One of the popular mediums for advertising a company is to exhibit at one of the several trade shows that happen all through the year. Exhibitions and trade shows, especially food and beverage exhibitions offer an opportunity for businesses to showcase, their product or service to potential customers at nearly the same price as a full-page ad in a trade magazine. However, gives the added incentive of letting visitors see, hear and touch the product or service in question.
A food and beverage trade exhibition helps create ample exposure for the manufacturers, and exporters from across the world, in front of regional food and beverage importers in Nigeria, suppliers, & wholesalers, alike.
But there are specific ground rules. Following is a list, to be considered:
Organize
The first ground rule is that you need to take a seat and organize it. You should know there are many companies that hire people to, organize their business exhibitions for them. But if you’re not on the same guest list as certain big-league CEOs of large international brand names, you will not be able to afford it. Or even if you can afford it, don’t feel that you should hire organizers for an event like this.
The bottom line is you should have a structure to it, you’ve to have goals, targets, an action plan, and of course an effective marketing tactic to reel the clients in.
Be Creative
Try to be creative about making your exhibition booth catch the eye. Use every single minor trick you may find in the book. Giving your exhibition booth a little creative edge can do wonders. And it goes beyond just placing brochures, hand-outs, bookmarks, and literature for attendees to grab. What you want to grab is their attention.
One thing you should be sure about being noticed in a food and beverage trade expo is this – telling people what you are offering will not win you any brownie points. So, the first thing you must do is ask. Yup, ask them what they need, what they’re searching for, and what they expect. Then explain to them how you may help them.
Listen
It annoys the food & beverage importers in Nigeria, and, suppliers, and wholesalers when every single booth they visit, the sales representatives are telling them, about offers; and how great their products are. Any attendee will tell you, that it’s a huge turn-off. So, as opposed to telling, ask and listen to what they want to say.
Salespeople must be trained to follow good manners, and educated, on how to use the right attitude when interacting with prospective customers. If someone gives negative feedback, what should the representative manning the booth say and do? Teach them since many people don’t know.
The Bottom Line
There are some companies that spend a bit extra money on handing out drinks, trinkets, food, and hiring entertainment reasons of attracting people to their booths. This is something that you can do as well if it fits your budget.
