Exhibiting at trade shows can bring benefits to your business. You can meet directly with potential customers and generate leads. However, success is not guaranteed and there are costs involved. Consider the pros and cons before you decide to invest your time and money.   

Advantages of exhibiting at trade shows

The benefits of exhibiting include:

• Raise awareness – exhibiting at industry events is a good way to raise your profiles and generate brand awareness. As well as taking a stand at an event, there are usually other advertising and sponsorship opportunities.
• Meet in person – meeting face-to-face with potential customers is a great way to start building relationships.
• Networking - trade shows are a great way to meet potential new customers, suppliers and to learn more about your competitors. 
• Launch new product – trade shows are a good place to introduce a new product or service. Being able to explain your offering in person and answer questions is ideal if your product is innovative.
• Build your database – meeting with potential customers at an exhibition helps you to start building your marketing lists and generate qualified sales leads.

Disadvantages of exhibiting at trade shows

Some of the downsides of taking a stand at an exhibition include:

• Costs – costs include; stand space, stand design and build, travel and accommodation for staff.
• Competition – it is likely your competitors will also be exhibiting at the event. You’ll need to stand out to get the attention of potential customers.
• Results aren’t guaranteed – despite the investment of exhibiting, you are not guaranteed any sales leads.
• Potential low turnouts – without big name speakers or the right publicity, trade shows may not have enough delegates to make your presence worthwhile. Do your research before choosing to exhibit at a particular event. See choose the right trade fair [2]. 

Finding the right trade fair is essential. If the area of interest it covers is too specialist or too broad, it is unlikely to attract visitors who want to buy what you have to sell. Not all events will attract large numbers of delegates. Do you research and find out how popular an exhibition has been in previous years. 

If you are exhibiting

Start by making a profile of the customers you want to reach. Identify their special interests and where they are located. Then take a look at the most likely trade fairs for your industry sector, and try to match them with these customers. See understand your customers’ needs [6]. 

Most established exhibitions will be able to provide a detailed breakdown of the number and type of visitors from previous years. This will give you a good idea of whether the types of customers you are targeting are likely to be there.

Attending as a delegate

Work out what you want to achieve before you go. What kinds of product or service do you want to find out about? Who do you want to meet? Match your requirements against what the most likely trade fairs have to offer. You should be able to get a list of the companies planning to exhibit before you attend. This will help you avoid a wasted journey.

Identify the right trade fair 

You can also contact specific venues, ask a relevant trade association or contact your local Chamber of Commerce [7] to find out what's on in your area.

Before booking, find out more about the characteristics of any fairs that look promising. Consider:

• the delegates
• delegate spending power
• the other exhibitors
• any data from past events

The organisers of a good trade fair should be able to supply this kind of information.

Search for business events in Northern Ireland on the Events Finder [8].  

When exhibiting at a trade fair you must ensure your stand:

• your stand meets health and safety standards
• your stand meets accessibility requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act
• you comply with regulations applying to the sale of goods
• you comply with data protection and privacy rules if you collect any contact data at the event

Designing a safe stand

When designing your exhibition stand you should ask yourself:

• Will every visitor be able to get to the stand and take part in any hands-on demonstrations?
• Is everything you want to do covered by the venue insurance?
• Have you made sure there's nothing for visitors to trip over or injure themselves on? For example, ensure there are no trailing leads and stow away promotional materials.
• Is the electrical supply suitable for your installations?

Selling and the law

If you are intending to sell goods or services directly from the exhibition, you should also consider:

• The Consumer Rights Act [11] - this states that all goods or services must match the description given, be fit for their purpose and be of satisfactory quality.
• Product liability law - if anyone suffers damage to personal property or is injured or killed as a result of using your product, they could sue you. See product liability insurance [12]. 
• Weights and measures [13] - if you sell any of your goods by weight or measure you will have to comply with a number of rules.
• Pricing [14] - there are laws that affect how you must give prices and protect customers from misleading pricing tactics

Attending trade fairs abroad, either as an exhibitor or a customer, can be an excellent way to test and open up foreign markets and find new suppliers.

If you're thinking of exhibiting, it's a good idea to make an exploratory visit first. This allows you to:

• make contacts
• do some research
• see the competition.

You should then be well placed to find the right fair and position your business effectively.

Getting help

Some obvious issues to consider are differences in language and legislation. More difficult to pin down are cultural aspects of doing business in other countries. Try getting information from:

• the country's embassy in the UK
• international Chambers of Commerce
• foreign trade associations

Read more about the available support from Invest Northern Ireland [9] to help local businesses to take part in overseas exhibitions.

Exhibiting at a trade show can help you generate new leads and build business relationships. There can be substantial costs involved, so it is important to get things right. Follow these tips to make the most of exhibiting at trade shows.

1.  Do your research – it’s important to pick a trade show that will attract your target market. Find out demographic information about the delegates, for example industry and job title. You should also find out how popular and well-run an event is before committing to buying stand space. You could initially go as a delegate and decide whether to take a stand the following year. See choose the right trade fair [2].

2.  Get your stand design and location right – many other businesses will also be exhibiting. This includes your competitors. You should design a stand that is eye-catching and professional. It may be worthwhile to choose and work with a designer [16]. Stand location is also important – choose a space that is near the entrance or break-out area.

3.  Look out for marketing opportunities – beyond attending the event itself, there can be a number of other opportunities. Use public relations (PR) [17] and social media [18] to raise awareness that you will be attending. You may be able to work with the organiser to send email marketing [19] communications to their database of attendees.

4. Build your database – be sure to take business cards or contact details of the potential customers you meet. Exhibitions are a great way to source qualified leads. Running competitions or give-aways in exchange for contact details can be effective. Some exhibitions offer the option of using an electronic scanner to collect contact details from delegate badges. See manage your customer database [20]. Be sure to adhere to rules around personal data and direct marketing – see privacy and data protection in direct marketing [21]. 

5. Network – introduce yourself and speak to not just potential customers, but also suppliers and competitors. This can be a valuable source of market research.  See understand your competitors [22].

6. Follow up and evaluate – a personal follow-up phone call or email to potential customers you’ve met can help turn leads into sales. Evaluate the success of your attendance to decide whether it is worth going back next year. Weigh up the number of leads and sales against the costs of attending.