”Oh I wish it could be Christmas every daaayyyy…..” – well it kind of is in the ProExTra office when you’re working next to Roy Wood lookalike Steve Reeder (click here for his pic!). We hope you’re in a similar suitably festive mood and looking forward to some well-deserved R&R over the holiday season. For this week’s blog we’re sharing some of the best bits from around the interweb that we’ve taken inspiration from in 2019 to help you power up your 2020 Trade Show performance.

FACE TO FACE MATTERS

We work in live events so of course we’re going to say that they’re critical to an aligned and effective marketing strategy but we love it when our fellow professionals agree! This Infographic from Exhibit Systems articulates how live events are the ideal platform to better understand your customer’s needs and how best you can provide the solutions. And if you’re still not convinced of the power of Live Events, Aventri provided a whole host of statistics in their blog, from organisations who are using events effectively to drive lead generation, sales and profits.

”75% of marketers stated that in-person events are the most effective content marketing strategy” (Aventri, 23 Event Marketing Statistics You Need to Know).

If you’re still struggling to sell the power of events to your internal stakeholders have a read of our blog from August about flipping the conversation with your doubters – click here

SUSTAINABILITY

We’ve talked a lot on the Podcast and with industry professionals this year about sustainability and the impact of exhibitions on the environment – from carpets, to air travel and plastic drinks bottles we know there are a number of challenges we face and some fantastic organisations out there trying to change the dialogue. This blog from Trade Show News Network caught our eye with ideas about how to make giveaways more sustainable and environmentally friendly, but what we was also liked was the suggestions such as bespoke drinks offers and networking breakfasts that also add value to to the visitor experience and create memories.

If you want to hear about one of the UK’s most sustainable venues check out our Podcast from earlier in the year with Kate Simpson of London’s Business Design Centre who picked up an award for their sustainable policies – click here

TALKING TECH – AGAIN!!

Yep we couldn’t cover the key themes of the industry without touching on Tech and the new tools and techniques that are helping organisers and exhibitors to engage better with visitors. If you’ve listened to a Podcast or read a blog around our visit to Event Tech Live you’ll know we bang on about Tech Relevancy and how whatever you use, it HAS to play a role in articulating your proposition – otherwise, it’s just tech for tech’s sake!

Therefore this quote from Elizabeth Poston over on Exhibitor Online made so much sense to us in helping understand how exhibtiors and organisers can define the role that tech plays in their event. The blog also goes on to give a step by step process for generating AR or VR content for your exhibition stand if it’s something that you know will help you engage with your audience.

” The first step to developing any branded activation is to know what story the marketers want to tell within the physical space. The story line, then, should always drive the technology, not the other way around. ”

Click here for the full article or check out our Event Tech Live Podcast and Blog here!

SUPERCHARGE YOUR SQUAD

”85% of the success of your stand is down to your squad” (Exhibitor Online, Staffing Statistics)

However much time, money and effort you put into every other element of your trade show execution, it’s all window dressing, just tactics to get people to your stand. The magic starts to happen when they engage with your squad, to understand how you can help resolve their specific issues. But the same set of statistics as quoted above suggests that only 1/4 of exhibitors every engage in any squad training – the other 75% just leaving it to chance that their squad will know who they’re targeting, how to filter out tyre kickers and opera singers whilst landing the juicy hot prospects and leads.

For some quick (but brilliant) tips on how to start the process of training your squad effectively have a read of this blog from industry experts GES about how to power up you performance – click here.

And if you’re convinced that training your squad is definitely the missing piece of your exhibition jigsaw but you don’t know where to start – head over to our training page to understand what ProExTra could offer your team and then give us a call to see how we could help.

DELIGHTFUL DESIGNS

And we had to squeeze in the one we get asked about most often – stand design! Is bigger better? Should you be brash and bold, or muted and intriguing? Shell or space? To rent or to buy? Modular or fixed? Graphics, interactivity, gamification, colours, logos, texts – what is the right thing to do now you’ve booked some space! And that’s why the exhibition industry is SO exciting – there’s not one single answer, it all depends on your proposition, market readiness, budget, sector and audience.

Tradefest shared a very quick and easy to digest list of tips this year for anyone investing in trade shows – which doesn’t start with colours and logos, but goals and audience, the CRUCIAL understanding on which any great stand is built.

And is a picture speaks a thousand words check out Pintrest for some stunning examples of creativity and ingenuity in stand design which we’ve witness in 2019 – this board from Exhibition Design is a great place to start!

And if you’re thinking about which elements you should incorporate into your stand to engage visitors beyond just graphics boards and brochures this article from Skyline Whitespace gives some great advice on how to stay relevant yet differentiate from other stands on the show floor.

During the summer we reviewed some of the winners from the World Exhibition Stand Awards, discussing storytelling, impact and size, why we thought they won and more importantly why that matters to you – find the blog here.

So, hopefully we’ve given you a flavour of 5 of the key elements we think can make the biggest difference to your trade show return (although we could easily add another 5 to the list) and shared some of the best content to help you better plan, implement and evaluate your trade show campaigns in 2020. But if you’re still not sure where to go next, why not pick up the phone and give us a call.