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exhibition participation preparations

10 essential lessons learned from the ADMA Agrishow

by Editorial Team May 28, 2024

written by Editorial Team

Neville Nyoni

As the ADMA Agrishow ended, our team reflected on our experience and identified the top 10 lessons learned from planning and executing a successful exhibition. Whether you’re a seasoned exhibitor or just starting out, these insights will help you maximize your exhibition success!

Lesson 1: Define your objectives

Clearly identify your goals and set measurable targets to ensure a focused and effective exhibition strategy.

Lesson 2: Choose the right exhibition

Research and select an exhibition that aligns with your objectives and target audience to maximize your impact.

Lesson 3: Set a realistic budget

Establish a comprehensive budget that includes exhibition fees, marketing, travel, and accommodations to avoid financial surprises.

Lesson 4: Plan your exhibition stand

Design an attractive and functional stand that showcases your brand and products, and ensures a memorable visitor experience.

Lesson 5: Prepare marketing materials

Develop eye-catching brochures, business cards, and promotional items, and create engaging digital content to support your exhibition presence.

Lesson 6: Train your team

Brief your team on exhibition objectives, products, and key messages, and ensure they understand how to engage attendees and handle leads effectively.

Lesson 7: Promote your attendance

Utilise social media, email marketing, and advertising to promote your exhibition presence and drive traffic to your stand.

Lesson 8: Collect and follow up on leads

Use a lead capture system and follow up with leads promptly using personalised communications to convert leads into sales.

Lesson 9: Evaluate your ROI

Track and measure your exhibition performance against your objectives and calculate your return on investment (ROI) to ensure a successful exhibition.

Lesson 10: Review and refine

Conduct a post-exhibition review to identify successes and areas for improvement and refine your strategy for future exhibitions.

By applying these lessons, you will be well on your way to exhibition success. Share your own exhibition experiences and lessons learned using the comments section.

Neville Nyoni is a Digital and Marketing Strategist and Lead at ABC Auctions.

May 28, 2024 0 comment

5 top tips on how to participate in exhibitions as a visitor

by Editorial Team January 12, 2020

written by Editorial Team

In the business events industry participating in exhibitions is often addressed and thought of in terms of exhibitors. There are times, however, when, exhibitors also participate from the other side of the exhibition stand counter.

These include when they attend a major conference which is accompanied by a show or when they take a break from their exhibition stand and walk around the show floor visiting other stands. One of the best ways of researching exhibitions before participating in them is visiting them to get a feel of them and learn how things go at the chosen show.

Apart from these reasons, people in business setups also visit exhibitions for different reasons such as to meet potential suppliers of goods or services which they wish to purchase. Some people visit the exhibition for personal reasons such as pre-purchase research and keeping abreast with trends in areas such as fashion.

Whatever the reasons, visitors need to do more than just travel to the event venue and pay the entry fee. Here are some top tips on how to make the most of visiting exhibitions.

Set objectives

As a visitor, you need to understand what you wish to achieve by visiting an exhibition. This requires setting specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound objectives. Objective-setting assists in giving a sense of purpose in the planned visit and to focus on what is important. Setting clear objectives ahead of visiting an exhibition gives a sense of direction and makes it easier to evaluate the visit.

It sometimes happens that a parent drives to a main exhibition such as the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show or the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, not because s/he had plans to but because their children enjoy the face painting or having photographs of them taken with the popular Lafarge Cement mascot. Even in such a case, one should sit down to set objectives that they can achieve by attending. In this case, the parent can achieve his own business or personal goals by visiting specific stands while satisfying his children’s entertainment goals.

Some of a business visitor’s objectives can include meeting potential suppliers and distributors to their enterprise. They can also include learning new products and developments in their industry. For a businessman or business representative visiting a show to research how it works his objectives may include establishing the range of the nature of companies which exhibit at the show, the type and quality of exhibition stands, the type of products displayed and demonstrated at the exhibition.

Plan

It is good to set exhibition visit objectives but it is great to plan how to achieve them. Without a proper and practical plan to achieve objectives they may be reduced to a mere wish list.

When planning the visit it is important to write down a priority list in terms of who one wishes to meet at the show. The list can be divided into two namely: the “must-see” and the “want to see.” The same can be done with exhibition stands in line with the visit objectives. This is usually driven by the information which the visitor wants to collect. If the visitor’s top objective is to meet potential suppliers these are then listed on the “must-see” part of the list.

It is easy to spend the whole day visiting exhibition stands only to realise that one has managed to visit only three out of 10 prioritised stands on the first day of a two-day show. The problem boils down to time management. It is therefore important to plan how much time to spend at each of the targeted stands in line with their importance. Sometimes companies dispatch two or more visitors to an exhibition. If this is the case team members can share the targeted stands and agree on the time to spend at each stand to ensure that they achieve their company’s objectives. When planning time per stand it is important to take into consideration time-consuming activities such as product demonstrations.

During the planning sessions, a lead capturing form must be designed to record details of potential leads met. If lead generation is not one of the visit objectives, then the visitor can just purchase a pen and notebook to scribble any information of importance which s/he comes across during the visit.

Apart from lots of walking on the shop floor exhibition visiting can also mean lots of travel between the event venue and one’s hotel. To deal with this dilemma planning for an exhibition visit means booking for accommodation at hotels which are very close to the venue on time.

Prepare

The time between planning and travelling to the exhibition should be occupied by preparations. Preparation means contacting officials from target companies with the view to schedule meeting with them during the course of the exhibition. It also means obtaining a copy of show floor plans showing the location of exhibitors to make it easy to find them during the show. During this stage, it is advisable to obtain a map of the host town or city. This is particularly important for the visitor who would be driving to the exhibition in a city or town to which they are new.

Show-going is involves clocking kilometres of walking from one stand to another at the exhibition venue and this can be energy-sapping. It can also be very demanding and uncomfortable for the executive whose daily routine is usually a drive to work, a day on the workstation chairs and another drive back home at the end of the day. To prepare for this one needs to pack comfortable clothes and shoes. For ladies, this means ditching stilettos and court shoes for walk-comfortable shoe types like pumps. As visitors choose appropriate clothing, they need to consider the season and weather at the hosting city or town and pack accordingly.

During preparation, one needs to pack a bag that can accommodate snacks and beverages such as water and juice. The same bag could be used to carry any giveaway items and useful literature collected from target companies and others of interest and importance.

Engage

When visiting an exhibition as a visitor, one has to engage with other people such as stand staff, management and other key people at various stands in order to meet their objectives. At times this calls for setting meetings with target people such as potential partners, distributors and suppliers at one’s hotel for one on one engagement. This presents one’s company as serious and professional.

It often happens that during engagements with stand staff that they may not be able to answer certain questions. This may be a key question that can affect whether or not one will be able to meet their objectives. In such a scenario one is advised to press for answers and avoid being dismissed using responses like “We’ll phone you.” Where possible a visitor can offer to use his own mobile phone to contact the relevant functionary of the company who has the answer back at the company’s offices to ensure that he meets his own objectives.

It is tempting to engage in long winding conversation with stand staff or other people at the exhibition but this can waste time. Right from the outset the visitor should be upfront with the stand staff and advise them that you are pressed for time so that they will not get into long-winding and time-wasting chatter. Remember that time is of importance. Conversations that do not add value to their visit objectives only serve to eat into your time so avoid them.

A visitor needs to look for network opportunities and make the most of them. As he moves around stands and they should network with people and avoid the temptation to sell your products and services unless selling is one of their visit objectives. People need solutions to their various problems but they do not like to be sold to. The visitor should seek to build relationships instead. In any case, exhibitions are mostly about securing leads and building relations which can then be leveraged to get sales in the future.

As the visitor moves around, they should avoid just picking or accepting sales literature. One should only accept or pick literature which could contribute to their objectives or be of some use back at their company whether currently or in future.

Some exhibitions have become confexes. That means they run concurrently with a conference. If one attends a conference they should be attentive and contribute during breakaway sessions and the main sessions. This draws the attention of other attendees to them and improves the chances of them seeking them out for engagement during networking sessions. Standing out as a delegate also sells their corporate brand.

Exhibition venues especially indoor ones tend to be hot and wearying. The visitor therefore needs to drink water often and the bag referred to in the preparation comes in handy. He or she needs to take a break every three or so hours to avoid fatigue.

Popular stands tend to be overcrowded. Visitors are therefore advised to avoid them at peak hours and only visit them towards the end of the day when visitor traffic reduces. Closing times can be very hectic. To avoid the human and vehicular traffic associated with the show closing time one could leave the exhibition 30 minutes to an hour before closing time.

Assess and utilise

During the course of the exhibition, one needs to constantly assess the progress they have made during the course of each day. This could mean assessing each engagement made and distilling insights that were gained therefrom and noting them. It means going through literature collected and assessing how the information it contains can be used to achieve the visit goals or some future task back at the office.

If the visitor has attended a concurrent conference or workshop he or she needs to pick out the major points from his or her notebook and write them on a clean page in preparation for his or her post-event meeting and report back at the office. Even before the event is over, the visitor needs to sort out his or her leads and contacts and prioritise them for further future engagement by way of meetings and so on.

If one uses the post-event night time at their hotel room to attend to these issues during the exhibition it makes it easier for them to prepare for their post-event update meeting and report back at work.

When the event is over and the visitor is back in the office he or she is expected to meet his or her superior and update them on the event and whether not s/he managed to meet the visit’s objectives. Where s/he has not, reasons have to be provided to enable the company to improve in the future. He or she can then write a report which should include recommendations on how a similar undertaking can be planned, prepared for and executed in the future.

The visitor should pass the information which can be better used by other people or departments to them as soon as possible. He or she should follow up on the leads generated by setting up meetings, dispatching samples or technical teams to prospective customers who needed product demonstrations or needed technical explanations.

If the visitor’s mission was for purposes of participating in the visited exhibition as an exhibitor in future information gleaned should be noted and passed onto the exhibitions participation team for consideration and incorporation in future show participation planning.

January 12, 2020 0 comment

Delegates Exhibitors

Acing it for one’s company at business events

by Editorial Team October 29, 2019

written by Editorial Team

Business events such as conferences, exhibitions and corporate sports like golf play a key role in the marketing of corporate and line brands to stakeholders like distributors, suppliers and key individuals in a given market.

In some events, such events are combined to provide the participating companies and delegates more value. The usual combinations include conferences and exhibitions, which are known as confexes, and conferences and golf. Sometimes delegates attend conferences as both delegates and presenters or speakers. This article addresses how delegates can assist their companies to put their best foot forward at conferences, confexes and when they attend business events as speakers or presenters.

Once one has been selected to represent their company at a business event, they should begin to prepare for their assignment. This is because attending business events even in the least demanding role of a delegate demands preparation. Attending business meetings means more than just being present and extending one’s hands to receive business cards or promotional products.

Preparations

The first thing that an attendee has to address is establishing the objectives and targets of attending the events. Whether one is attending an event as a delegate, speaker or exhibition minder there are objectives which one has to ensure are met as the event progresses.

Objectives and goals

Some of the objectives attending confexes include launching and demonstrating new products, building relations with distributors and suppliers, increasing brand awareness, cultivating relations with customers and driving sales through generating new leads. Leads which are generated at conferences and similar events are usually qualified.

Attending as a speaker has its own objectives as well. These include positioning one’s company as an expert or thought leader in its industry, explaining how a company’s product has been a game-changer in its industry or how the firm is positively impacting the community that it operates in through corporate social responsibility activities thereby presenting it as a great corporate citizen.

Having objectives in place is good but reducing them to specific targets per objective makes them more meaningful. It makes it easy to measure and assess them post the event. This assists in quantifying the results and even enables one to measure them in terms of the outcome per dollar sunk into the effort.

Specific targets include securing a given number of leads, who are ready to buy, securing appointments for future meetings with a buyer from each of the five major retail players in the country or granting interviews to journalists from all the main business newspapers and television networks in the country after presenting during a conference. With objectives and targets in place it makes it easier to plan for the event by focusing energies and resources on only those things which help the delegate to achieve them.

Budgeting

Specific objectives and targets make it easier to plan for participation in terms of financial resources. Once they are in place, one can list what needs to be done or bought to achieve the objectives and targets.

In a confex there is a need to pay for the exhibition stand, exhibits and other marketing materials such as promotional products, business cards, brochures, banners and media kits. The delegate’s accommodation and tickets also need to be taken care of among other major cost considerations.

When all has been considered and costs established, a budget can then be drawn up. This is used to determine how much is required in relation to how much the company can afford and the necessary adjustments made.

Marketing one’s participation

Merely budgeting for participation in business events is not enough if the delegate does not inform enough people who matter – people whose attendance assists in event achieving goals and targets.

For example, if one of the major goals of attending a confex is to meet potential distributors, there has to be enough of such people at the event to meet the set target. The delegate can improve his or her chances of meeting her target by inviting as many potential distributors as possible by informing them or marketing his or her participation at the event.

The first people to market to are one’s customers through e-mails and Whatsapp messaging among other means. Normally if the delegate and his or her company have high profiles on the market, such messages are spread on the market by word of mouth and through social media. Another way of marketing is through sponsoring one of the sessions of the event such as a breakaway session.

As the event organisers market it, the company’s name will also be included on the marketing material and so will be the delegate’s if she is a speaker. The company’s website can also come in handy in carrying the participation message. Even e-mail signature bars for everyone in the company can also be used to carry the same message.

Attending as a delegate

If one is attending as a delegate only his or her work is less compared to one who also doubles as a speaker or an exhibition stand manager. This is because his or her role only involves attending conference sessions, networking with relevant fellow delegates who have the potential to assist him or her to meet their company’s objectives and targets as well as ensuring that their company’s brand is cast in the best light at all times during the event.

It is important to establish the other attendees who would be present beforehand. This helps to develop a plan to talk to key representatives. One could arrange to talk with speakers, industry leaders and network with other people to achieve their goals and leverage the conference for their company’s benefit.

One way of establishing other delegates who would be attending is checking the Facebook page of the event to see who has responded and commented on the event indicating their intention to attend. There is no harm in checking with the organisers. Some may oblige while others may understandably refuse. If one’s targeted attendees are not from competing companies, one can phone them and ask whether or not they would be represented at the conference.

Although the delegate would not be presenting he or she should be thoroughly knowledgeable about his or her company, its products and services as well as their industry and sector. They should be prepared for questions and how to answer them well. They should be prepared to answer questions on developments in their sector. They should manage the impression they leave as they interact with other delegates as they would always be under the eye of other delegates. Delegates should always be professional because they are the face and personification of the company during the event.

Concurrent exhibition manager

In the case where a company is also exhibiting at a concurrent show the delegate will have to act as the exhibition manager. He has to ensure that the exhibition stand is always manned. Given that he or she has to attend conference sessions as well, it is necessary to have another staff member or members manning the stand but s/he remains responsible for the exhibition effort.

The delegate has to ensure that the stand staff members are well trained in serving visitors as well as lead generation and qualification. They should be knowledgeable enough to answer questions on their brands as well as issues relating to their industry. The arrangement of exhibits should be simple but professional.

There should be a lot of literature especially for those in a hurry who have no time for engagement. The stand should be manned always. Non-essential items like cups, mobile phones, cigarette packets among others should be removed from the stand counter or shelves to make it presentable and professional-looking. The stand staff should not chew gum, fiddle with their phones while serving visitors or eat in the stand. They should not say or do things that would offend someone or reflect badly on the company.

When attending as a speaker

If a delegate is billed to speak during the conference this calls for thorough preparation in advance. They should research on their audience as well as their material. Presentations are followed by question time and delegates should prepare for this. Their paper should address their audiences’ expectations.

Most conferences run under a theme. The speaker should try as much as possible to ensure that their presentation material is within the confines of the theme. They need to practise with their team to improve their confidence with their material. When the presentation time comes they should ace it up like a professional bearing in mind that they not doing it for themselves only but their company as well.

Networking

Whichever role a delegate is attending a business event as, networking remains very important in meeting both personal and company objectives and targets. It is advisable not to wander off the conference venue to keep in contact with other attendees. One should be armed with many business cards but only hand them out to someone who asks for them. One way of getting someone to ask for one’s business card is to ask for theirs first.

To make the most of networking at events, delegates should speak to as many people as possible and asking them as many questions about their work and business as possible. If one is part of a delegation from one’s company, it is prudent to split so that the team speaks to as many people as possible. It should be remembered that networking is about developing contacts for future relations and possible sales. It should therefore not be used to drive sales lest the candidate and his or her company would be regarded negatively as too pushy and too sales-oriented.

In everything that the delegate does he or she should be professional, enthusiastic, motivated and energetic. He or she should remember that he or she is under constant watch from other companies’ delegates. Therefore they should watch their actions and words always to ensure that their company always puts its best foot forward through them.

Follow-up and evaluation

The end of the conference should spell a period of rest but this is not the case. It is time to sort out and prioritise promising leads for follow-up. This means sending more information, booking meetings or delivering samples and so on. It is time for phone calls to fellow delegates and exhibition visitors who showed interest in the company’s service or goods.

Business events are also about potential business opportunities. The post-event period is also about assessing for exploitation the opportunities that one may have discovered at the conference and planning how to exploit them.

During the planning stage, one needs to come up with objectives and targets and after the event, the delegate needs to evaluate which of the objectives were achieved and the targets met. This means establishing the number of leads generated in relation to the figure expected. Where targets were not met, it is important to establish the reasons.

It also means checking the increase in contacts in relation to what was expected before the event and the same with sales achieved. One could calculate the value of each achieved parameter in terms of how much it cost to achieve it. For example, how much did it cost to secure each contact or lead.

Happy business events participation.

October 29, 2019 29 comments