How to Improve Booth Sales at Large Trade Shows
It has been more than two years since the pandemic hit and everything went haywire. Disrupting , rather ending the tradeshow business during this time. Come 2022, the return to “normalcy” in the tradeshow industry is starting to finally look like a reality in the very near future. Even though we have a new set of challenges with managing trade shows in 2022 and beyond, the same core principals still exist today. One of the primary goals of every trade show is of course paying for such an expense, and it’s no secret that booth sales are at the heart of that goal.
In many ways, every exhibitor you sell a booth to is unique. The exhibiting company you are speaking with, although in the same industry, is unique in its products and services, team members, culture, budget and expectations. Some companies have been tending booths at large trade shows for decades, while others it will be their first time. So how do you address each and every exhibitor’s needs so that you don’t leave any empty booths at your show, while also not underselling booths just to satisfy this need?
Outside of the fundamentals that every trade show manager knows about, such as knowing your audience or creating a floor plan layout that gives all booths some ideal exposure to foot traffic, there are some lesser known tips that you can start incorporating in your booth sales process today to help boost sales.
Selling Booths Online
Even before the pandemic, people did much of their shopping online. When was the last time you called someone on the phone to order a product? Now, in 2022, exhibitors have come to expect more than ever to handle most of their event planning online – including purchasing and selecting their booths. There are some great online exhibitor booth sales software out there that you can choose from including Expo Genie, the leading Exhibitor booth management Software. The bottom line is that you must definitely consider online selling, that is if you haven’t started doing so yet. How many exhibitor booth sale opportunities have you potentially missed out on by not allowing exhibitors to just hop online and select and pay for their booths?
Sponsorship Opportunities at Exhibition
In addition to online booth sales, another lesser known but powerful tactic for improving exhibitor booth sales overall is offering additional sponsorship opportunities. When companies look to exhibit at a trade show, a booth is a given. But what makes one booth at one trade show stand out from another? Of course, you have to make sure your overall trade show marketing itself is dialed in and competitive. Exhibitors also look for visibility through sponsorship add-ons that can actually make the whole event worthwhile for the exhibitor. Going online with the sales of sponsorship spaces offers additional revenue for the event planners while offering ease of choice and convenience of managing it all online. Expo Genie offers a powerful online selling feature through which event planners can sell all of their sponsorship inventory.
As complex as managing a large trade trade is, at the end of the day what exhibitors want is simple: to know they got enough value out of the tradeshow to justify the investment. And to simplify it further, that value is often expressed in leads, exposure, and ultimately bottom line for them. So how can you make sure they get this? Stack on the additional marketing opportunities along with their booth maximize their overall exposure and chance to get in front of their customers. You’ll often find that exhibitors on the fence for purchasing a booth at a large trade show are only one additional visibility opportunity away from making that choice. Why not help them by offering all inventory of booths and sponsorship opportunities online.
