As a small business just starting out, it’s really hard to spend money on marketing. Your income isn’t quite coming in relative to how much you’re spending as a new business. The media is constantly warning us about how complicated today’s economic reality is, so as a small business, you’re always trying to show fiscal responsibility and manage money as carefully as possible.
Marketing is one of the biggest expenses for any business, and for global businesses, trade shows, and conventions are a central tool that lets you meet – over just a few days in a single place – with a huge number of existing and potential customers. It’s the place to see and be seen, making it essential for you, as a small business and a newcomer to your field, to look your absolute best. That’s the only way the industry can discover you and get the best first impression.
In many cases, due to budget concerns when participating in a conference, companies make the mistake of renting a basic exhibitor booth from the conference organizers. Usually, these are extremely simple booths – display spaces with simple walls, uniform titles, a standard table, a rug in the same color as that of all the other exhibitors, basic furniture, and the simplest possible lighting fixtures.
What these basic booths are completely lacking is the uniqueness of your business, and even if they add branding, the appearance will still be blah – giving off the message that you’re a small company that can’t afford much. When you get a basic booth from the conference organizers, often you can’t change even simple things like rug color or any other element, so your odds of catching the attention of passers-by – something that’s definitely still possible with a small booth! – goes way down.
Think about it. The last time you visited a trade show, conference, or forum of any kind, which booths caught your eye? The ones that all looked identical? Or the ones that stood out from the others – even a little?
As a small business owner hoping to penetrate a new market, once you’ve made the decision to invest in a trade show, you need to make sure you stand out. But what kind of exposure can you hope to gain with a standard booth?
Planning and designing your own trade show system, done right, can save you a lot of money and ensure that even as a small business and a new arrival, you can penetrate visitors’ awareness as a name worth getting to know and guaranteeing superior visibility while standing out from all the other booths around you.
And while we’re on the subject of pricing and budget, it sometimes turns out – surprisingly – that the cheapest choice can turn out to be the most expensive.
The display systems that we offer our clients, such as the Smart Light booths, or Modulight, generally come with illuminated and branded walls, carpeting in your choice of color to suit your graphic design, good lighting, a branded counter, and upgraded seating – sometimes actually come out to the same price or even a little less money…
Sound absurd? Not at all. There are several solid reasons, one of which is probably the lack of familiarity that new exhibitors have with the existing solutions. Therefore, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with what’s out there and come prepared.
Remember, a display setup for a trade show that isn’t custom-designed, that doesn’t feature eye-catching colors and doesn’t share the relevant messages that will draw in your audience of potential customers, will mean that you – as the owner of a new or small business – probably can’t accomplish the goals that drew you to the trade show in the first place, and you certainly won’t leave the impression you’d hoped for.
So once you’ve chosen to participate in a trade show, find out what your options truly are and invest some thought in how you will stand out once you get there – and how you can best get your unique message across. That’s the only way you’ll accomplish what you’ve set out to do and make yourself truly memorable in visitors’ minds.
