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Do you really like to take part in any exhibitions, but often start preparing in just a couple of weeks? Everyone knows that preparations for an exhibition should be carried out long before it starts (preferably six months in advance). But in reality, everything is quite different. First, there are many other concerns, and preparations for the exhibition are postponed, and then you find that there are only about three weeks left before it. This is where active preparation begins. I would like everyone who reads the material below to find many useful tips for themselves.
At the exhibition, you have the opportunity to directly interact with a potential client: to establish relationships with consumers and "rivals", employees, partners and journalists, as well as preparation for the exhibition always shows the current state of the market for goods and services.
Basically, well-known companies attract professionals in their field (TOP managers who know the products and are able to conduct an effective process of communication with the consumer) to prepare and hold the exhibition.
At such events, you can often see the heads of large firms. Agree, it's a shame to lose a good potential buyer due to poor preparation for work at the exhibition and inexperienced employees who are unable to interact with the client.
Of course, the exhibition itself and preparations for it are for the most part a component of the formation of the company's image. And the main objective of this event is to increase the level of sales. In order for the exhibition to be effective, it is important to develop a clear plan for the preparation and holding of the exhibition:
The basic stage of preparation for the exhibition is the decision in which exhibition to take part. The selection is based on what event will help to achieve the goal as much as possible. As a rule, the following question is asked: “What reasons prompted the company to participate in this event, as well as what benefit in increasing the level of sales will it bring?”.
The fundamental tasks that determine the choice of event are expressed in questions of finding out the quality and quantity of the target consumer provided by each exhibition. It is necessary to determine the number of potential customers who will come to the event, as well as whether this number is justified.
The effectiveness and success of the work at the event is, for the most part, high-quality and thorough preparation for the exhibition.
When preparing for an exhibition, as a rule, the chief manager of the company, heads of marketing departments, sales and promotion departments participate in it. Usually, a company chooses a specific person who will lead the preparation and organization of the exhibition: from deciding on the level of participation and to assessing the effectiveness of the exhibition.
Three or four months is the shortest period of time to prepare for it. The ideal time is six months.
When you are preparing for the exhibition, you need to consider the following points:
Setting goals and objectives
You want to impress at the exhibition and achieve good result? Then define for yourself clear tasks that will be real, achievable and specific in terms of execution. The more clearly the tasks of preparing and holding the exhibition are built, the easier it is to solve them.
What can be the tasks set by you before participating in the event?
How many staff should be involved to work at the booth?
Services for the preparation and holding of exhibitions are carried out mainly by chief managers. In fact, communication with each potential client, as a rule, takes about 15 minutes. If we take into account the time for lunch breaks and the like, then in a day the exhibition manager will gather for you about 20-25 visitors who are ready to cooperate (not business cards!). It turns out that an average four-day exhibition has 80-90 clients per manager.
Five stand specialists at an effective exhibition will bring you about 370-400 contacts, including contacts of potential consumers. How many will there be? This is influenced by the degree of popularity of your products, the similarity of visitors to the exhibition with the clients of your company, the success of your employees.
We plan business events at the exhibition
If the exhibition involves the implementation of a marketing event (presentation, conference, etc.), it is necessary to determine the place of its holding. You can organize a presentation near your booth or rent a special room from the leaders of the event.
Typical estimate of exhibition expenses
The estimate represents the costs of preparing and holding the exhibition, namely:
Pre-show marketing
If you want to increase the effectiveness of your participation in the exhibition, you should not rely only on ordinary visitors to the event. Each of your stand is the same office, and therefore, when preparing for the exhibition, it would be right to attract already regular customers to it.
For potential customers, the exhibition will act as an opportunity to attract them to business relationships that will allow you to replenish the list of customers.
Highly important element in preparation for the exhibition - the production of personal invitations for potential customers. This will help to interest them and make a good impression.
Invitations must be sent approximately three months before the start of the event. The invitation must be composed correctly: indicate the name of the event, the time and place of the event, the benefits of visiting this exhibition and your stand in particular. In addition, you should indicate the specific location of the corner of your company, the personal data of an employee who can provide all necessary information about the exhibition and send an invitation. After some time (1-2 weeks), customers should be reminded of the event. Important factor preparation for the exhibition - an individual connection with the consumer and your interest in each client.
The following details must be taken into account:
Staff training
When preparing for an exhibition, it is extremely important to recruit experienced staff. The main qualities of a stand attendant: intelligence, neatness and sociability. As a rule, the following are involved in the preparation and holding of the exhibition:
The adopted plan will be useless when all the staff do not understand their tasks and functions in the preparation and holding of the exhibition. It is very important that stand attendants know the exhibited product, its advantages, and also be able to convey it to the consumer distinctive features ahead of a competitor's product. Standers should be sociable and friendly.
Any stand attendant must not only know the product, but also be well versed in the history of the company, in the field of its work, as well as in its plans for the future.
In addition, he is obliged to know exactly which products of the advertising campaign need to be distributed to one or another group of the target audience, where they are located, and who has complete information about the company, product and exhibition. No need to place everything on the stand at once: leave a reason to get acquainted with your product. When preparing for an exhibition, consider everything to the smallest detail. Do not forget to write a briefing that will describe the behavior of the staff at the event, as well as train your employees. It is necessary to deal with this issue two weeks before the event.
When preparing for work at the exhibition, most companies draw up questionnaires. Perfect solution! It is impossible to remember all the information received from visitors to the exhibition in the smallest detail. Questionnaires, as a rule, are filled out not by clients, but by the staff at the stand right during the communication. The specialist is obliged to accurately understand and competently conduct a dialogue with any potential customers:
The inefficient work of employees during the exhibition also explains their emphasis on quantitative rather than qualitative indicators. For example, “all leaflets were handed out, the event was a success” is a wrong position in the preparation and holding of the exhibition. So you can only sell promotional products that almost every visitor will simply throw into the trash. Preparation for work at the exhibition, the cost of a stand, transportation and advertising campaign, your efforts will be useless.
To whom are all your efforts aimed at preparing and organizing the exhibition? Of course, for the precious consumer. And therefore it is necessary to note the main conditions for preparing for the exhibition.
When preparing for the exhibition, they are simply necessary. It should be clear who is in front of you: staff or an ordinary visitor. In order not to bother yourself with how to address a person, badges are also needed.
A business card is necessary so that the visitor of the exhibition can easily remember the name and contact details of your specialist with whom he communicated Be sure to take this into account when preparing for the exhibition.
An important element in the preparation and holding of the exhibition. Here we need non-standard solutions. Of course, you can simply make mugs, bags (first they will contain flyers from the exhibition, then - garbage) or pens with your company logos. Similar souvenirs will be at each stand. And therefore, in this case, when preparing for the exhibition, it is very good to think about what gifts will be the highlight of your stand. Great solutions can be: magnets, photo frames, business card holders, mouse pads, flash drives with the symbols of your company. The main rule is that there may be few souvenirs, but they must be different from competitors' gifts, be useful and original.
Of course, a potential client at the event will communicate with both your specialists and competitors. At the end of the exhibition, he will single out the most useful for himself and remember only the best. At this point, handouts are needed to help the visitor slowly sort out each of your offers. Take care of booklets and catalogs when preparing for the exhibition, try to develop all products in unity with the design of the stand (this will create an association with your company for the client). A great idea in preparation for the exhibition will be the manufacture of flash drives with the symbols of your company and the presentation of your products. The costs will be small, but effective: the visitor will get acquainted with the presentation, delete it, and the flash drive will remain in use for a long time, reminding you of your company.
This is the business card of the company. Pay close attention to the stand when preparing for the exhibition. It depends only on you how prestigious and elegant your place at the event will look. As a rule, the stand requires the solution of several issues. Where to place additional promotional items? Where can staff hang their clothes? And most importantly, what will help draw the attention of the client specifically to your stand? Ideas that are simple at first glance (placement of a screen for demonstrating a presentation, for example) are carried out in practice, as a rule, at a low level. Please note that the main thing is not the screen size, but the informational component of the presentation and its sound. When preparing for the exhibition, carefully edit a video about your company that will be clear to the visitor at any moment. If this is not possible, do not count on the fact that a very small video that will be "twisted" continuously will do. This will only cause customers negative emotions. When preparing for the exhibition, immediately take care of mounting a high-quality video. For 3-4 months it is not difficult to do.
There are 15 days left before the exhibition. Suddenly, you realize that the event will take place in two weeks, and you start choosing a printing house to prepare for the exhibition. On the hastily you develop a plan of action. How to find? Heed advice or study a past event marketing campaign that caught your eye (often a print shop's contact details). You can look at the options on the Web, having familiarized yourself with the types of products presented and customer reviews, or you can call the numbers of the companies you like and contact the specialists. However, the ideal approach when preparing for an exhibition is to involve a top-level printing house with a wealth of experience. Such is the printing house "SlovoDelo".
There are 13 days left before the exhibition. At this stage of preparation for the exhibition, a package of electronic documentation should already be assembled. Designers need to provide texts for brochures and photographs for the exhibition.
There are 12 days left before the exhibition. Work is underway on the main layout.
There are 11 days left before the exhibition. There is a training of employees, selection of uniforms, rehearsal of the event, designation of tasks for staff. They are the business card of your company. This is very milestone preparation for the exhibition.
There are 10 days left before the exhibition. Design specialists provide you with a draft layout. You jointly select the desired sketch, making adjustments. In this matter, the main thing is to know exactly what you want. Your remarks “I want more beautiful”, “it doesn’t fit, do something else”, “I don’t know how it should be, but it’s not like that” will not lead to any result.
There are 9 days left before the exhibition. First, you need to complete the development of the layout of large-circulation brochures (they must be sent for printing). It is very important to carefully review the texts for typos or errors. Preparation for the exhibition requires strict control.
A few words about the production of printed products. Large print runs (from 500 pieces) are produced by offset printing. It is possible to print in gold, silver, pantone, use matte or glossy varnishing. When you choose a company to work with, remember that each print shop focuses on different (small, medium and large) runs. Be sure to take this into account when preparing for the exhibition. Printing machines are also designed for different sizes, and also differ in a set of sections for printing and the presence of the "drying" function. These criteria affect the cost and quality of manufactured copies. Simply put, choose the best print shop for your trade show preparation and trust them completely to save time and money.
There are 8 days left before the exhibition. Be sure to double-check the layouts before making them! Design studios and printing houses are responsible for the quality of the product, but not for the text content ( email addresses, phone numbers, names of managers). Double-checking will never be superfluous when preparing for an exhibition.
There are 7 days left before the exhibition. Average term offset printing - 5-10 days. It is necessary to take care of the production of booklets and catalogs, otherwise the preparation for the exhibition will be in vain.
There are 6 days left before the exhibition. When submitting a stand for development, have you decided how the stands, shelving, reception, screen, computer, etc. will be located? Have you informed the experts? Excellent. Otherwise, some graphic elements may be "lost". When preparing for an exhibition, conceptuality is very important: you should not “overdo it” with the amount of information and images. No one will bother to read text that is extremely low or printed in small print. On this day, the development of the stand should be completed!
There are 5 days left before the exhibition. Stand design, which does not require time-consuming design (posters, 3D images, banners and other complex mechanisms), can be developed in five days. Preparation for the exhibition requires the coordination of these moments with the printing house.
Typically, large size printing companies produce products on various materials(paper, banner fabric, vinyl, self-adhesive paper and canvas). You can also apply vinyl to plastic material and get a 3D image. There are several design stands to choose from. During preparation for the exhibition, you should clearly discuss with the event managers the type of stand design and the possibilities for fixing it (suspensions, cages with cables, eyelets, and so on).
There are 4 days left before the exhibition. Do not undertake to change the stand or printed materials. Carefully check the preparation for work at the exhibition and the advertising campaign.
There are 3 days left before the exhibition. As a rule, urgent printing is carried out in 1-2 days. Feel free to send business cards and flyers for production, which are very important in preparing and holding an exhibition.
Small and urgent print runs (from 1 to 300 A4 pages) are produced by digital printing on coated, self-adhesive, design paper, as well as on tracing paper.
There are 2 days left before the exhibition. The video and presentation materials must be made, cross-checked and recorded on media in several copies.
1 day left before the show. Here is the most important day, on which all printing products will be brought to you. The stand is installed and fixed. Preparations for the exhibition are in full swing! If your orders were not delivered or they were delivered partially, it was worth setting the order completion date 1-2 days earlier. This can happen in a small print shop with little experience. However, this will never happen if you cooperate with SlovoDelo! As they say, measure seven times, cut one, choosing a partner for yourself in preparation for the exhibition.
Read the stories of three real cases while preparing for the exhibitions. Take note.
In order not to run into incidents when preparing for the exhibition, it is very important to be guided by the following rules:
The preparation and holding of the exhibition does not end at the end of the event. Contacts earned on it must be maintained. Do not delay the "ringing" of the base of new potential customers. Don't forget to remind yourself before the client loses contact with you and turns to your competitors.
Often, when preparing and organizing exhibitions, their participants do not develop a model of interaction with the contacts they have made. It also happens that the entire attracted customer base is “lost”, moving from department to department. This cannot be allowed, otherwise all the work done will be useless.
The customer base can be arranged according to the degree of interest (“hot”, “warm” and “cold” contacts). If within a month after the preparation and holding of the exhibition, the “hot” client has not placed an order, then he will not place it at all. The second type of consumers (approximately 80% of the entire customer base) may think about placing an order for about six months. But at the same time, “warm” customers, as a rule, bring the company most of the income. With “cold” clients, everything is simple: you should send them concise messages and wait for a response, which will indicate whether to send promotional materials to the person or not.
We offer a plan of action in the event that the visitor of the exhibition did not indicate when it is possible to contact him.
An example of what not to do. During the exhibition, the client asked to be contacted in three months. The general manager of the company will call him on the very first working day after the event, and then send an e-mail and a contract for the supply of products. Then he made sure that the materials were received. A couple of weeks later, the client received a second call from the manager. As a result, the client was extremely dissatisfied and refused to cooperate.
When preparing for the exhibition, warn employees that the client experiences negative emotions when he is “loaded” with unnecessary information without sending him the data he needs. Remember that the main thing here is to identify and fulfill all the desires of the client.
And here is another example. At the end of the event, the client received a message where the company thanked him for his interest. Everything is fine, but the only catch is that the message was received in July, and the exhibition was held in February! That is why it is necessary not only to conduct planned preparations for the exhibition, but also to monitor the work of employees after it.
The final stage of preparing and holding an exhibition is the determination of the effectiveness of the event. It would be correct to evaluate the effectiveness of the exhibition immediately after its holding, as well as after some time (6-12 months). The work will be easy if you initially clearly outlined the goals of your participation in the event. When listing a new client base, be sure to indicate how the client became interested in the product (through emails, during a trade show, offsite collaboration, and so on).
Reports on the work done can be as follows:
Besides:
Of course, preparation for work at the exhibition and the event itself is an investment of material resources. And therefore, one of the main criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of the exhibition will be its payback, which can be calculated using the formula:
ROI of the event (financial result) = (Total amount of income from sales at the end of the exhibition / Investment costs for preparing and holding the exhibition) * 100%
It is important to note that the financial performance of the event changes over time, and therefore the financial result, as a rule, is calculated 6-12 months after the exhibition.
The SlovoDelo printing house has been successfully operating since 1998. Specialization - printing of any kind of printing products, which will help you perfectly prepare for the exhibition:
Moreover, the managers of the printing house are always happy to offer layout, design and photography of any kind, which will help you prepare photos for the exhibition. Our specialists are guided by an individual approach to each customer.
The order of work in the printing house:
Receiving a request and estimating the cost. For the calculation, the specialist needs the following data:
Your preparation for the exhibition will be successful, because the SlovoDelo printing house produces any circulation of top quality products.
Agreement and payment. You can pay for your order in the following way:
Seal
Printing will not start until the layout has been checked and approved. You have the opportunity to personally follow test print, which will allow you to be confident in your preparation for the exhibition.
As a rule, the lead time for an order is 5 to 7 days. If the preparation for the exhibition does not tolerate waiting, you can order an urgent print (per day), paying an additional 25% of the total order.
Delivery
Delivery of products is made in Moscow every working day from 10.00 to 19.00. You can pick up the order on your transport from the warehouse of the printing house (Berezhkovskaya embankment, 20, building 79).
Guarantee
The SlovoDelo company has a guarantee for the compliance of machine tools, materials and quality of finished orders with GOSTs (SIBID, GOST R 51205-98, GOST 9094-89, GOST 4.482-87, GOST 21444-5, etc.).
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An exhibition is an opportunity to simultaneously play on a large number of marketing tools: telemarketing, advertisements, direct mail, billboards, presentations, tastings, contests, celebrations, research, conferences, PR, etc.
To use the listed opportunities and marketing tools, careful preparation, organization and training of personnel are necessary. In reality, the idea of most newcomers and not a small part of the regulars taking part in exhibitions sounds something like this: “Rent a place, set up a stand, prepare materials, bring and arrange products, see people, show yourself.” The line of thought is correct, of course, but thoroughness and depth can hardly be expected with such an approach to understanding the work at the exhibition and its preparation. And from year to year, newcomers and experienced exhibitors step on the same rake, scold the exhibition "what the world stands on."
In this article, we propose to consider the most common mistakes and see how their prevention will open the way to using the variety of opportunities and tools of the exhibition. And most importantly - to understanding, feeling and getting the result at the end.
Mistake #1– “The idea of the exhibition only as a work at the exposition”
As a rule, the idea of the exhibition is the exhibition itself. Actually there is preparatory stage We have already discussed its importance. There is also a final stage - work after the exhibition. All three stages are necessary to get the result: in the form of the number of orders from new customers, the expansion of orders from old customers, improved or new products, correcting or leveling the weaknesses of the company, increasing the percentage of company recognition, etc. Each of the stages is a training ground for the preparation of the next stage. The first allows you to foresee everything and hold an exhibition on good level. The exhibition itself provides valuable contacts and marketing information that needs to be processed and brought to "readiness". Work after the exhibition ultimately allows you to evaluate the results achieved, decide on the company's further participation in exhibitions, and also think about how to correct the mistakes made in the future.
Unfortunately, in most cases the first and last stages are in a reduced form or are practically absent. Naturally, without preliminary preparation and subsequent analysis, work at the exhibition does not fundamentally change much from year to year. Accordingly, there is no need to talk about tangible, and all the more high results with this approach.
What are the main steps you need to take in order for these failed stages to become full-fledged and work for you.
If the preparation for the exhibition and the exhibition itself were “on the level”, then it is all the more insulting to fail the “work after the exhibition”. Although everyone is tired and madly want to relax. It is necessary to arrange a “debriefing”, discuss all the successes and mistakes, thank everyone for their work at the exhibition, note the contribution of each employee, reward financial feats for feats of arms and motivate them to “work after the exhibition”.
Mistake #2– “The coincidence of the name of the exhibition and the profile of your company is not a guarantee optimal choice Exhibitions"
The choice of a particular exhibition, as well as the choice of an expensive purchase, should be balanced and deliberate. The material and organizational costs are too high to come to the exhibition and stay with nothing. How?
A. You have decided to take part in the exhibition, but in practice it turned out that the exhibition you have chosen is of third-rate importance in your industry, with a small number of exhibitors and sluggish attendance. You clearly and competently fulfill the allotted five days. But the total number of contacts, and even more so the number of useful contacts, does not make you want to spend so much time, money and nerves in the future.
Q. You expected to find customers at the exhibition, and all the preparation was based on them, and as a result, the stand was almost demolished by end users who flooded the exhibition and demanded your products at reduced prices. As a result, you did not manage to work properly with anyone, nor did your end users profit from you (you only had samples and gift-presentation sets for clients).
S. You decided to outshine everyone and invested a lot of money in rent and a large unusual stand so that it could be seen from everywhere and everyone aspired to it. In practice, it turned out that you were the only big stand, and really attracted attention, the stand was studied, examined, but did not come closer than a cannon shot. Or the opposite situation is possible, when a small stand is lost among the island stands of other companies.
1. Make a list of exhibitions, choose those that are relevant to you thematically and in scale.
So, if a company is engaged in the production and distribution of stationery only in its region, then it hardly makes sense for it to participate in republican and even more so in international exhibitions, unlike large manufacturers, from companies with an extensive regional network, or firms that have decided to enter the market of the CIS countries.
2. Make a list of criteria by which you will choose an exhibition.
For those who have participated in the exhibition before, it is also important to track the dynamics of their participation in the exhibition over several years (positive, negative, what is the reason, is there any point in working at this exhibition further).
3. Think about what is important for you to do, achieve, what activities and techniques you would like to use at the exhibition. Which of the exhibitions, which of the plans allows you to do.
4. Compare exhibitions with each other.
To get complete information, it is better to combine several sources of information: the Internet, specialized magazines, exhibition websites, exhibition organizing committees, customers, competitors, partners, etc. Such a preliminary analysis of exhibitions is important for both newcomers and regulars of exhibitions, since everything changes, including exhibitions (in terms of the composition of participants, visitors, etc.). And then you have to refuse to participate in the exhibition or come up with new marketing moves.
Mistake #3"Lack of clear, specific, measurable goals of work at the exhibition"
As a rule, when asked about the goals of the company at the exhibition, you can get the following answers: “Because there are competitors here”, “To maintain the image”, “If we do not participate in the exhibition, then competitors and customers will think that we have problems”, “Process as many clients as possible”, “Spy”, etc.
It is best if the company pays attention to each of these goals, otherwise you can at least miss out on good opportunities.
Let's imagine that the company staked on maintaining its image (a very interesting, non-standard, attractive stand), but at the same time was not ready for the flood of potential customers. Why was so much money spent? What do customers get from this stand? Of course, they will remember the name, but the desire to work with this company will noticeably decrease.
In addition to being clear and measurable, goals must be realistic. So, for example, it would be naive to expect that the company at the exhibition will be able to work with all visitors of the exhibition (30,000). The figure ten times less does not detract from naivety. Moreover, not all of them are customers, and even more so your target customers.
So you can consider each direction of setting the company's goals at the exhibition. It is enough to recall what opportunities the exhibition opens up for conducting various kinds of marketing research, how much they cost, and how much valuable information they contain (with proper setting of the research goal, its preparation, conduct and processing).
Mistake #4"10 charming long-legged girls parading around the exhibition and success is guaranteed."
Cute, charming, decorates the exhibition - this is undeniable. Does it affect attraction - that's the question. They attract attention, no doubt. As a rule, they cannot tell anything intelligible about a product or service. The attention and interest of the client goes out. It's good if they at least give out informational and promotional materials, at least some benefit.
So, we are talking about the selection of marketing tools. A variety of shows attract attention, entertain, provide an opportunity to relax or unwind, relax with your “eye”, cheer up, but practically do not affect the business component of communication at the exhibition.
Mistake #5"Stand around the head."
The head is the one (those) who thought out the exhibition from the goals and strategies to achieve them to the smallest detail. The stand itself is an "elevator", attracting attention, informing, with a certain bandwidth.
The throughput of the stand directly depends on its size. 30% of the stand, as a rule, is occupied by its exposition. 70% stays with employees. One employee needs an area of at least 1.5-2 square meters so that he can work calmly at the stand without dropping the information racks, without disturbing others and without experiencing psychological discomfort. Accordingly, a stand for 4 employees should be at least 13 square meters in area. The ability to increase the size of the booth depends on the budget of the company. If the capacity of the booth calculated by you does not suit you in terms of the predicted return, and the budget is strictly limited, then it is better to use other methods to attract customers.
Often the struggle of competitors in the field of "whose booth is cooler" becomes an end in itself. Customers consciously or unconsciously understand, looking at the stand, for whom it is (customers or competitors and loved ones). The question is, what warms more customers? The answer is obvious. Moreover, playing the “king of the hill” takes a lot of time, effort, energy from working with clients, and in the absence of proper staff training, it causes a false sense of superiority.
For example, a company that includes two fundamentally different areas worked at the exhibition at different stands. What was the surprise of the management when the results in terms of the number of visitors turned out to be higher at a stand that was more modest in size and pretentious in design. The company's marketers got the impression that customers were "afraid" to enter the second booth, if they did, they waited for an approving look from employees confirming "Yes, we are waiting for you, we are glad to see you."
This living history says that when choosing a stand, it is necessary, among other things, to focus on your target audience so as not to lose it, scaring it or remaining completely unnoticed.
Often experienced exhibitors argue where it is better to place a stand. The "correct" answers are the entrance and the center. In fact, if you imagine yourself in the place of an exhibition visitor, it becomes clear that, most likely, you will walk around the entire exhibition. That is, you can place the stand almost anywhere. But some limitations must be taken into account. Like any person, you will not want to go where there is a dead end, as this is the absence of a path, a return (repetition), a waste of time. It is better not to place the stand near public catering outlets, so that the queue does not block the approaches to the stand. So that there are no unexpected problems with the re-arrangement of space, installation of a stand, loss of usable space - study the plan of the pavilion so that pillars, columns, ceilings do not end up on your territory.
A very important point for bandwidth booth, and even more so attracting targeted customers is the organization of the space.
The company, which is focused on wholesale buyers, has carried out active preliminary work to attract visitors. And end users poured onto the stand. There is only one entrance to the stand (it is also the exit). Pandemonium. It turned out to be impossible to work at the booth with target customers.
It is important to consider: who is the target client; if it is important for you to show distributors that consumers' interest in your products is high, then you need to allocate work areas (negotiation, "sales"); whether you need a meeting area or you have enough work at the stand.
Mistake #6“We sat and smoked, and so the exhibition passed.”
New employee impression of the exhibition: "Stop the earth, I'll get off."
The main problem is that employees are thrown like kittens into an ice hole, without the distribution of functionality, responsibility and authority, and without prior preparation for their execution. As a result, the employees manage their own time, and they themselves come up with activities that mostly do not correspond to the goals of the exhibition.
There are 10 typical, often repeated mistakes of employees at the exhibition. All of them show the client a lack of interest and respect for him.
Recently, training to prepare employees for work at the exhibition has been very popular. The minimum required in training employees: the ability to establish contact, correctly classify customers, identify offers and select appropriate advertising and information materials, be able to conduct presentations, demonstrations, negotiations, employee time management at the exhibition, business etiquette at the exhibition, recovery, etc.
Mistake #7"Poor-quality collection of information and its systematization."
Quite often, companies at the exhibition are faced with the following situation: an employee talked to a visitor “in a warm and friendly atmosphere”, and at the exit - no information, no agreements with a potential client (if he is one). This can happen to both newcomer employees and experienced employees (overload/attitude to work).
There are four important points here:
Here, the correct calculation, multiplied by experience, will help. According to the permanent participants of the exhibition, the initially calculated number of business cards should be increased by 5 times, and information materials 3 times. Further, the qualification of visitors, the competent distribution of company materials and simple vigilance come into play. There are really a lot of so-called "vacuum cleaners" sweeping away materials at exhibitions.
Mistake #9"Finally, it's all over, the information in the archive ...".
Unfortunately, often the information collected by overwork is left without proper attention after the exhibition. If the systematization of the information received did not occur and everything was dumped into a big heap, then hardly anyone will be enthusiastic about its analysis. Everyone is tired, clients are on their phones, a lot of cases have accumulated during the absence from the office. And if the exhibition was “satisfactory”, then this bunch is also painful to look at, and according to the employees there is nothing to “catch” there.
After the exhibition, it is necessary to sum up the intermediate result: the total number of visitors at the stand, by groups of visitors, how many potential customers are in what degree of readiness for cooperation, plan work with them and forward to the prosperity of the company and its employees.
The first candidates for "cleansing", as a rule, are questionnaires. There are many of them, there are many cases, the turnover is stuck, the processing and analysis of the results of the studies carried out on the side, "enough of the general idea." The question is, how to derive correlations from this general idea, draw reliable conclusions and correct the company's behavior in the market?
Still very important point, in hot pursuit to analyze the work at the exhibition in order to better understand what to pay closer attention to when preparing and holding in the future.
Mistake #10"Without analysis of the effectiveness of participation in the exhibition ahead for a new one."
It is clear that depending on the turnover, manufactured and / or sold products (services) of the company, the evaluation of the effectiveness of one of the main criteria, the total amount of transactions with clients attracted at the exhibition, can stretch for a whole year. But it is still necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the company's participation in the exhibition. Let on the basis of simple criteria. You know your costs. The most obvious sources of fundraising are first of all contracts with clients, expansion of orders of existing clients and studies carried out to the end. Let's go back to the example. Let's say the work after the exhibition brought the company 50 contracts, the size of the average purchase of customers per month is $ 3,000, purchases occur monthly, the output is $ 1,800,000. Plus, expanding orders for old customers, if you were attentive to them at the exhibition and prepared for them tempting offers. Plus the cost of research (from $5,000-30,000 or more), if you ordered them from a provider, multiplied by their number (subject). Plus, less quantifiable, but no less important results are an increase in the percentage of company recognition, timely recording of intelligence information from the exhibition, maintaining the company's image, etc.
So, each of the considered errors, and even more so their combination, block access to the numerous and varied opportunities provided by the exhibition. "Rake dancing" from year to year only leads to the fact that the company loses money, understanding and enthusiasm of the staff about the company's participation in the exhibition.
On the eve of an active exhibition season, we wish you to take the lead, get the maximum benefit and experience, learn something new in the exhibition business.
How to organize an exhibition - why is it needed + 10 steps for organizing + 4 common mistakes.
There are many marketing tools to promote goods and services.
It is quite difficult to take into account each, and even more so to use it at a time, and it is not always necessary.
But there is one way of communication that combines several promotion tools at once.
And these are familiar exhibitions for many.
Despite the fact that many entrepreneurs have already managed to evaluate the effect of their holding, some are still afraid to participate in such events.
And first of all, this is due to ignorance and misunderstanding of the organization of the whole process.
If you want to know how to organize an exhibition and get the most out of it, then keep reading this article.
The exhibition is one of the key marketing communications, which includes many promotion methods that are held at the same time:
What does an entrepreneur get in the end by deciding to take part in the exhibition:
Thus, taking part in such events, the company gets a unique opportunity not only to study the possible sales market and show itself in the best light, but also immediately after the results of the work to work on the mistakes - improve the quality of goods, hire more qualified personnel, engage in more active advertising.
An exhibition is a rather specific marketing tool that has its advantages and disadvantages.
Let's start with the good times:
But along with the advantages, there are also disadvantages:
To organize an exhibition, you need to do a lot of work. Western analysts say that it is worth spending about one year on preparation, our compatriots agree that half a year will be quite enough.
The process of participation in the exhibition will consist of several stages.
Here are the main ones:
Let's take a closer look at each of the stages.
The marketing department of the enterprise must constantly seek and study information about where, when and what kind of exhibitions will be organized.
If you are new to such events, then, first of all, pay attention to specialized exhibitions that are held in your region.
If there is nothing suitable in the next six months, then it is worth considering the option of expositions, where manufacturers of various groups of goods can show themselves.
What you need to pay attention to when choosing an exhibition:
Submission of an application and payment for participation depends on the scale of its implementation:
Also, prepare all the necessary documents in advance, as some expo centers have strict requirements and carefully select participating enterprises.
Organizing an exhibition will not work without careful planning.
First of all, you must make calendar plan actions, calculate the budget to understand how much money you are willing to invest in this type of advertising, and prepare employees.
Also at this stage, it is necessary to determine the main goals of participation in such an event and focus on them.
The strategic objectives will be:
The tactical tasks are as follows:
If the director or owner of the business is interested in its development, then his presence at the exhibition is mandatory.
Firstly, you can see the potential sales market with your own eyes, and secondly, make business acquaintances.
As for the personnel who should be directly responsible for organizing the exhibition, they will be related to the sales or marketing department.
It is worth sending specialists to the exhibition who:
Also, the stand should have a head of production, head of marketing or sales department.
The budget of the organization of the exhibition should include the following items of expenditure:
As samples, you must use the same goods that go on sale.
Anyone who comes to the stand of the company should have the opportunity to try the product.
Also prepare a few units that you can give to potential customers.
Be sure to leave on the avenue full information about the product and contact details of the company.
The handout should be in the form of:
It is worth noting that the costs will be quite large, so do not rush to say goodbye to handouts easily.
Place a stack of leaflets next to the stand, but the price list and catalog should be reserved for those who are really interested in the company's products.
The most important stage in the organization of the exhibition is the design of the exhibition stand.
The success and effect of participation in such an event depends on how the product will be presented.
To convey to visitors all the necessary information, use recommendations for the design of the stand for the exhibition, concerning the following points:
Name and logo.
They should be visible and immediately conspicuous.
Therefore, be sure to place them on the stand.
No need to make people guess what the enterprise in the right corner is.
You can also develop some kind of customer-oriented slogan that will immediately attract the attention of visitors.
He should be the center of attention.
So avoid bright design stand where goods can be lost.
It should also be placed in such a way that anyone can approach it from any direction.
Place in the hall.
The earlier you apply for participation in the exhibition, the higher your chances of renting a good place.
The most successful is the placement of the stand:
Stand size.
The stand should occupy a third of the rented space, the rest of the space belongs to employees at the rate of 1.5-2 sq. m. per person.
As a rule, 5 seconds are enough for a person to catch their eye on a certain stand and decide to approach it.
You need to know a few "chips" that will help in this matter.
So, how to design an exhibition stand so that it will surely attract attention:
be sure to provide textual information at the stand itself and make sure that the stand with handouts is not empty.
But it is important that visitors still have questions that company representatives can answer;
Try to give your stand a certain style, let it be concise and not overloaded with a lot of items and extra text.
Anyone would rather experience a product in real conditions than just see it in a photo or read a bunch of information about it.
It is necessary to prepare in advance about the delivery of the exhibition stand: select and conduct a full briefing of employees.
For the implementation of installation and dismantling, you need to set clear deadlines: one day each.
Allowing employees to relax can increase costs.
On the days of the event, it is necessary to monitor the cleanliness of the stand and its filling.
Well, all the stages of how to organize an exhibition have been completed, it remains only to participate in it.
And here it all depends on the employees who will conduct the presentation.
The completed questionnaires will serve as the basis for summing up the results of the exhibition.
They can also be used to track how many buyers are really interested in the company's products.
After that, you can work on the mistakes, as well as evaluate the strengths and weak sides the work carried out.
A few more tips on how to hold an exhibition are collected in the video:
Many do not fully understand what it means to organize an exhibition, which is why many questions arise, ignorance of the answers to which leads to negative results.
The exhibition is only work at the stand.
This is not true.
This is a set of consistent actions that will lead to success.
It is important to take a responsible approach to each stage of the organization - preparation, direct participation and summing up.
Participation in the exhibition is only for the sake of participation.
The management of the enterprise must clearly set the goals to be achieved from participation.
The main attention should be riveted to the stand.
Even the most beautiful and attention-grabbing booth will not save if employees are not prepared and are not able to communicate with customers.
The exhibition is over, and that's it.
Nothing's over until it's spent full analysis received data, and no work has been done on the errors.
After all, what was the point of spending so much time and money, then not to take into account the information received.
If you are ready to go to a new level of promoting your business, then be sure to study any information related to the issue, how to organize an exhibition.
This is indeed a very profitable and effective way to express yourself.
But without knowing certain points, it is unlikely that you will be able to get an “exhaust” from the work done and the money spent.
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How to organize an exhibition of paintings.
Many aspiring artists, one way or another, are faced with this issue. Many believe that the number of exhibitions in the track record is directly proportional to the status of the artist in the world art rankings. Maybe it is so. In any case, to understand whether you need it or not, you need to start somewhere.
So, let's analyze this question - how to organize an exhibition of your own works of art. Personal exhibition. I will describe how to solve this problem from my experience and the experience of my colleagues.
First you need to have in your arsenal a certain number of completed and designed works. How to design your work is an individual matter, depending on what technique you work with and on the creative task that you set for yourself. In 2005, for the first personal exhibition held in the exhibition hall of the Moscow Library No. 204, I made frames from lumber purchased at the Moskvoretsky market. Made from two paving profile frames, I puttied and spray painted graffiti paints on stairwell in your entryway. The field for ideas and creativity is vast - everything is in your hands ...
Finally, if you are ready to start exhibition activities, you have works and an idea that you will carry to the viewer through your exhibition project, then the lion's part of the task has been completed. Now think again why you need all this and what you expect from it. If everything is ok, go for it!
If you work in traditional genres of fine art, then as an exhibition debut - (we consider a budget option), a good start can be made in the so-called intelligence centers, which in the last 10 years have been organized on the basis of public libraries. Moscow has a well-developed network of public libraries with its own exhibition space, where, after an interview with the library management, you can easily make an exhibition on a first-come, first-served basis. I wrote about one of them above.
For artists working in the field of so-called contemporary art - contemporary art, a good debut can be made at the START young art site at Winzavod.
A personal exhibition can be made on paid terms under an exhibition hall rental agreement for a certain period. Prices and halls are different - information is freely available. I bring positive example from my own experience: I organized the festival of dark arts "All Shades of Darkness") in 2010 at the "N" gallery in Beskudnikovo. Despite the relative remoteness from the center, the gallery is equipped with the latest technology: from excellent hanging equipment, good lighting, to the presence of concert smoke generators and a distributed audio system - which was very useful for holding the festival on the very high level. The rent also included the services of a PR manager to advertise the event in the media.
For a relatively small fee, you can exhibit in state exhibition halls, but exhibition experience is taken into account here - participation in group and personal exhibitions. As an example, I cite my personal exhibition at the State Exhibition Hall "On Kashirka" () Personal library exhibitions, by the way, are valued higher than participation in a group exhibition in a hall with a higher rank. Again, the exhibition in the library is recommended to promote as much as possible, do not spare money for articles in art newspapers and magazines - it all depends on the budget.
Having joined, for example, the Moscow Union of Artists and having gone through a simple procedure for admission to the union (showing several landscapes and studies painted in traditional technique), paying a small annual membership fee, you can participate in the exhibitions of the union. As a rule, exhibitions are a dull gathering of old farts, shaking on their paintings, hung in three rows on the walls ...
There is a practice of participating in various competitions, this method can also be a definite step. Basically, competitions are paid, as an example of the "International Assembly of Arts" and other similar events - there is also a three-level hanging, but the gathering of artists is already younger. There are competitions with free participation, for example, the annual competition "The Theme of Death in Contemporary Art" (held as part of the international exhibition of the funeral industry "Necropolis"), organized by Novosibirsk businessman Sergey Yakushin ()
Exists big choice all kinds of group exhibitions with free participation, for example, exhibitions within the framework of the exhibition program of the Open Stage project (Povarskaya, 20), the LIK Foundation, the Mikhail Shemyakin Foundation (), etc. The Shemyakin Foundation, to my pleasure, offers interesting and rather gloomy projects .
Nobody has canceled participation in paid exhibitions organized by various entrepreneurs and enthusiasts, for example, the exhibition project "Geysers of the Subconscious" of the Andrey Nekrasov International Center for the Arts (). Exhibitions within the framework of this project are usually held at pretentious exhibition areas, which captivates the ambitions of many artists who dream of exhibiting in sacred places, such as the Central House of Artists, Winzavod, State Exhibition Hall on Solyanka, Gallery A3, etc.
As a result of participation in group and personal exhibitions, artists accumulate experience in exhibition activities, determine priorities, make useful contacts, and there may be cases of selling paintings, which, of course, increases the self-esteem of the artist. The exhibition experience and contacts obtained as a result allow me to fit into the exhibition schedules of public and private galleries for free. It is possible to find your gallery owner. All of the above applies to artists working both in the outdated memetic genre and in modern postmodernist trends in contemporary art.
A separate loophole for contemporary art artists - there are no boundaries for exhibiting works defined for memetic art by gallery walls. Here you can rely on courage and anarchy in the choice of space for exhibiting works and creating art objects from improvised materials. Everything is possible here - from the inclusion of buildings and other elements of space in the exposition to experiments with fire and pyrotechnics. As an example, I cite the exhibitions that took place in the abandoned Flacon factory (now the Flacon Design Factory is now quite an official exhibition site) and in the tunnel under the Moscow-Volga canal on the Volokolamsk highway and the pedestrian crossing over the highway - as part of the Anti Biennale "Went! Where went?; the annual festival "FARSH" in an abandoned depot on Kurskaya in the very center of Moscow (http://www..html)... The apotheosis of the theme of the exploitation of alternative exhibition venues is the brutal exhibitions of the BLACKMEAT art group in the Syansky quarries () and in depot on Kurskaya ()
For experienced artists working advantageously within the framework of the so-called contemporary art, there is a system of grants, biennials, etc. A project approach is used here, when the artist prepares an exhibition project, sends it to the commission and defends it if the project is of interest to the host. Subsequently, the artist works on the project under the unobtrusive supervision of the curator. As a result, an exhibition - a project - in most cases in an advanced gallery. For example: , . The project approach is interesting because the product (in our case, the exhibition) becomes more solid and conscious.
As you can see, there are many ways to organize an exhibition of your paintings and other works of art, so courage and madness will help you.
If you liked this article please like it.
I would also be grateful if you write your feedback or comments (in the form after this text) from own experience organization and participation in exhibitions. Both positive and negative experiences are interesting.
Whether you're showcasing your own work or the work of other artists, hosting an exhibition is a uniquely enriching experience. Although bringing together so many elements so that it all forms a coherent whole and at the same time makes sense, it can be anything but simple. Therefore, when you organize an exhibition yourself, it is extremely important that you have a plan of action. Once you've decided on a theme for an exhibition, you can accept applications from interested artists, choose a suitable venue for the event, and launch an advertising campaign to ensure that your collection is seen and appreciated by as many people as possible.
Part 1
Art SearchChoose a unifying theme. A thoughtful art exhibition is characterized by a well-traced theme that ties the different pieces together and gives the feeling that they are part of a whole. Think about what message your exhibition should convey. It can be an image or a phenomenon, a feeling or a certain visual technique.
Choose the most impressive work. Select a few of your best or most recent creations to show. If you are holding a personal exhibition, which should take the main place of your own work, you will need 10 to 30 paintings to present to the public. The theme of the exhibition must be displayed in each copy.
Contact local artists to provide exhibit materials. Do some research looking for creative people in your area who might be interested in exhibiting at your show. A collaborative effort can be a great opportunity for many different artists to present their art at one event, resulting in a more diverse and complete selection.
Work through different channels. Your exhibition should not consist solely of canvases and drawings. Feel free to include the work of photographers, sculptors and other figurative artists. A wide selection of works will give the cooperation a dynamic atmosphere and bring more joy to your clients.
Part 2
Event organisationDecide on the date and time. Organizing an art exhibition requires an exhausting amount of coordination, so be realistic about the time frame you set for yourself. It's a good idea to start planning your event at least 2-3 months in advance so you have enough time to prepare. If possible, choose a date towards the end of the week, when many people have a day off and people are looking for things to do in the city.
Book a venue. Start looking for a suitable venue for the exhibition. The most obvious solution is to rent a studio or an art gallery, but remember that the choice is not limited to traditional art locations. You can ask in restaurants, cafes, cultural centers, churches and business centers and find out if they would like to help organize this event.
Rate your work for sale. The purpose of the exhibition is not only to show the artist's works, but also to sell them. Once you have an exposure, it is worth considering how much you value each piece. Try to set prices that are acceptable to both you and the buyer, taking into account the painting technique, technical complexity and labor invested in the creation of this work.
Let the rumor go. Let people around you know that you are working on an exhibition. You can mention this at a personal meeting or post information about the event on your pages in in social networks. In some cases, cooperation with the administration of the venue is possible - they can make sure that the news reaches a wider range of visitors through their website, press releases and official announcements.
Part 3
Holding successful exhibitionAsk for help. Enlist the support of volunteers, as well as the help of professionals: movers, framers and lighting experts. Together, it will be easier to cope with coordinating the unloading and loading of work, placing the necessary equipment and displays in the place provided, and monitoring works of art so that they are not damaged or stolen. A dedicated team can lighten your burden, and their (the team's) presence ensures that the event goes off without a hitch.
Prepare your exhibition space. Your first order will be the installation and placement of works in the designated place. Based on this, you can adjust the lighting so that each work is well lit and clearly visible. Imagine how you want your visitors to see and interact with the space, then think about the final layout that will meet your goals.
