Are you a small business owner looking for ways to expand your business’s reach and connections? If you are, then you may want to consider participating in a trade fair. These events offer an opportunity for enterprises of all kinds to showcase their products and connect with both potential customers and industry peers. For small to medium-sized enterprises with relatively limited reach and resources, these events can open up critical opportunities for growth.
However, navigating a trade show successfully requires more than just showing up with a handful of business cards. It involves strategic planning, an understanding of your audience, and a keen sense of how to leverage the event to your business's advantage. If you’ve never participated in a trade show before, the amount of preparation ahead can seem overwhelming. But never fear! We at Maya Business are here to provide you with some expert planning tips to help you carry off your first show to perfection.
Start Planning and Budgeting Early
A successful trade show experience requires a sound plan, and before all else, that means identifying your objectives ahead of the event. Are you aiming to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or even make direct sales? How important is establishing industry connections or nurturing existing ones for this specific event? Once you’ve defined and understood these goals, you’ll have a better sense of how to allocate your resources, whether you’re budgeting for booth design, marketing materials, travel, or accommodation.
To illustrate: if you’re aiming to sell during the trade fair, then you’ll want to invest in a point-of-sale (POS) system that can process customer payments both efficiently and securely. Payment devices like Maya Terminal and Maya Terminal Lite are ideal options for businesses boothing at trade shows and other similar events. Any one of these Maya POS terminals is guaranteed to be intuitive and easy to operate, which will make it a breeze for your team to manage sales even when things get busy. Furthermore, a Maya credit card terminal does much more than just take traditional card-based payments. It also supports emerging digital payment methods such as QR Ph code and e-wallet payments, which means you’ll never have to turn away a customer due to payment restrictions.
Maya Terminal Lite is an especially useful POS solution for on-the-go transactions, such as those you can expect to make at trade shows. This portable Maya business terminal device has been expressly designed for mobility and flexibility, but its compact appearance belies similar powerful payment processing capabilities and airtight security features to the original Maya Terminal.
The best part is that the Maya Terminal Lite and Maya Terminal prices have been deliberately set with startups, SMEs, and other small business entities in mind. If you’re operating on a limited budget for your first trade show, these devices will provide you with all the functionalities you need for a reasonable cost.
Design an Eye-Catching Booth
At a trade show, your booth is essentially going to function as your business’s temporary storefront. Thus, you’ll need to design it to both attract trade show attendees and also reflect your brand’s identity in a memorable and compelling way. Think beyond vibrant banners and attractive displays, though these can certainly help you draw visitors in. The ultimate goal is to create a space that properly tells your brand’s story and effectively showcases your products and services.
Depending on the specific nature of your business, you may benefit from incorporating interactive elements into your booth, such as product demonstrations or hands-on activities. These experiences don’t just create a dynamic and engaging environment for attendees; they’re also a great way to give them an up-close and personal look at your business’s offerings. You might use digital displays, for example, to showcase product features or customer testimonials. Live product demos, on the other hand, give attendees the opportunity to see how your product performs in close to real-life scenarios.
Prepare Engaging Marketing Materials
Marketing materials have always been a crucial element of any successful trade show, so it only makes sense to invest in creating compelling ones for your business. Start with designing brochures and flyers that share interesting and memorable information about your brand and products with your audience. Don’t just list features here; instead, incorporate engaging visuals and clear, concise writeups to catch and hold attendees’ attention. A call to action that encourages further engagement also comes in useful, such as a section on where potential customers can find your business online.
We also now live in a highly technologically driven world, so don’t limit yourself to traditional hard-copy marketing materials; instead feel free to explore digital options. QR codes leading to online resources like product demos or promotional landing pages are a relatively simple example that can enhance the visitor experience at your booth. Digital marketing materials are also environmentally friendly, as they reduce the amount of paper your business uses. In essence, employing a digital-first strategy can position you as a business that values innovation and is also cognizant of modern consumer preferences—qualities that are sure to make you a hit with trade show attendees.
Promote Online before the Event
Promoting your participation in the trade show online through the days or weeks leading up to the event can boost foot traffic at your booth on the day itself. Start by making announcements on your website and social media platforms. From there, you can create a series of posts that build excitement and curiosity about what you’ll be showcasing. Teaser videos of new products, sneak peeks at behind-the-scenes preparations, or Q&A sessions discussing your trade show plans are all good strategies for generating buzz.
Have a Follow-Up Strategy
Your trade show experience doesn’t end once you’ve packed up your booth. It’s your follow-up actions that will determine the true effectiveness of your participation in the event. Develop a plan for reaching out to the contacts you hope to gather during the show. This could involve segmenting your leads based on their interests and potential for conversion. Personalize your communications for a lasting impression, such as by tailoring your messages to reference conversations you had during the event itself.
You’ll also want to follow up promptly with a quick call or email a few days post-event to keep the momentum going. Make sure this follow-up offers something of value, such as exclusive content or a special discount, to incentivize further engagement. A well-executed follow-up strategy can turn leads into loyal customers and set the stage for long-term business relationships.
Become the Star of Every Trade Show with Help from Maya Business
With Maya Business in your corner, you’re in for an unforgettable trade show experience. Sign up for a Maya Business account now and you’ll receive immediate access to our top fintech solutions, as well as a wide array of exclusive perks.
In particular, opening a Maya Business Manager account enables you to instantly open a Maya Business Deposit account and use it as your settlement account. With an industry-leading 2.5% per annum interest rate, you’ll earn PHP 25,000 in interest per year on a PHP 1 million deposit. You can also take advantage of free fund transfers via InstaPay and PESONet for real-time, hassle-free payments to partners and suppliers. Moreover, your Maya Business Manager account qualifies you for a no-collateral Maya Flexi Loan offer of up to PHP 2 million in just 3 months, which opens up more capital you can invest in crafting the perfect trade show experience. Just use Maya as your primary processor for all wallet and card payments. The more you use Maya, the better the loan offer. Sign up for Maya Business now for immediate access to the many benefits Maya 1-2-3 grow offers.
