Trade shows are an exciting event in the business calendar.

They give you a chance to get out of the office and mingle with real-life prospects in a vibrant setting while also drastically boosting the exposure of your brand and products.

Sure, they can be overwhelming, and planning to get everything done in time is nothing short of a fine art, but when it all falls into place it can be a great way to boost sales and revenue.

Real-life events are still a hugely important marketing tactic. Source.

Here’s the thing:

Planning a trade show is incredibly time-consuming.

As well as sorting what you’re going to have in your booth, planning any demo reels you want to show off, prepping team members who are going to be meeting and greeting potential customers, and marketing your trade show.

You also need to decide on how you’re going to capture leads, what your follow-up method will be, and make sure your product or service is shiny and polished and ready to be exposed to the world.

Phew. Overwhelming, right?

Luckily, there’s an easier way. Instead of assigning all of your team’s time to the trade show, which means their everyday work will slip by the wayside until the show is over, you can hire an agency to do all the hard work.

This means you can just turn up and work your magic without having had sleepless nights in the weeks leading up to it.

Still not sure about hiring an agency?

Here’s why you should consider hiring one to plan for your next event:

Agencies Free Up Your Staff

Your staff is the most valuable asset you have.

When you go to a trade show, you want your brand to be the very best it can be, but if your team has spent all their time in the build-up to the event working on planning for the trade show, other parts of the business might have started slipping.

If you hand over the baton to an agency, your staff still have the time they need to work on their own jobs.

This means the trade show planning will go smoothly and you won’t have any last-minute mishaps because something hasn’t been done in time for the opening of the show.

Agencies Have Trade Show Experience

Trade shows are exciting and have huge potential for your business, but they also require a special kind of planning – something that your current team of staff might not have experience with.

Think about it:

If you have a specific need for your business that your staff can’t cover, it’s highly likely you’ll bring in an expert to help solve the problem, and a trade show is no different.

Rather than getting your staff to plan and execute something they might never have done before – which, let’s face it, might lower team morale and have negative results – you can hire an agency that knows exactly what steps need to be completed when.

Agencies Provide Innovative Branding

It’s vital that you capture the attention of trade show visitors right away as there tend to be multiple other brands competing for their attention at the same time. Fail to do that, and the visitor will have no problem moving on to the next exhibitor to see if they’re a better fit.

This means that having a strong, solid, and memorable brand is incredibly important if you want to create a lasting impression.

Having an agency design your logo and marketing content can inject your brand with a refreshing and innovative feel that visitors remember long after they’ve left the show.

Agencies Boost Your ROI

“But hiring an agency costs money that I don’t have.”

If this is going through your head right now, you’re not alone.

The prospect of hiring an agency to help plan a trade show can feel like an expensive one but just think about the rewards for a moment.

Yes, it’s a costly expense, but streamlined planning by an experienced agency will bring in more business and leads in the long run and will essentially pay for itself.

If everything’s in place with a strong marketing campaign before the trade show and a streamlined way to follow up with leads after the show, it’s highly likely you’re going to bring in more business than falling foul of the trial and error method a lot of businesses use when they don’t employ the experts.

What Services Do Agencies Provide for Trade show Planning?

Before a trade show, an agency can help you with:

• Marketing collateral, like logos, flyers, and programs
• Ads and marketing campaigns to promote the show
• Demo videos to show prospects at the event
• Social media campaigns
• Eye-catching signage for your booth

During a trade show, an agency can help you with:

• Organizing and managing the shipment of marketing materials
• Setting up your booth
• Providing the necessary staff you need to make the show a success

After a trade show, an agency can help you with:

• Dismantling your booth and any on-site exhibits you have
• Following up with attendees
• Post-show reports to highlight leads and conversions

Harness the Power of Trade show Exhibits

Though they might seem like a huge investment both time- and money-wise, trade shows actually have incredible potential for your business – but only if they’re planned to perfection.

So, instead of leaving it in the hands of your busy staff, hire an agency that can expertly plan every facet of the before, during, and after stages so you can sit back and reap the benefits of more customers, more business, and more revenue.

Looking for an agency to plan your next trade show? Our cohesive event strategy is guaranteed to help you get leads.