Exhibiting at a tradeshow is a great way to establish a strong marketplace presence. As well as helping to build face-to-face relationships and advertise your brand in a forum full of potential buyers, it can create a memorable, meaningful experience – especially when it aligns with and reflects your brand’s marketing strategy and objectives.
But why is it so important to incorporate your brand into your exhibition stand – and where do you start?
The importance of getting branding right at exhibitions
Think of your exhibition stand as an extension of your B2B brand – acting as an ambassador and reflecting your company’s values and business potential. With research unveiling that exhibitions can help increase brand recognition by 76%, and that 81% of attendees can recall at least one exhibitor they visited at a trade show even six months later, getting branding within your stand right is crucial, especially when an event is part of a wider marketing plan or integrated campaign. Essentially, a well-thought-out exhibition stand and strategy helps differentiate your company – while connecting with your purpose and fitting within your overall brand and journey.
Exhibition stands are an expensive outlay and B2B events can be very busy, so it’s important to make your mark on your target audience. After all, an exhibition stand is often the first point of contact for potential customers, and making a positive first impression is vital.
Three tips on how to incorporate your B2B brand into an exhibition stand:
Having a wider brand strategy is key to getting the most out of your exhibition stand, but here are three tips to start the cogs turning when it comes to incorporating your B2B brand:
- Interactivity
Why not make attendees an active participant on-stand? Plenty of booths feature videos to watch or sales collateral to read, which can be a helpful prompt for the team – but there are so many more possibilities. Attendees are more likely to remember your stand (and therefore brand) if there are hands-on elements, too. For example, touchscreens, virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) can create a truly immersive experience, allowing visitors to explore your products or services in even more depth. Live product demos and hands-on workshops can also help to boost your brand’s presence.
- Visual appeal
Just because it’s B2B, it doesn’t mean the design should be boring. Quite the opposite; it’s an opportunity to push the boundaries with design and build, and create messaging and visual displays that are unique, engaging and easily identifiable with your brand. With the right messaging and design, you can help attract customers to your stand and increase dwell time. This is particularly important in exhibition halls, which are airy and loud; let your design make a great first impression. Be consistent with branding across all your materials, too – from banners, to booth designs, to promotional giveaways, it needs to be clear about what your company does. It helps if your key messages are at eye level – and spotlights can help frame your stand and highlight the branding. Don’t forget empty space, however. Your stand should be clean and inviting, not with an overwhelming number of visuals or messages.
- Harness your team’s presence on the show floor
The people in your team are your best brand ambassadors – ensure those on-stand are all media trained and comfortable talking about your products and services. Are there any presentations or roundtables on topics of expertise that they could get involved in? Positioning certain spokespeople as thought leaders can be a valuable resource and help increase awareness of your brand – driving traffic back to your stand, too. Alternatively, you can host live presentations or Q&As at your stand too, you just need to ensure there is enough space for delegates to participate and to be able to have conversations with prospects – ideally linked to an effective lead capture strategy, to ensure timely follow-ups post-event.
Taking your stand further
Incorporating your B2B brand into an exhibition stand is much more than just design; it’s about ensuring your brand is cascaded correctly across all elements of your event activity and wider marketing plan. Having a specialised team to guide you through the design and installation of your stand – from developing accurate specifications, technical floorplan layout and 3D renders – as well as to help you ensure a consistent messaging across stand visuals, spokespeople, event materials and other activities is invaluable.
Making your presence truly impactful needs much more than just showing up at the show – it requires strategic planning and an integrated approach. For example, make sure to leverage the pre- and post-show coverage in the press, post on LinkedIn using the relevant handles and event hashtags and get your sales team primed for follow-ups using an effective lead capture system. Exhibition stands are a big investment, but when aligned to your overarching marketing strategy and properly planned and executed, the potential reward is even bigger: improved brand awareness and hopefully, conversions.
Have an industry event coming up and want to make sure your brand stands out? Get in touch today and find out how we can help you achieve more with your exhibition strategy.