonstrations.

A branded Rubik's Cube toy would make an excellent conversation starter

If you decide to run a quiz or game at your booth, prizes will make things even more exciting. You could try a traditional counting game using a jar of jellybeans, marbles or something relating to your business. Or go hi-tech with a games console that will definitely get people excited!

6. Use Freebies!

People love getting stuff for free so, if you're not using corporate gifts in any of the ways mentioned above, you should definitely still use branded gifts as giveaways to help prospective clients remember you. 

 Choose one promotional gift to represent you brand, or you could even offer a selection

Choose more unusual gifts to make your business even more memorable. Selfie sticks and power banks are modern and unusual, but still highly useful. Then again, old classics like tote bags are still going to be much appreciated!

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If you're planning to attend a trade show and would like more information or tips on using gifts to promote your business, get in touch on 01204 577 995, or take a look at our product range for inspiration.