Tips for Exhibiting at Wanneroo Business Expo
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By Unpublished By Wanneroo Business Association, in partnership with the City of Wanneroo, organise the annual Wanneroo Business Expo. The event gets bigger and bigger each year, with over 450 attendees in August 2022. Offering a full day of business networking, promotion and connections, the next Expo is planned for March 2023 and is an event not to be missed. Contact us for more information.
Before you think about how you might present your business on the day, you need to think about why are you exhibiting at Wanneroo Business Expo. Are you looking to:
Once you identify what you want to achieve by exhibiting, it is easier to think of ideas to help you reach your goal.
With over 40 other businesses set up on trestle tables with white linen, you need to be creative and plan how you will make your booth stand out from the rest. Think about appealing to attendees’ senses with something to taste, smell, listen to, watch or feel? You have a 1.8m trestle table with a white floor length tablecloth, so be sure that your display compliments white, choose items that will stand out and bring plenty of business cards!
Arrange your business expo display table in levels. Put the larger items at the rear, shorter items in front of those, and even shorter items in front of those. Can you bring height to your booth by using balloons, a floral display or a giant info-graphic?
The layout of the business expo prevents exhibitors from sticking items to the wall, so you might want to think about using an easel or display stand if you have posters to display. On this, you can include information on your products/services, testimonials or completed jobs. Be creative and make it stand out. Include pictures, if possible, and be sure your company name and logo are more than obvious.
These are a great visual tool and can be reused at other Business Expos or placed in your office full time. Visit our Member Directory if you need a local business to supply a banner.
Eye contact and a friendly smile or hello is a great way to attract people to your booth, this also gives off a great first impression for your business. You also need to be aware of people hovering around your booth even if you are caught up chatting, don’t lose the chance to make another connection by inviting them into the conversation.
Be present, sitting behind your booth on your phone or replying to an email you see pop up on your laptop will show you are uninterested, and your engagement levels will be lower.
Entry to the Business Expo is free on the day and we will be sending all exhibitors a ‘free pass’ for you to send out to your existing clients, suppliers, and social media networks, inviting them to visit you at the Expo. This is a way of getting more people to your stand which is good for you and other exhibitors. If other visitors see you doing business at your stand it may persuade them to stop and make an enquiry or do business as well.
Take pens and paper or a tablet and have a system in place to record follow up actions. Simple ‘follow up’ forms or a spread sheet with visitor’s names, phone numbers and email addresses can also help. Including action tick boxes, for example call them, visit them or send more information will also help you know what you need to do post event. If you make people as ‘hot leads’ then these are the ones you can follow up first.
Give the audience some animation or interaction and try to use plenty of colour that fits with your brand. This may be as simple as a revolving PowerPoint presentation or video, or a game or physical challenge that encourages people to stop at your expo booth.
Have plenty of material giveaways, such as business cards, brochures, pens, fridge magnets etc but make sure you factor COVID into it. Don’t be afraid of being creative, offer something a little different as a giveaway such as lollies, snacks or bottles of water, but best to make sure they are packaged for hygiene reasons, this also allows you to have your business name and logo attached. Offer vouchers or incentives for people to buy your products or services as a special Business Expo giveaway but be sure that you can measure the return business. At the very least you should ensure that each person walks away with a brochure or business card with contact details on it. Visit our Member Directory to find local businesses that can help you with merchandise.
Offer a prize that in some way compliments your business and appeals to a broad audience. The simplest method is to hold a business card drop for a prize, this can be drawn and announced on social media as an encouragement for people to go and follow your business pages. Be careful about holding personal information, and do not add the list to your email database if you have not got permission first. Some ideas of competitions could be ‘Guess the Number of Items in the Jar,’ a game of bingo or social media like and share competitions.
If you are a sole trader or have invited someone to join you on your booth for the day, make sure they know your business inside and out. The chances are that at some point during the day you will need to leave your booth, make sure they are well informed about your product or services to give visitors the best insight possible.
If you don’t have your free tickets to attend Wanneroo Business Expo 2022 on 11 August, click here!
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