Trade show season is officially upon us. Live events industries have experienced a tumultuous few years, meaning vendors are keen to take their tradeshow strategy to another level this year. Many organisations who feel they’ve missed out on the success of trade events in the past couple of years are looking to really hit the ground running, maximise the budget, make an impact, and ultimately, drive more leads on the show floor. 

With everyone now feeling the pinch, and many businesses still recovering from the economic impact of the pandemic, the pressure is high to make a return on show stand investments. Maximising your tradeshow budget has never been more crucial. But with such a hiatus behind us, it’s normal to feel a little rusty when it comes to your trade show strategy. So, if you’re looking forward to getting out on the show floor again, but want a little refresher, here are Toucan’s top tips for optimising your tradeshow presence and coming back with a bang. 

Set clear goals 

When it comes to tradeshows, it’s not just a case of ‘build it and they will come’. It’s important to give yourself enough time prior to your upcoming trade events to establish your goals, targets, and any individual show specific KPIs for your sales team. It’s important that your team are fully focused, aligned, and knows exactly what you want them to achieve at the show. 

Communication is key. It could be that you’re looking to generate a certain number of warm leads, add contacts to your database, improve your social media following, or indeed all of the above, but if your team aren’t aware, you’ll be at risk of coasting through the show and achieving little. 

A trade show stand is a big investment, so making sure you dedicate time for planning and strategy is key if you want to give yourselves the best chance of a return. 

Spread the word 

It’s important to let your followers, partners, customers, and stakeholders know you’ll be attending the show well before the event. That way, you’ll be able to generate interest and get your brand name on the radar of tradeshow attendees, or fellow exhibitors. 

Whether you just want to get your stand number out there, shout about a session you’ve sponsored, or raise your profile as a thought leader by speaking on a panel you’ll need to use all your channels to spread the word about how customers can connect with you at the show. 

One aspect that exhibitors often overlook is the media opportunity at trade shows. Is there a trade title you’ve been trying to get coverage in, or a blogger or influencer you want to meet? Setting up meetings in advance with your key target media at trade shows is a great way to maximise your PR in one fell swoop and gives you the chance to maximise your post-show momentum in the press. 

Take control with better tech

With so many brochures, signs, stand props, customer freebies and other physical paraphernalia, planning your trade events can be a logistical nightmare. 

But gone are the days when we needed to trawl through physical catalogues or manually keep on top of inventory updates. With customers now expecting a more paperless and streamlined experience, tradeshow exhibitors must provide a way to collate new leads, easily take orders and payments in real-time, or risk losing out on their sales opportunities. 

With better automation, and digital products developed as a result of demand, tradeshow exhibitors benefit from a better pool of more mobile, agile sales solutions. 

With a focus on ease of use, mobility, and a more streamlined customer experience, Toucan’s mobile sales app has been designed with Tradeshow sales teams in mind. Our efficient order-taking technology gives exhibitor teams ability to record leads live at the show and provides the information they need at their fingertips in real time on the stand. With the ability to collect leads, present your catalogue, check inventory, and process orders whether you’re online or offline, your team can stay focused on the conversation at hand. 

To discuss how you and your sales team could benefit from more mobile sales solutions this tradeshow season, book a demo today, we’d love to give you the Toucan tour!