What to Know When You’re Ready for Your First Trade Show

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The idea of attending your first trade show can feel daunting. However, the reward of showcasing your brand, products, and services in front of a new audience with a modular custom trade show booth is well worth the time and investment. If you’re wondering whether you’re ready for your first trade show, here are a few details to consider when you take the leap.

Planning: Knowing Your Audience

Planning your first trade show three to six months ahead of time will help you feel confident as the event approaches. Especially with your first show, the more prepared you are, the better. 

Before you decide which trade show to attend and explore booth design options, you’ll want to have a firm grasp on your ideal audience. Knowing your audience well will help you find the right trade show to promote your products and services. Then, you can decide on the best way to attract your target audience with your trade show booth design and keep them engaged once you have their attention.

Research: Finding a Trade Show

Once you know your ideal audience and have a plan for showcasing your brand, you’ll want to find a trade show that aligns with your goals and objectives. When looking for your first trade show, you’ll want to consider your overall budget, the show location, and most importantly, who will be in attendance. If you find a few trade shows that seem like a good fit, the location, date, size, or cost of the trade shows may help you narrow down your final choice.

Design: Should You Rent Or Buy Your Booth?

After deciding on a trade show appropriate for your audience and brand, you’ll need to decide whether to rent or buy your custom trade show display. While you can buy your trade show display, renting custom trade show displays from a high-quality vendor has several benefits.

First, renting a booth allows you to have the best of both worlds. You can still get custom high-quality graphics with a rented display. Second, renting a display for your first show allows you to see what setup works and what can be improved for your next show. With rented displays, you can easily swap out your graphics for a different design and make changes to your brand messaging from one show to another.

Show Time: Making the Most of Your First Show

You may be feeling a mixture of nerves and excitement for your first show, and that’s perfectly normal! You’ll want to arrive at the trade show venue with plenty of time to check in, locate your booth space, set everything up, and prepare your team. Giving yourself plenty of time to get comfortable in the space before attendees arrive will give you peace of mind and help you feel more confident.

Once the show starts, focus on what matters most: connecting with attendees. Ask them genuine questions, find out if your product or service can be a solution for them, and genuinely share your brand with them. Be sure to scan their badge to collect their contact information and thank them for stopping by your booth.

Lastly, after the show ends and all the attendees shuffle out of the trade show, don’t forget to congratulate your team on a successful first show and prepare for post-show follow ups.

About Skyline Exhibits

As a busy trade show marketer, every decision and every moment counts. When you want to make impactful changes to your trade show presence, you need an industry-leading partner who understands this. Look no further than Skyline Exhibits. They’ll work closely with your business to learn about your unique goals and objectives for upcoming trade shows before designing and fabricating a stunning booth that drives real results. With excellent customer service and a dedicated design, production, and exhibit strategy team, Skyline Exhibits can help your brand stand out on the trade show floor. You can even add digital activations to keep attendees engaged at your booth. No matter your trade show marketing strategy, Skyline Exhibits can help take you to the next level of trade show success.

Get ready for your first trade show with an exhibit design that pops at https://skyline.com/

Location: 3355 Discovery Rd, Eagan, MN 55121, USA

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