Grow Your Business Through Exhibiting

Meet Jenn Donovan. With over 15 years industry experience, Jenn really knows how to use marketing as an effective tool to help a business to grow. Jenn is a successful author and podcaster, as well as an experienced keynote speaker. She also runs workshops and one-to-one coaching sessions, spending time with small and medium-size business owners to develop successful marketing strategies.  

Jenn loves providing business owners with the tools they need to develop their own brand presence through powerful marketing. Jenn calls it an “Ah-ha” moment, when entrepreneurs make the connection between a strong marketing strategy and a high return of investment. 

Yes of course, sales are the essential cornerstone of any business, but marketing gets your name out there. It’s a combination that works hand-in-hand: good marketing drives sales, and sales strengthens your marketing process. These days, a dynamic marketing strategy is vital to long-term financial success. 

Is an expo an effective marketing tool? 

In this Q&A, we ask Jenn her top tips on how to make the most out of exhibiting. It’s a big investment for a business – precious time spent away from the day-to-day running of the company, while financially it’s a huge commitment. Costs can run into thousands of dollars, and how can you be sure that it’s all going to be worthwhile?  

Keep reading to discover how exhibiting at an expo can give your business a turbo boost in a few easy steps. Welcome Jenn! 

What are the key elements to think about in the lead-up to an expo? 

I would say, most importantly, prepare your strategy ahead of time and have that in the back of your mind. Saying to yourself, “well, I just need more sales” isn’t strong enough for a business owner to have success at an expo. Think about how you’re going to get those sales and what you need to organise before you go to best exhibit your amazing products and services. 

Likewise, if your strategy at the expo is to gather leads, how will you go about this and do you have a really good follow-up program to jump on once the expo is over – what does that even look like for you?  

Have that baseline goal and keep it in mind, then you’ll find that everything you do moving towards the show will naturally start to funnel into that goal. 

During the show: talk to other exhibitors 

There’s a knack to networking, and I find that some do it really well while others just stick to their own exhibit space. But you don’t know where your next lead or sale is coming from, so getting out there and talking to other exhibitors and visitors is key. 

Talk to your competition or to the members of the stand beside you. It’s one of the best marketing strategies that is so underutilised. Simply getting out and about the show floor, talking to other people, building those business alliances – even simply having a good chat. If you love coffee, go to a different coffee shop every time you’re in need of a caffeine break – you never know who you’ll meet over a brew!  

Don’t stick in your own little box and wait for people to come to you. Yes, I know you paid a lot of money for that space, but it’s not the only place that you can make valuable connections. Don’t get stuck! Get out there and explore.  

Keep an open mind and try not to be too controlling about what your expectations of an expo should be. Let unpredicted opportunities come to you and make the most of getting out there and connecting with other people. Plus, you’ll get to see the industry trends that are getting people talking, which you maybe hadn’t noticed.  

Expos are an opportunity to learn. I’m pretty good at my job, but there’s still lots to learn. I love to get out there and see what other people in the same industry are doing, as well as people who are doing things completely different to me.  I think it’s a great thing to do.  

Keep your messaging clear 

Think about your customer journey. Your stand is a bit like a shopfront, so when you plan its overall look, you need to be clear about your messaging. When someone visits your stand, what is it you want them to see first? And what should they naturally see after that? 

Think about the conversations you want to have with visitors and make sure you (and the rest of your team, if applicable) have a clear idea of the things you want to bring to people’s attention. If you have a rotating team helping you at the exhibit, make sure that you all have a similar mindset and be clear on preplanned messaging you want to deliver. 

I know from my own experience, as someone who’s been to several big trade shows, that you might come back to a stand two or three times to have more conversations, because you’ve walked away and thought about another question to ask.  But each time, you get someone else to talk to who offers a totally different message, and you’re like, “oh, that’s not at all what I thought this business was about!” 

Also, think about how you’ll give out branded merchandise, leaflets or business cards. At one stand I went to, somebody had their business card wrapped in a little cellophane bag with chocolates inside. It’s a nice message: you get a sweet treat to enjoy, and by the way, here are my contact details, stay in touch! It’s about thinking a little bit more about your marketing opportunities where you can. You’ve got to be unforgettable. 

Leave the sales pitch for the office 

When setting your objectives, it’s likely the ultimate goal would be a sale, but I would say that usually this bit comes in the follow-up post-show.  At the expo, you will have ‘sales-related’ conversations, but that hard sell, locking a customer into a contract or getting that order, is something that many customers will prefer to do after the event.  

Be relaxed and give people the space to take away your collateral and have a look over it. Most visitors don’t want to spend 40 minutes with you filling out an order form, because that means 40 minutes they’ll miss out on walking around to other stands, looking at other things.  So yes, people are there in the buying mindset, but don’t assume they are there to invest right then and there. 

A lot of people think that all the sales happen in the three or four days of the expo itself, and if they don’t reach their quota, they feel like they’ve failed in getting their return on the investment that they wanted. But if you’ve collected the data at the exhibit and if you’ve built quality leads, then you have a strong opportunity to make a sale when you follow-up in the days after the show.  

At that point you’ll know the expo has paid for itself, and it will continue to do so over the next twelve months as you continue to acquire customers from those leads. That’s where the investment you made is returned back into the business.  

Time to shine 

Don’t be forgotten.  

This is my final point and an important one – how to remain memorable post-show? At an exhibition, there’s probably a good chance several competitors of yours are present there as well. So how do you set yourself apart? Luckily there are lots of ways!  

I would definitely say branding is key but also think about providing a really good customer experience. When people stop by your stand, how are you keeping them there? Or more importantly, how are you keeping them engaged?  

Live demonstrations are a really good way of doing that. For example, if you’ve got a product that can be demonstrated, or maybe you can have a Q&A session with an interesting panel of people and lively discussion. I think that’s a great way of keeping people engaged.   

If you can attract visitors to your stand for, say five minutes, when everyone else can only keep them for thirty seconds, then that’s a win. 

Create opportunities to develop a relationship with visitors quickly. Even if what you’ve got on hand isn’t all bright and shiny, or maybe demos you’ve set up have gone wrong – that’s not a bad thing! It makes you memorable.  

A few years ago, I was at an expo in Melbourne, and while watching a stand I noticed smoke. I said to them, “I think that’s on fire!” and they’re like, “Oh, what do you mean?” And I tell them, “There’s smoke coming from over there” and it turned out they had an electrical fault.  It was all good, I saved the day and the best part for them was they became part of a memorable story. 

Your stand is similar to a stage, when you are exhibiting you are on show from the time you arrive to the time everyone goes home. You don’t want that perfect business lead to be the one that’s walking past while you’re scrolling Facebook on your phone. Make sure you’re always available and looking keen – after all, that’s the investment you made, isn’t it? 

It’s all in the follow-up 

This really is the crust of why you were at the show. During the expo, you might have ticked all the boxes: provided some good collateral, had great conversations and made some strong leads, but if you don’t follow up and continue to be ‘top of mind’ you will become forgettable. 

If the goal is to make more sales, then my biggest tip would be to set in motion your follow-up strategy early, before you even head off to the expo. Post-show you’ll also be exhausted – exhibitions are tiring. The last thing you’ll want to think about is, “What’s my plan of action to follow-up on all these leads? How should I email them? I need to set up a contact database” and so on. 

All of that should be worked out pre-show so that you can hit the ground running as soon as it’s finished. It’s the nature of the game: first in, best dressed. I know that sounds like such a cliché, but it’s true.  Business owners only have a certain amount of money to spend, so if you’re first to make contact post-show, there’s a better chance of success. They’ve already asked you to reach out by leaving their contact details, so they are somewhat a warm lead, but that soon reduces the longer you leave it. The exhibitors who follow-up are the ones who get the sales. 

Good luck! 

Jenn has many more tips to share, and you can catch up with her latest blogs and podcasts on her website.