The quality and nature of the marketing mix implemented at trade shows determine the success and failure of the product you are planning to exhibit. A great design of your booth is necessary but this will never be enough to increase the number of visitors at the stand. It’s all about implementing a concerted strategy of design, people, and live experience. This helps you create a lasting memory of your brand until your follow up conversation and the next trade show.
Here are three essential tips to help you know more about the psychology of engaging with trade show visitors and keep them coming to your stand.
Tip 1. Create desire for visitors to want to learn more.
A great trade show booth has to be distinctively clear and accessible. Display only the key product details by making sure the trade show area is open and inviting. Ensure that the visitors can access want they want quickly. If you have a big booth and are planning to exhibit products or key information to potential customers, keep them clearly organised into categories of services; drive the prospects through a journey of finding out more about what you do. It’s all about trying to remove barriers of accessibility, encouraging personal interaction and creating enough curiosity within the tradeshow visitor for him/her to want to learn more about your company.
Tip 2. Keep it interactive
Trade show engagement starts when you attract people on the show floor to make them aware about where they are before you tell them more about where they can go. An interactive exhibit can take them out of their waking trances and lead their attention to what no one else offers on the market. Being interactive does not always mean using the latest and most expensive technology to get your message across. Trade show visitors like to handle prototypes and product samples, do trials on products and services, play games and watch demonstrations. The more engaged and entertained they are at your booth, the more likely it is that they will remember your business, and continue the conversation after the show.
Tip 3. Showcase your expertise
How you frame, position or describe your products and services, and how trade show visitors perceive them will define the success rate of your trade show follow up actions. While the psychology of building trust in trade shows relies mostly on experience, a lousy content and explanation of what you do best will not increase your results. A great way to highlight your expertise is by delivering a message that makes visitors believe that you are not only the product expert, but first and foremost that you are market knowledgeable.
With such a limited time to interact with visitors in live environments, your business preposition should come down to a brief and compelling message that trade show attendees will understand immediately and will easily remember once they leave the venue. Learn more about the visitor’s current position, their current market challenges and their requirements. Point out the benefits of doing business with you, how you can meet their challenges, answer their questions with professionalism, self-confidence, listen and give them relevant information. These are just a few pointers to prepare better for your next trade show.
Why psychology matters in trade show engagement
The psychology of better engagement in trade show environments is ultimately down to the people who interact with your visitors. With so many marketing messages sent out in live environments, visitors stop when dynamic and socially intelligent booth staff create the curiosity and desire at the stand. They interact with staff who can drive them through your brand experience in a fun, personal and interactive way. They engage when you take them out of their trance to provide them with knowledge and expertise they cannot find at your competitors.
A psychological approach to drawing attention and driving booth traffic at your next trade show will increasingly shape a natural selling process. Along with an effective strategy of attracting, engaging and qualifying visitors, implementing these three essential tips at your next trade show will bring you not only the desired results, but also the ability to think bigger and smarter in growing your customer base by engaging better with your trade show visitors.
