If you feel like your small business could benefit from the exposure and interaction that you can get from being part of a trade show or fair of some kind yet you haven’t taken the initiative to make it happen yet, there are a few things you should know before you venture out into this arena for the first time.
Although these shows might not be happening in the very near future, as the health of the world stabilizes, trade shows or fairs will continue. So to help you be prepared for when this happens, here are three tips for doing your first trade show or fair as a small business.
Bring Enough Product
Without any prior experience with trade shows or fairs, you’ll likely have to guess on how much product you should bring with you. But according to Charles Dugan, a contributor to BPlans.com, you should plan to give some product demonstrations so that attendees can test out your items before they make a purchase.
While this might seem like a huge amount of product you’re bringing into the trade show or fair with you, it’s better to have brought too much and have to take it back home than to have sold out and left money on the table. And keep in mind, many venues offer unloading services for your product, so don’t worry too much about how you’ll get everything to your booth.
Leverage Social Media
Since you’ve never attended one of these events before, you might be nervous about how you’ll do and if there will be people there who will know about you or your products beforehand.
To help improve the number of people who are exposed to your brand before you participate in the trade show or fair, Janice Byer, a contributor to The Balance Small Business, recommends that you promote your business through social media and tag the trade show or fair you’ll be participating in. Then, if people are researching that event, they’ll be able to see your posts and be more likely to stop by at your booth.
Don’t Try So Hard
When the trade show or fair is in full swing and you’re interacting with the attendees, it can be very tempting to try to do anything in your power to make a sale. But according to Bennett Conlin, a contributor to Business News Daily, consumers and attendees can smell this desperation from a mile away.
Rather than taking this tack, try to focus more on having genuine conversations with the people who stop by your booth. This type of interaction will go over so much better and, even if they don’t close a sale with you right there, will be more memorable for potential future business opportunities.
If you’re thinking about trying trade shows or fairs as a way to market your business, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you have a successful first experience once these events pick back up again.
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