How to Make Your Exhibition Marketing Budget Go Further
Exhibitions are one of the best ways to bring a product to market. When you use exhibition stands you reach out to different customers and allow them to see how your product can affect their business or their lives. Running an exhibition stand can be very expensive if you don’t have the proper budget in place. If you would like to cut the costs of marketing your exhibition stand, there are a few things that you should know beforehand. Here are some suggestions to follow:
Planning
Planning your stand cost is one of the most effective ways of sticking to your budget. Making sure that you have all of the costs as well as planning ahead are essential to keeping to your budget. Having a fixed budget does not allow for unexpected costs so make sure that you are covering all of your bases beforehand.
Promotions
Print all of the promotional items such as your pre-show direct mailing at the same time. If you print your pre-show mailings at different times throughout the year you will be spending a lot more money than the bulk cost of printing your mailings at the same time. Shop around for your publisher so you are getting the best rate possible on your mailings.
Exhibition Stands
Consider buying exhibition stands instead of renting them. If you know that you are going to be attending exhibitions in years to come, buying an exhibition stand can save your money in the long run. You could spend a lot of money on shipping costs and other aspects of getting the exhibitions stands to the venue every year. Buying exhibition stands will keep the costs down for next year’s show.
Supplies
Pack all of the supplies that will not be available at the show. These supplies will come in handy and can save you time in trying to find them at other stands. Staplers, tape, scissors, pens, extension cords, paper and light bulbs are some of the essentials for every exhibition.
Promotional Items
Not everybody is going to be qualified for your products or services. Only give out promotional items to highly qualified candidates. Promotional pamphlets or business models should not be given to everybody that comes to the stand. Screen all of the potential clients that come to your stand and only hand out these items to people that you believe will convert into a paying client.
Travel
If you are going to an exhibition outside of your locale, book the tickets in advance. Booking your travel expenses in advance can get you a major discount. Leaving the travel expenses for the last minute is never recommended and you could be spending a lot more money than if you had booked the tickets months in advance.