If you’re in a market that has a lot of competing businesses and people trying to compete for customers’ attention, you’ll need some crucial tactics to set yourself apart and create growth for your small business. One of the best things you can do is to create or participate in an expo, allowing you to reach more people than ever and even show off new discounts or product launches, but before you’re ready to do that, you’ll need some promotional tactics.
Booth designs
The booth design and the trade show exhibits you’re able to incorporate into them are crucial for ensuring your success because each business has a personality, and that personality has to be leveraged through design language and what you’re putting on display. If you own a restaurant, for instance, the cuisine you’re offering and any new menu items should be front and center; other companies like those in tech go for a sleeker look, with minimalistic yet flashy photos and videos being displayed on their exhibits. This promotional tactic works because you’ll be able to attract eyes and attention, getting more foot traffic from people wandering around nearby.
Contests
Holding contests at your exhibit at an expo is a great way to attract a lot more attention and improve the atmosphere around the entire expo, even among people who weren’t initially interested in your business or the products or services you’re offering. Contests can come in all shapes and sizes, but if you opt to put one together for promotional purposes, you should make sure it has a great reward at the end and that the game isn’t too complicated because you don’t want more complications throughout your time at the expo. Simple carnival games, pushup challenges, or even a raffle are more than enough to drum up anticipation without needing more manpower to put it together.
Exciting new products
One of the best ways to get promotion for your business is to gain hype organically, and many people, both online and in person, will get excited about your business if you have a new product or service on offer. If you’ve developed something new, it should be front and center in your exhibit, and you should show off what it can do and how it’ll change the industry it inhabits. Other small businesses, like restaurants, often use these expos to show off new menus or new branches that have different menus, both of which accomplish the same thing.
Social media integration
Social media is king in the modern era since most people get their news from social media sites and use them to have discussions about what’s trending. Having a major presence on any of these sites will be great for your business, but if you have the budget, targeting all of the major social networks will provide you with the greatest success. In addition, you can partner with influencers to leverage their fan bases and even put together a livestream for fans of your business who couldn’t make the expo in person.
Marketing before and after the event
The biggest factor that will influence your success at an expo is whether or not you’re able to inform people of your presence before the expo even starts. This means you’ll have to market before the event, and once the event goes successfully, use the footage and the excitement you’ve gotten to continue your marketing efforts. If you have the budget for it, local billboards and other adverts have shown to be incredibly effective, but if you’re working with less marketing, using your own social media accounts to try and get your business trending online could work, too.
Conclusion
Small businesses are run on tight margins, often getting just enough revenue each year to keep running without major expansion. If you want to change that, engaging in an expo may be the best thing you can do for your business, but that requires a ton of promotion and inside information. Luckily, if you use the tips in this article, you’ll be able to find a way clear to the other side, drumming up more support and excitement for your business than ever and creating thousands of new customers through your expo.
