Since businesses often choose unique approaches to pursue the market by customizing their advertising, innovation, and pricing plans, it is hard to find competing organizations with identical strategies. One thing that many successful enterprises will have in common, however, is their dedication to trade shows.
Although trade shows have slowly lost their appeal ever since companies began leveraging online marketing, there are still countless events held every year. Those that choose to attend them often enjoy a lot of benefits that include everything from outstanding networking to potential awards. Isbert Bermudez, a sales expert with years of experience in international business, is one of the many specialists who find these shows to be an essential part of every solid business plan.
Networking
A popular byproduct of spending time to organize a good trade show presence is the low-price networking that the brand will enjoy. This includes everything from interacting with the existing buyers or prospective customers to establishing communication with competitors or suppliers. Many entrepreneurs also leverage the event to form partnerships or start discussing long-term contracts that can help their businesses take off. Not to mention how far all of the business relationships established early on can truly go.
Publicity
Many large trade shows are known for heavy media coverage that produces reports published in business magazines or news channels. According to Mr. Bermudez, it is very unlikely that the brand will have a more convenient and cheaper opportunity to enjoy some high-level press coverage. Given how pricey and difficult it is to build successful marketing campaigns, a trade show may be the necessary break that many new entrepreneurs who lack funds for advertising are looking for.
Preliminary Product Testing
While it is not as common anymore, a lot of companies use said events to conduct some preliminary testing. They do so by featuring prototypes of their most recent products and capturing the reactions and feedback from people who visit their booths. The advantage here are the extensive savings for businesses that would normally go through formal beta testing with uninformed interest groups. Also, displaying some initial prototypes will help create buzz in the market and allow the company to increase sales once the good is finally released.
Build Mailing Lists
According to Isbert Bermudez, it is fair to say that someone who spends a decent amount of time shopping, whether online or in-person, will often be a part of various mailing campaigns. These include both e-mail newsletters and paper-based campaigns sent to someone’s physical address. Well, from a business standpoint, mailing lists are one of the most important things when it comes to customer retention rates. The reason why is the fact that they have a dual-purpose to remind the buyer about their prior, hopefully positive, experience as well as to showcase new offerings. Depending on the situation, a well-planned mailing campaign may be enough to instigate impulse purchases.
Before getting to the actual e-mails or mailing materials, however, businesses have to build a hefty list of customers who will be interested. After all, these campaigns take time to build and optimize correctly. So, if there are not enough buyers to target, the entire venture will probably not take place. Enter trade shows! There is usually no better location to seek individuals eligible for a mailing list than during a trade show. After all, these people have decided to attend in order to get informed about products and companies who are present. Therefore, it will be surprising to have too many refusals when it comes to attendees disclosing their e-mails or contact information.
Glance at the Competition
Another great reason why companies should always attend trade shows is to gain insight into their competition’s operations. This is one of the few win-win situations when it comes to business because the company will benefit regardless of whether their competitors show up or not. If they show up, there is an outstanding opportunity to quickly glance at their current projects and see if they are doing something revolutionary that may need to be combatted fast. In case they do not show up, all of the buyer attention will go directly to the business that is present!
A Chance to Win Awards
The last reason why trade shows can be advantageous revolves around the possibility of winning awards. Isbert Bermudez mentions that many of the larger events carry awards that will be used to recognize outstanding products or businesses in attendance. In case that one wins, they will be eligible to use these titles in further marketing campaigns and financing ventures. Just consider how much easier it is to convince a buyer to purchase something or incentivize a bank to issue a loan when the product in question is a proven good supported by its “award-winning” status.
