No matter the nature and intent of the exhibition, there are a few things to any exhibition that should not be neglected in order to get a successful outcome from the same. To keep it concise the mantra should be –
“Pre-exhibition, exhibition, post-exhibition = a complete package”
These three phases are the most vital to any successful exhibition.
Pre-exhibition:
This is one phase that sees both ends of the spectrum in terms of degree of preparation for putting up a good show later during the course of the exhibition. The pre-exhibition should ideally cover as much ground as possible with regard to visitor awareness and piquing the intrigue and interest of the prospective visitors. There are a few things that you could do to achieve these goals, – some are pretty clichéd like sending out flyers and e-vites to the prospective visitors and audience. But here are some other tips to get you a sure shot advantage.
- Organizer engagement: This might take some amount of pulling strings but it would obviously have a high return on the investment. If you could somehow bind yourself with the agenda of the exhibition organizer with your own, the result is always a higher number of visitors to your stall and hence a high return on Investment. This would not only polish your image as a brand but also help you create a lasting impression.
Exhibition
While you can put in all the muscles you’ve got into straightening all the details that go into the exhibits like the booth design, key exhibits, the presentation approach, yet you might end up a somewhat tepid response from the visitor’s side. And NO it is not the visitor’s fault that they dished out such a response. Apart from the obvious aspects of the exhibition booth and the design element and the central idea of the exhibit itself, here are some of the tangible and intangible factors that duly affect your visitor engagement ratings.
- Placing and timing is the key: needless to say but placing of your stall and timing of all your activities concerning the exhibit are vital to the quality of visitor engagement. Pay attention to the placing and timing of your stall and the associated activities that you have planned.
- Interactive workforce: Assuming that there would be a multitude of personnel running your booth at the exhibition, the personalized interaction between them and the visitors is as important as the exhibit itself. Train them beforehand as for how to engage the visitors and be instrumental in delivering your message to them.
- Innovative floor engagement: By far the visual technological trend for visitor engagement has been a key facilitator to the number of footfalls on your booth. Use of technologies like VR or interactive software terminals can be very engaging.
Post exhibition
While in most cases this is invariably the one phase that gets ignored the most BUT if you look back to all the successful exhibitions with a high return on investment, it always includes the ones with a high degree of follow-up post exhibitions. Yes, this might be an extension to the stages above but think of it as the”goose-that-lays-golden-eggs” of all stages. Visitor engagement does NOT end with them walking away from your booth. Hence the following tips:
- Drop a mail and say Hi: During the exhibition it is always a good idea to gather contacts and e-mails of the visitors. They are pivotal for lead generation and in this case, would also help you to create a very positive impression post exhibition.
- Feedback: Take feedbacks from the visitors post exhibitions as for how can you improve etc. Their inputs would be vital to your future endeavors.
Finally it is all about the idea and the niche you are dealing with that decides the quality of the exhibition. While some might take a little more effort as compared to other, it is always recommended to use the exhibition as a veritable opportunity to reach out to a wider audience.
