Here are some common mistakes to avoid in trade show management:
- Not establishing specific and measurable goals. Without having established specific and measurable goals, your staff won’t know where to focus their efforts. This can result in a trade show effort that’s largely disjointed, ineffective, and perhaps even confusing for your customers.
- Choosing the wrong show for your goals and audience. When you exhibit at a show where your target audience is in attendance, you have unlimited opportunity to interact with potential leads, establish new relationships (and build upon existing ones), shorten your sales cycle, and retain repeat business. But when you funnel your time, money, and energy into the wrong trade show, you end up wasting your budget and resources.
- No competitor analysis. Part of planning for an effective outreach for your brand at trade shows is to know your industry inside and out. This involves in-depth competitor analysis to determine the best possible strategy. Without benchmarking your own business to your competitors, you risk failing to stand out as a unique and innovative brand.
- Improperly budgeting for the event. Strategically allocating your funds and developing an appropriate plan based on your budget is crucial. Failure to properly budget can lead to under or overspending in certain areas, which can hurt your return on investment and have a negative impact on your success.
- Cutting corners on display booths. Having an outdated trade show booth can make it difficult to outperform competitors with a more modern design and layout. Cutting corners on design, materials, installation, and setup can be a big mistake.
- Lack of delegation and staff training. At your next trade fair, you need to prioritize appropriate delegation to key staff as well as plan for effective training of all staff and volunteers.
