Exhibition Essentials – Your Guide to Setting Up the Perfect Trade Show or Exhibition Stand

Your stand is booked. With a mixture of trepidation and excitement, you look forward to a full order book after your trade show experience. Here’s the thing: to make any event, trade show or exhibition a success you need to be organised. As well as a strategy you need a checklist…

Exhibition Equipment

No matter how large or small your exhibition space, you need to fill it with the stuff that matters. You have an opportunity to make a real impact but if your stand looks half full or it’s in the dark because you forgot to order lighting, you’ll miss out.

Exhibition Staff

With a checklist of equipment on hand, you know need to think about how you are going to reach out and connect with as many potential customers and clients as you can.

We’ll give you an insider tip here – a one-day event is tiring so imagine what a three-day or week-long event will feel like? You have to maintain to the same boundless energy and smile from when doors open to when doors close.

As well as looking enthusiastic all day, you also need to qualify within seconds whether the person you are talking is a) really interested and b) what their position is when it comes to buying. The more accurately and quickly you can do this, the more likely you are to talk to more people but also to the people you really need to be talking too.

It’s hard. And so having a fresh team of experienced promotional staff in the wings is not a bad thing.

Exhibition Marketing Material

You have your booth equipment ready and staff hired so what do they have to give away or to hand out to people to further promote your brand, products or services?

You need marketing material. You’ll need flyers, postcards, brochures, products for demos and possibly a few freebies too such as fluffy bit with wobbling eyes and a tail with your website address on it, or pen, or maybe other bits of stationery that people will find useful and therefore keep it on their desk at work.

You might also want some higher value freebies to give to people who will probably be future clients such as a mug or bag.

Make sure you have a good stock of marketing material so that your stand and promotional staff are never short for material to distribute.

The Essential Exhibition Kit List

To end, we give you another insider tip. From the many, many years we have worked with clients at exhibitions and trade shows, we can guarantee one thing: something will go wrong. Thankfully, most are minor issues like a torn poster or hunting for someone with a pair of scissors who can open a packet.

And that’s why on our exhibition checklist, you’ll find a list for the trade show stand (and you!). From plasters for pesky blisters from new shoes to scissors, sticky tape and more, everyone exhibiting at a trade show needs a box of essential pieces of kit because you will need it.

Take a look at the full list, print it off, follow it and never be left without anything at your next trade show or exhibition.