Bringing your stand to life at an exhibition can be tough, but essential if you are to succeed.  A lifeless stand can quickly become dead space and visitors will not even notice it within the theatre around you. 

Demonstrations and samples are a big draw at any type of exhibition.  If you have an interesting product that you think visitors will be interested in, one of the best ways to have the wow factor on your stand is to demonstrate how it will improve the visitors’ lives and businesses.


People like to see products and when they do and they understand how it will help them, you may be able to sell some items there and then (or at least collect orders and add people to a waiting list).

Putting on an attraction will definitely give your stand the edge.  Think about things you can hire to use on your stand to create a buzz.  Previously, exhibitors at our events have hired a candyfloss machine or a popcorn machine.  We’ve even had exhibitors with game consoles, racing car tracks and giant board games. Visitors love playing games and winning prizes – it helps make the event more fun for everyone involved and interactive attractions allows you to build relationships with delegates in an informal way.

Competitions are another great incentive to attract audiences to your stand.  Whether you’re giving away an experience day or a special hamper, make sure that you’re shouting about your competition and that everyone walking by your stand knows that the competitions exists and how they can enter.

You can also bring your stand to life by introducing fancy dress.  In the past we’ve had exhibitors that have dressed up as Sherlock Holmes and another exhibitor once came in an owl costume. Dressing up is an easy way to stand out and help create an energy within your space that other exhibitors will find hard to compete with.  Visitors also love getting pictures with people that are dressed up at an exhibition and they’ll often share the images on social media – so it’s a really powerful and creative way to benefit from all the additional exposure that you may get.

When exhibiting remember your end goal and your objective for being at the event.  Don’t fall into the trap of organising an attraction that doesn’t mean anything to your business or industry – it has to make sense.  Be original, but not random.  The best exhibition stands are the ones that breathe life into a booth by putting their message at the heart of everything they do.

Seminars and workshops are an important ingredient at any type of exhibition.  They form the core agenda for the event and help attract a targeted audience. 

When we organise our regional business shows, we carefully select seminar themes based on what our visitors would benefit from the most.  And in this article today, we’re going to share with you how you can run the perfect seminar to not only help promote what you do, but to be seen as an industry expert.

The first step is to make sure you secure a speaking slot.  If you’re exhibiting at an event, never assume that the organisers will provide you with a free seminar.  For some events, including the exhibitions we organise at Memo Events, you have to apply to be a speaker.  If this is the case, make sure you include as much detail as possible so that the organiser knows exactly what you are looking to speak about and how it will benefit visitors to the business show.

Secondly, when it comes to seminars, less is sometimes more.  The perfect seminar length is around 20 – 30 minutes.  Longer speaking slots are always reserved for keynote speakers.  But if you’re just looking at providing visitors with a more in-depth look into what you do and how you can help them, our tip is to keep your seminar short.  Remember that it’s not a sales pitch either, it should be an insight into the services you provide.

The third step is to ensure you have rehearsed your presentation.  Make sure that it is funny and engaging.  Visitors will switch off and stop paying attention to you if you make your seminar dull and boring. Be honest with the subject you are talking about.  If you’re talking about auto-enrolment, for example, make sure you have an interesting seminar title and that you make the content as exciting as possible.

The fourth step is to promote your seminar as much as you can.  If you’ve been fortunate enough to have been given a speaking slot, do everything you can to ensure you get bums on seats.  Nobody wants to talk to a room full of chairs!  There are loads of ways to market your seminar.  You can email your database inviting them along, print flyers to hand out at your stand and tell people you meet at the show to attend… the list is endless.  And don’t forget social media either!  It’s a very powerful way to cost-effectively advertise anything you’re doing at an event you are apart of.

Finally, don’t forget to follow up.  Find a way of collecting the contact details of the people in the room. Get visitors to write down their details on their way in or simply collect business cards.  It’s important that you invite people to your stand (if you have one) so that they can find out more. You also want their details so you can send them content after the show. 

Speaking at a business show is a privilege and never take it for granted that the room will be packed.  You have to help the organisers of the event to promote the seminar too and think about the subject and the way your seminar will be advertised to attract the right audience.

If you’re exhibiting at a business exhibition or tradeshow, one of the ways to guarantee a return on your investment is to set a series of goals and objectives that you’d like to achieve.

Many exhibitors forget to give themselves goals, which means they have nothing to use as a tool to determine if exhibiting was worthwhile.  Without setting goals before the event, you will not be able to measure the success of the stand, and figure out properly whether or not you should re-book for the next event.

Sitting down before you exhibit at an exhibition to set your goals is good practice, and we encourage all exhibitors to do it. 

Start by deciding on why you have chosen to exhibit in the first place. What was the driving force behind the decision to exhibit? Perhaps you’re looking at generating enquiries, raise brand awareness or collect a certain amount of business cards to add to your company database… it doesn’t really matter what your own goal is, but make sure you’re aware of the reason you booked initially.

Then you need to make your goal smart.  You need to make sure your goal is specific, measurable, achievable and realistic, and can be achieved within the amount of time you have.

For example, if your goal is to generate enquiries, to make it specific your goal should read something along the lines of… ‘To generate five enquiries for our online cloud service on the day of the exhibition’.  This is specific because we’ve determined how many enquiries we want to generate and what type of enquiry we want.

The next step is to check that the goal can be measured.  We know it can be measured easily because at the event you can record who is interested simply by using a notepad and pen.  It really is as easy as that. And of course, we can count to make sure the target of five enquiries was achieved.

The final three elements is to ensure your goal is achievable and realistic.  If you’re exhibiting at one of our events, for instance, and you’re exhibiting as part of a small team, you’d easily be able to generate five enquiries if you’re working your stand properly!  Talk to the organisers of the event you’re exhibiting at beforehand to make sure your goal can be achieved. 

You also need to make sure that you can achieve your goal in the time frame given.  You may wish to change the time element in your goal so that you give yourself enough time.  Don’t limit your goal to expire on the day of the event though, as most business actually happens after the event has finished.

By setting yourself a goal, you’ll be able to see if the event helped you achieve that.  If you managed to secure those five enquiries for the online cloud service, for example, you’d recognise that exhibiting worked and you’d be more confident in re-booking for the next events.

Many people don’t see a return from their investment in a stand at a business show, simply because they didn’t really understand what they were working towards.  With a clear and smart goal, you can make sure everything you do at the event is working towards achieving your goals and objectives.

There aren’t many things that you need to do when you exhibit at an event to do it really well.  In fact there are just four key elements that all successful exhibitors share in common.  None of the secrets are actually secret, but you’ll be surprised at how many companies still forget to use these tools to maximise their presence at an exhibition.

The first secret is to have a clean and effective stand design.  When it comes to displaying your exhibition space go with the fact that less is more.  If you try cramming loads of displays, units, graphics, props and anything else you think of to help create a buzz, you’ll end up doing the complete opposite.  Visitors are always put off by cluttered stands that look like they belong at a bring-n-buy sale, rather than at a professional business expo. 

The second best advice to exhibiting success is to pick two or three things to promote.  Again, don’t confuse visitors by telling them everything that you do.  Choose a few of your products and services that most of the visitors will benefit from and then promote those as much as you can.  Tell people you’re the best company for web design and you’ll attract loads of the right people.  Tell everyone that you can provide this, that and that and you’ll put them off.  Niche yourself and be confident in what you do really well.

Thirdly, you need to have a special offer.  Forget having a competition that simply helps you to collect business cards, instead invite people to take up on your exclusive deal that’s only available to people at the event.  Include a deadline that lasts up to two weeks after the event to give you enough time to follow up with people.  It also allows people to think about buying from you, instead of forcing them to make a decision quickly.

Lastly, don’t slip up on a lack of follow up.  Exhibiting only works if you follow up with people after the event.  If you promise someone that you’ll email over a proposal, make sure you do.  If somebody said they are interested in your service, pick up the phone and arrange a 1-2-1 appointment with them.  Remember to connect with them on LinkedIn and follow them on Twitter.  This will help keep you in the front of their minds.

You don’t always win business directly from exhibiting at events, but it’s not just about the people you meet directly at the show.  Ask for referrals, because you don’t know who they know…

Exhibiting really is a fun and relaxed way to generate sales for your business and if you follow those four secrets you can’t go wrong.

If you’d like the chance to put these top tips into practice, contact us to find out how you can exhibit at our next local business show

You see it and hear it everywhere.  Business coaches, business books, online courses, seminars, webinars and yes, even blog articles – they all tell us the same thing… they can help us grow our businesses.  

But let’s think about that for a minute. 

What does ‘grow your business’ actually mean?

Does it mean it will help grow the number of employees I have?  Does it mean it will help increase my turnover or profits?  Perhaps they mean to grow my business by increasing sales, the number of produces we sell or improving our services…

The truth is you can’t trust the expression ‘…to grow your business.’  You just can’t!  Especially when it’s as vague as that!  In order to truly understand why something can help you ‘grow’ your business you first need to know how.  How will you help me grow my business?  How will your book help me grow my business?  How will exhibiting at my local expo help me to grow my business?

Fortunately we’ve done our homework and have the answer to those question.  I too run my own business, Memo Events, which I started on my own back in 2011, so I appreciate how important it is to fully understand how something will work before signing up or registering or even wasting my valuable time listening to something or reading something…

So here’s how exhibiting at events can help you grow your business.  Firstly, booking a stand at your local business show is arguably the fastest and quickest way of meeting a lot of people in one single day. 

A good event organiser will also refer your business and recommend people to your stand to discover more about your services.

Secondly, exhibiting provides you with the platform to focus on your core objectives.  Whatever your goal, you’ll probably find that exhibiting at your local business expo will help you achieve the results you want. 

Perhaps you’re looking at generating leads, raising your business profile, making new connections, building your database of local business contacts or even launching a new product, collecting feedback, showcasing your own customers or recruiting for new staff – again, whatever your goal you can achieve all of that by being smart and by being at your local business show.

It’s a bad habit for an event organisers to over promise when selling exhibition stands.  It’s like that in most sale scenarios.  But with Memo Events we take the pressure out of the equation.  You either want to exhibit or you don’t.  We can either help you grow your business or we can’t.  It really is as simple as that.

But the secret to using a local expo to grow your business is to establish ‘how’ you want to grow your business.  Decide on your goals, aims and objectives.  Figure out what you want to get out of the event and then share your ambitions with the event organiser. 

At Memo Events, we work with our customers to understand your goals and objectives so that we can help deliver the results you want.

So to grow your business at your local expo, make sure you’re clear on the objective and I guarantee you’ll have a better exhibiting experience! 

Visiting a business exhibition can be overwhelming, especially when there is over 100 exhibition stands and 900 other visitors like at our Southampton Business Show. So, we have put together the main benefits of visiting an exhibition and some tips on what to do beforehand so you can have a successful day!

One of the main benefits of visiting an exhibition is that it is an opportunity for you to meet hundreds of key business people under one roof and network: with the exhibitors, other visitors and expert speakers. This can be valuable to a small business as it saves you time setting up meetings around the country or calling hundreds of companies individually.

It is not uncommon for business owners to get stuck in a rut, an exhibition is the chance for people to get out of the office and gain some fresh ideas and inspiration from other companies about how to expand your business. There is also the opportunity to meet new suppliers face to face which will particularly interest those visitors who are new to an industry.

Keynote speakers and seminars at an exhibition could be crucial to your company. It is worth taking some time out from the day to be inspired by what the experts have to say about their field and how they got there. Plan in advance what seminars relate to your company and make a note of the timings so you don’t miss them!

Also make sure to arrive early for the speed networking sessions. This is the perfect opportunity for you to introduce yourself and your business, make some contacts and some potential business opportunities. Be sure to have plenty of business cards and literature printed to hand out on the day!

Finally, always make sure you research which companies will be exhibiting before the event and, if they are of interest to you, make a note in the show guide of what stand number they will be on, so you don’t forget to visit them. You can always check the exhibitor list on the website beforehand and contact companies you would specifically like to meet!

In honour of the feature ‘2 minutes with…’ in Exhibition News magazine, we have pinned down Matthew Larcome, Director and Founder of Memo Events to ask him the questions.

How did you get into the events industry?
I studied Business at college and when I graduated with my diploma, I set up a business selling insurances to help people protect themselves against computer repair bills. The business after six weeks failed and I was in £18,000 debt – I was only 19 years old at the time! Shortly after that I ran an event in Basingstoke to pay off some of the bills I had accumulated and was encouraged by an exhibitor after the show to start an events company. The rest, as they say, is history.

Favourite thing about events?
My favourite part of organising an event is the week prior to a show when everything is coming together after months of planning and the actual event day.  It’s great to see people turn up to an event you’ve organise – it’s literally build it and they will come.

Biggest frustration?
The amount of people that register to attend an event that they don't bother to turn up to.  Plus people who moan about things that are out of everyone’s control!

Crowning moment?
Winning back customers who said that they wouldn’t exhibit again.

Best piece of advice?
Have a vision – without a focused vision, you will never be able to deliver anything.

Funniest work moment?
Getting delirious after setting up for an event.

Dream job?
A judge on Britain’s Got Talent.

Who is the individual you most admire?
I admire lots of people in the world, for lots of different reasons.  Each week I have a new person who I follow or admire. This week I’m obsessed with Oprah Winfrey.

What was the last album you listen to?
Now That’s What I Call Music.

The last film you watched?
I can’t remember… it may have been ‘It’s Complicated’.

Tea or coffee?
Tea, obviously!

When exhibiting at a business expo, making sure your exhibition stand attracts the right visitors is a challenging commission, especially for exhibitor virgins who are new to trade shows and business events.

One of the first things you need to consider as an exhibitor is the look and feel of your stand.  Your stand is your shop window and it needs to reflect your brand personality.  It is vital to make sure you achieve your aims and objectives for the event – whether it be lead generation, marketing, local awareness or a database building exercise.

At our previous events different exhibitors have brought their stands to life using different techniques including live demonstrations, food samples, staff in fancy dress outfits, popcorn and candyfloss machines and interactive games for the visitors to get involved with.  


But these activities weren’t just for the sake of it, instead the exhibitors thought about their products and services and decided what to do to attract an audience.

For example, Richardson Eyres who exhibited at our Southampton Business Show wanted to showcase their online and cloud services and used a candyfloss machine to attract the visitors to their stand.  Visitors walked away with a bag of Richardson Eyres branded candyfloss, whilst also learning a bit more about the services they provided.

Another great example was One2create who previously used live art illustrations on their purpose built stand to pull in the punters.  It was a great promotional activity which boosted their awareness – there was a constant buzz around their stand throughout the event.

Believe it or not, you can actually achieve great things without ridiculous investment – as long as you are original in your planning and your stand stands out from your competitors and fellow exhibitors – you can safely say that visitors will stop and look – so always remember when designing your exhibition stand it’s important to have big ideas and not necessarily deep pockets.

And when visitors do ‘stop and look’ that is your opportunity to start conversations and forge new relationships with potential clients.  There is no benefit to investing in your exhibition stand, pulling your hair out to come up with the best and innovative idea for your space, unless you fully utilise the opportunity to interact with delegates.

All exhibitors, at all events, face the same challenge in coming up with fresh ideas on how they can best showcase their brand.  Just remember that business events are live and it’s all about people – so try and use the senses to draw delegates in – including sound, touch, taste, sight and smell.  These will naturally create buzz around your stand, making it a little more unique and attracting visitors like bees to honey.

Once you’ve booked your stand for a business show or exhibition, the first thing you should do is start creating a buzz around your attendance by spreading the word and inviting as many people along as possible.

The first thing you should do once you’ve booked your stand at an event is to share the news of your booking on social media.  Send a tweet to spread the word and include the event hashtag to reach other people on Twitter who may already be talking about it.  You should also write a status for your LinkedIn profile and business Facebook page. 

It’s also recommended that you add details about the event on your website.  Perhaps you could be really creative and add a banner with the event logo and details of the event.  Some people might think that this is simply advertising the exhibition (and surely that’s the event organiser’s job to do so) but what you’re actually doing here, is inviting your exact audience – the people who have already visited your website – and giving them the perfect excuse to come to the event and meet you on your stand.

When you get involved with your pre-show advertising, be sure to include your stand number and the reason people should visit your stall – maybe you’re planning on doing a live product demonstration or you’re running a fantastic competition that your potential customers simply cannot miss.

As well as social media and your website, think about adding the event details and your stand number to your printed literature, such as leaflets, posters or your personal business cards.  When you go networking or have a meeting with a prospect or existing client, invite them along to the event as well.  It’ll not only give you the chance to show off your business again, but the event will certainly help your contact, who may really benefit from attending the event.  

Other ideas to help advertise the event and your stand at the show include adding the event to your monthly newsletter, sending out press releases to local media, writing a blog article, sending invitation cards to your database and even Google AdWords.
 
Most professional event organisers will have a marketing toolkit and ready to use resources that you can use to advertise your attendance.  Be sure to take advantage of these tools and put a pre-event marketing plan into action. 

If you’ve booked a stand with Memo Events and you’d like some support to kick start your pre-show marketing for your business, please get in touch or login to your Exhibitor Point account to access downloads and your event media packs.

Choosing where to have your stand at a business expo may feel like a daunting task.  For those who really care about getting the most out of exhibiting, we’ve hopefully made your job a little easier by highlighting the best locations on a floor plan.

One of the first things that may cross your mind is where to have a stand with as much passing footfall as possible.  At Memo Events we carefully design each of our event floor plans so that each stand has an equal opportunity of reaching the visitors.

Depending on your objective for the event there are plenty of hotspots to choose from.  If you are keen on maximising on brand awareness, we suggest choosing a stand either near the exhibition entrance, seminar hall or even the café area.  You may also choose these features to be nearby if you are aiming to generate lots of leads or network with delegates.

Perhaps you are more interested in engaging conversations, product testing or live demonstrations.  If you are, choose a stand that is not nearby other features such as the toilets, keynote hall or networking wall, as visitors may get distracted by them.  If you’re planning on demonstrating your product or service, promote this as much as possible and make your stand a destination for visitors to go to – this will help create a buzz around you and your stand.

It is also advised that you check the up to date exhibitor list to make sure you don’t book a stand next to a competitor.  You may even decide to exhibit next to a show supporter, sponsor or local chamber of commerce as these stands will attract visitors.

The secret to choosing a good stand location is to book early.  Booking early gives you the chance to pick a great stand of your choice.  If you leave it too late to book, somebody may book your preferred stand before you.

When booking a stand with Memo Events, if you are unsure where the best place is to have your exhibitor stand, feel free to get in touch with one of the team and we’ll happily advise you on the best available stands.