Product Demos at Trade Shows

Showing trade show attendees how your product works and letting them see firsthand how it can benefit them is an amazing way to turn prospects into customers.  A good product demonstration at your trade show attracts the right audience to your booth, and later to your e-commerce site or brick-and-mortar store to make a purchase.

No matter what you’re selling, potential customers enjoy seeing and testing products in a no-pressure environment. It’s no secret that successful product demonstration is key to enhanced brand awareness, better retail sales and a rise in customer satisfaction.

How to Conduct and Set up for Successful Trade Show Product Demonstrations

The average time U.S. trade show visitors spend viewing exhibits is 9.5 hours, according to data from Statista. What’s more, 81 percent of people remember visiting a company’s trade show in the U.S.

With this in mind, you want to have as many of those consumer hours as possible spent on evaluating your products and also do your utmost to convert these visits into sales.

If you’re planning on demonstrating your products at trade shows, there are a few tricks and tips that are crucial for you to know, as these can make the difference between an okay product demonstration and a great one.

You want to make your company and your goods stand out to potential consumers at trade shows, and here are 12 ways to do just that:

1. Connect on Social Media

It’s imperative nowadays for all companies to have a solid social media marketing plan in place. When it comes to getting the word out about your trade show, using Facebook and other social media platforms can be an invaluable tool.

Think in particular about engaging with people who have mentioned the show through social media, and offer special incentives for visiting your booth on the day, in addition to sending out email invitations and providing giveaways for attending.

2. Attract Visitors to Your Booth

Trade shows are the perfect place to showcase your products, as buyers are there to actively buy. They’ll be interested in finding out more about your particular product if you’re showing it off well.

Keep in mind that you’ll be surrounded by competition. So, you need to plan out how to display your products successfully by using waveline media and unique hanging displays, for example, as well as ensure your booth is as enticing to buyers as possible.

3. Focus on Your Booth’s Location

If you’re serious about attracting buyers for your products, keep in mind that the majority of trade shows offer booths within a prime location for an extra charge. This is something you’ll need to research early, as spaces are scooped up fast.

4. Make Your Booth Look Good

It stands to reason that potential buyers are attracted to the best-looking booths and merchandiser displays. For this reason, it’s crucial to put a lot of time, effort and planning into your booth design. Doing so makes all the difference in terms of potential customers stopping dead in their tracks — or walking by.

The look of your booth is potentially your customer’s first dealings with you as a company — and as we all know, first impressions count. You want to showcase your message so it can be seen from every angle, no matter how far potential customers are from your booth. You need to attract them with clear, concise signage and messages, as well as with good and inventive lighting.

5. Be Approachable

The look and overall image of your booth is initially what makes it approachable. For this reason, the promotional staff you employ should be as well-groomed, friendly and knowledgeable about your products and the industry they serve.

Offer a wide variety of trade show product display options that appeal to different types of people. For example, some people enjoy reading pamphlets, whereas others like to only take a cursory look at the main information printed on flyers. Other attendees may perhaps be more visual and would most enjoy watching a video demonstration.

Remember, your booth staff need to be extremely knowledgeable in terms of your products, as there’ll be many questions from trade show attendees. With this in mind, you should ensure that you have more booth staff than you feel is necessary, as during busy traffic periods, you don’t want potential customers leaving without being attended to.

6. Focus on Hosting

It’s very good practice to have an identifiable booth host who is fully conversant with every aspect of your product. This dedicated person can greet people, easily answer questions and direct customers to the right staff member in the booth.

Often entertainment agency staff make the best booth hosts, as they are outgoing, used to interacting with new people and can easily pick up, learn and convey new information.

7. Keep Your Demo Short

A good product demo taps into as many of the five senses of your potential customers as possible. It’s also fairly short. Depending on your product, a demo lasting between two and four minutes may be ideal.

More complex product demonstrations could be in the 10- to 15-minute range, but they shouldn’t run longer than that, or you run the risk of losing visitors who have short attention spans or are interested in seeing the entire trade show.

By saving in-depth demos for one-to-one sales calls, you’re giving your visitors the bare minimum of information to get their interests perked and eager to find out more.

8. Run Promotions and Competitions

If there is even the remote chance of winning something or getting something free of charge, people will be attracted to your booth like moths to a flame. To really make the most of running your contest, ensure you get all the entrants to fill out a contact form or a questionnaire so you can add their details to your database to use in future email campaigns and so on.

9. Offer Special Deals

Think of offering special trade show deals so that early birds get the best possible deals, for example. And be sure they are aware of that fact. Ensure that your specials are posted very clearly around your show booth, and keep literature on them to give out to prospective customers.

10. Hand out Refreshments

A great way to advertise your product — and company — is to offer drinks such as water, coffee or sodas and snacks with packaging stamped with your own specific branding. This way, your products will stay in the minds of customers, and they’ll also be walking advertisements for what you’re selling.

An ideal way to get the potential customer to speak to your representatives is to have the refreshments at the back of your trade booth so the prospect has to walk through your entire space.

11. Showcase Your Expertise

People won’t forget you if you’re offering them something of value. Say the trade show you’re attending has lots of attendees coming from out of town. Why not offer them some maps of the local area, pointing out places of interest and created with the incorporation of your own company or product branding and logos?

This way, they’ll be carrying your company details around in their pockets — and their minds. Others will get to see them too, and know that you’re a caring and helpful lot.

Other ideas you can employ to show attendees you’re an authority on your chosen subject area are talking about the latest trends, compiling a top ten list of products or even supplying a whitepaper or e-book on the state of your industry.

12. Give out Promotional Products

A traditional staple at trade shows, promotional products are something everyone loves receiving. However, it’s imperative to conduct research and ensure your investment is a good one. It’s best to give away items that are both relevant to your brand and useful to your customer base. It’s also essential to think of giving away a product that will be kept in the home for a long time to come.

Some very popular promotional products given out at trade shows include:

• Bags. Bags are a clever item to give out at a trade show as people will be on the lookout for something to put all their other information and swag into. Through giving out reusable bags printed with your company logo, you’ll ensure your freebie gets plenty of use, giving your company lots of exposure for a long time to come. An added benefit is that other attendees will see people carrying the bag and make their way over to your booth to get one for themselves.

• Pens. We’ve all been given a branded pen at one point or another, and although you may consider these to be pretty old-fashioned and mundane, the truth still stands that all of us need a pen at some point.

• Mugs. Mugs are another very good way of getting the word out about your company, as they are kept for a long time and are used on a very regular basis.

• USB drives. People love receiving USB drives as they’re so useful and handy.

• Notepads. These are often used during the trade show itself, and they have a habit of making it back to the office or home for future use.

 

Tips to Successfully Display Your Products in Your Trade Show Booth

Trade show presentations are the perfect vehicle for showcasing your physical products and generating a buzz. There’s no better way of selling your products than physically displaying them to potential customers. In terms of buyers too — they go to trade shows in order to see products in action. So with this in mind, it’s imperative to display your products in a positive light.

To ensure your display is as effective as possible, ask yourself the following:

• Will you be physically demonstrating the products?
• Do you need to bring more than one? If so, how many?
• How big are your products?
• Do they go on shelves, tables or floors?
• Do you have a new product you want to push?
• How will your products be powered?
• Do you have a non-physical service to showcase?

Once you’ve answered the above questions, you’ll find yourself beginning to have a feel for how to get started. The tips below can help you figure out how to display your product before, during and after demos, as well as in general at trade shows:

• Don’t bring too many products. You want to have enough products to enable visitors to your booth to have a good look, but not so many that your area looks like a flea market. It’s good practice to bring both your newest products and biggest sellers — and to exhibit them in an organized and inviting manner.
• Demonstrate your products. An engaging product demonstration by a person with real personality brings customers flocking to your booth. By investing time in creating a wonderful demo, you’ll see positive results.
• Make small products appear big. If you have small products, make them easier to see by creating larger graphics or videos that show them in use.
• Remember your larger products. Although bigger products usually sit on the floor, remember to place an emphasis on them and to produce good, clear signage to draw people in.
• Display your products. Use lighting to enhance your product look. Your products are what you want every visitor to your booth to be bowled over by. For this reason, you need to make them look as special as possible. Use techniques such as waveline display lighting, uplighting display cases, shelves or just some good old fashioned bright light if your whole booth is filled with products.
• Show why your products are better. Although you may think your product is good enough to sell itself, you need to back this up, especially in a competitive market. Tell the story of your products and what they do that others don’t. Perhaps they use less energy or have greater longevity than others on the market. Create some graphics or video, and tell everyone why your product is superior.
• Incorporate ways to convert. If your product is a high-ticket item or requires potential customers to “sleep on it,” incorporate ways to convert them later. This could include a percentage discount for signing up for a newsletter or providing you with their email address or phone number.

Getting involved in product demos at this level is something that’s both exciting and a wonderful opportunity to get your products, yourself and your company’s name out there in the marketplace. But carrying off successful product demonstrations at trade shows is something that involves planning and consistently evolving with innovative ideas. The above tips will help.

How APG Exhibits Can Help Improve Your Product Demonstrations at Trade Shows

Demonstrating your products successfully is all about presenting them in the best manner possible. Here at APG Exhibits, we have recently released two new displays, namely Waveline Merchandiser Displays and Waterfall Displays, that are ideal for successfully promoting your products at trade shows.

• Waveline Merchandiser Displays. Waveline merchandiser displays can be added on to various displays, used in numerous combinations and feature shelves and garment bars. Incorporating a dye-sublimated, full-color fabric graphic and interlocking pole system, setting this system up is as easy as slipping a pillow into a pillowcase — and it is just as easy to take down.
• Waterfall Displays. Easy-to-assemble Waterfall displays take your product display at trade shows to a whole new level as they offer a 3D look for your product shelves.

These wonderful examples of recent advancements in trade show technology can be tailored to any need and all environments and product lines. And through following the above tips and hints, you have tools to launch the best product demo ever. Contact us here at APG Exhibits to learn more about how we can help you improve your product demonstrations and trade show displays.