Exhibiting at a trade show is a big decision. From HRC, the Food & Drink Shows, lunch! and ScotHot to Gulfood, Anuga and HOSTMilano, there are countless exhibitions to consider. As a supplier to the industry, choosing which show, or shows, to exhibit at can be confusing and costly, but imagine organising the entire event: a one or two day show for customers and suppliers to attend… that brings an entirely different set of challenges.

For two of our clients, that challenge is part of the job, and we support them through the process with targeted campaigns that build awareness and drive registrations, as well as content that captures the event on the day. So, when you’re ‘putting on a show’ here’s how we can help.

The Brief

First up and most importantly, let’s look at what we want to achieve. Ultimately, people need to know about the exhibition, so it’s important to understand where you’re targeting geographically and then who you’re targeting. Is there a focus on particular sectors of the industry, or on all sectors? Next, consider the messages to be communicated, what do we want to tell people? The campaign should raise awareness of the event, and the company behind it, while highlighting the benefits of attending - to encourage registrations. Then there’s the timeline to consider, when should the campaign run? There’s little point in advertising an exhibition 12 months in advance, as most people sign up to attend with only a couple of weeks to go. The build-up needs to be planned carefully, creating interest over the longer term but generating plenty of noise when it will have the greatest impact. This leads us into how are we going to do it? PR, digital, print, e-shots and targeted social media advertising are just some of the many ways to achieve the objectives. And then, of course, there’s the B-word: what’s the budget?

The Plan

Armed with the information above, we can get to work putting a campaign together. For a regional exhibition or event, there are lots of ways to create a hyper-targeted campaign. E-shots are an excellent tool: many of our media partners can segment their databases by location, while our database affiliate (with over 200,000 industry contacts) is ideal for targeting a relatively precise area by industry sector and by job title (this software is a real gem and something we use across many campaigns for our clients). LinkedIn is another brilliant B2B tool for both national and geographically targeted advertising, allowing us to select those who are going to be interested in attending an exhibition. And let’s talk about Facebook. Meta is delivering some excellent campaign results, especially when targeting a particular region or area, and for those looking to reach independent businesses in particular, it’s a great tool to use.

Even a regional exhibition needs to include a national element in the campaign to drive overall brand awareness for the event. An exhibition may be focusing on a specific part of the country, but it’s likely the company will have a UK-wide reach that warrants full coverage, and for an exhibition with a wider pull, a full-on national campaign needs to be developed. We use the same tools mentioned above, just without the geographical segmentation.

PR (obviously), is there anything better for generating awareness of a company, a brand or an event? From monthly press releases highlighting the exhibition’s date, time and location, to content focusing on ‘what’s on’, a regular stream of press releases will help secure coverage in key publications. We add press interviews or press trips into the mix for additional, in-depth coverage and an extra boost to awareness.

Advertising covers a broad spectrum of activity. Digital can be a perfect way to drive registrations and clicks to landing pages, and the ability to measure the direct impact of this type of spend is ideal. But… let’s talk about print for a minute. Nothing quite compares to seeing an advert or 4 page interview with the organiser in print: you turn the page and there is your company or event, or perhaps it’s on the front page of a leading industry magazine. It’s incredibly impactful, and the exhibition and the company behind it benefit from the magazine’s industry credibility too.

It’s Showtime

Putting on an event or exhibition is a major logistical undertaking that demands an incredible amount of time and attention to detail, and even though every 'i' is dotted and every ‘t’ is crossed, something is bound to go awry on the day – so a cool head is needed throughout!

Our involvement doesn’t end when the exhibition starts, quite the opposite, we can safely say we don’t get to sit down all day! We invite press to visit and show them around, we host interviews, and we capture content, a serious amount of content.  From voxpops with exhibitors and visitors, to videos of chefs presenting on the day, and interviews with special guests as well as overview videos of the entire day. We come up with ideas and then film and edit to send final videos after the exhibition. A final press release is the perfect way to review the outcome of the show and we wrap it up… until next year!

Drop us a message if you’d like to discuss how we can make your event come alive!  hello@rawlingsonlane.co.uk