Trade shows are certainly a great opportunity for you to draw attention of public towards your brand. The concentration of professionals at one place allow you not only to sell and promote your products/services but also find out what is going on in the industry.

But trade shows require a lot of preparation from your side.

If you really want to make a difference than you should start preparing months in advance because there are many various aspects you have to think and decide about. Firstly, you should always do a lot of research about the given event and find out if it is a correct show for your brand. In other words, you need to find out if members of your target group are likely to attend. If everything seems alright, you need to think about your sales team who will represent you at the show and then … then you need to get really creative in terms of a look of your booth and materials because in a flood of booths you have to be the disruptive one.

There are some things that are a must:

• Business cards – make notes on the ones you receive and bring a big reserve of yours
• Banner(s) – number of banners depends on the size of the event
• Promotional hand-outs – pens, stickers, key rings or phone cases – anything really
• Brochure about your brand – something simple for those who go by, something more elaborated for potential clients
• Power point presentation of your sales pitch – slides that accompany your team with attractive visuals

What also might come in handy are company T-shirts, invitations for possible attendees or roll-up banners.

All of these materials can be adjusted in context of the event (by adding a logo or dates of the show etc.) but always have to be visually attractive so if you do not happen to have an in-house graphic designer, hire a good agency which is experienced in these things and can help you with design and printing.

Ultimately, it is up to you to make something out of trade shows you attend and most of the times it’s the prepared people who get lucky.