When you’re asked by your chief why you are exhibiting at a selected trade show, you need to have a solid answer prepared. That is where an advertising strategy or marketing plan will turn out to be useful. Any member of your team who has not had a hand in planning for the trade show should be well placed to look at your strategy and understand your objectives and goals but how you propose to achieve them.

You should have already done the work and put together the resources you require to develop your marketing plan. Vital to the marketing plan are the demographics related to the trade show visitors and your targeted prospects, the competition (that plans to be present at the show) and how you intend to place yourself above them, and the reason that you decided to exhibit at this particular trade show in the first place.

As you start to create your marketing plan, review the information that you gathered about the visitors when you first started researching the trade show. What are the attendees”and your target prospects”expecting to find at the trade show? Why are they attending? Is it possible that their desires or objectives are seasonal, or that they could be influenced by the economy or by state legislation (local, state, or federal)? You will need to make sure that the information you gathered formerly about them is still up to date.

When it comes to the competition, you simply cannot know enough about them. In your marketing plan, you will need to ascertain what position they hold in the market you share with them. Find out as much as you can about their plans for the trade show. What size is their booth? Are they going to sponsor any activities or non-public events at the show? Is there a press statement that they might be making at the trade show? With all the info available, you should then begin planning how you may differentiate your company from theirs and make yours more interesting to key prospects that you both hope to influence.

It is crucial to note in your marketing plan why you settled on this specific show in the first place. You will desire to clarify what it is about this trade show that makes it appealing. Are there going to be great press opportunities? Will there be a substantial number of key prospects showing up as visitors? Will you and your team be in a position to network with others who will be influential in growing your business? These are all good questions to have answered in your strategy.

Making a good marketing plan isn’t complicated, and there are plenty tools available, online and in the book shop, to help you on the way. So long as your marketing plan stays targeted on the attendees, what they want and how you will going to station yourself best to help them out, you can’t get it wrong.

We’d be happy to help with more tips for your trade show display ideas – and if you are looking for portable, great looking custom trade show displays, visit our site or give us a call at 800-676-3976.