EAST COAST GRAPHICS

Do you ever feel like your company is a small fish in the big pond at trade shows? Don’t worry if you don’t have tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend for a trade show exhibit. Spending large amounts of money doesn’t guarantee you will stand out at a trade show. You can distinguish your company at a tradeshow and make a profit while spending less money. With a little ingenuity on your behalf and some of the following ideas, your trade show will be a success.

Tips:  Preparing For a Trade Show

Leave enough time as possible to prepare your signage: All too often do people wait until the last minute to get their trade show signage together.  Try to plan at least a month ahead of time to allocate an appropriate budget and proper specifications. When laying out your trade show booth, draw a mockup of the floor plan. It is important to consider table, chair, and drape placement when deciding sign placement. Another consideration should be foot traffic. Where are most of the trade show visitors going to be entering, exiting and standing in your booth? Although it’s important that our signs have a big impact, we don’t want to overcrowd an area and make an uncomfortable environment.

Do research on both the show and who will be in attendance: Although many of us want to express our creativity and uniqueness, make sure you research beforehand. A little subtlety goes a long way in creating a large impact and drawing the most amount of foot traffic to a booth. Here are some tips on how to research the show and the attendees when planning your trade show signage:

• Promotional signs should be large and straight to the point.
• List of services signs should be bright and clean looking.
• Backdrops should stand out and grab the audience’s attention.
• Many companies opt for interactive signage – Play a game and win, Spin and win, Take a picture in front

Although interactive signage is unique and effective when used properly, be cognizant of your audience.  If you have a prospect with whom you’ve been in contact for months that shows up at the show, don’t have them wait on a face painting line in order to talk to you!

Preparing for a trade show can be less stressful when you plan properly.  Effective planning includes allotting enough time (usually at least a month), researching the trade show, researching the audience, and using captivating visual signage.  Spending an exorbitant amount of money is not necessary to have successful trade show signage.

If you or your company needs large format signage for an up coming event and need a little help please feel free to contact East Coast Graphics, Inc. we are always happy to help.

East Coast Graphics, Inc.
Thomas Glenn
631.231.9300 xt.11
info@EcoastGraphics.com
631.231.9300 xt. 11

Exact Target just released their annual survey on media channels. It’s one of the most enlightening and unbiased reports I’ve read in years, especially considering it was written by an email marketing provider. Here’s a direct quote from the report:

“Still wondering about the best channels through which to deliver your messages when you’re trying to boost your bottom line? Consumers are more likely to purchase based on messages they receive through traditional media. In this year’s study, we included television commercials and infomercials as channels through which consumers may have been directly influenced to make a purchase. While this approach does not take important factors like branding into account, it does give us a basis for comparison where branding may be the primary goal—as is often the case with social media.

Our research shows:

Direct mail has directly influenced more consumers to purchase than any other channel.

76% of consumers have been directly influenced to purchase through direct mail.”

For the first time in years, someone has actually taken the time to look at media channels in an objective way. And what media channel came second as an influencer of purchases? Television. Email came in third, which considering email marketing is a tiny fraction of the cost of TV advertising, is an excellent result.

Another gem in the report was the statement that email is still very popular and we love it, but only 15% of people like to receive marketing messages via this channel!

Thomas D. Glenn
East Coast Graphics, Inc.
p. 631.231.9300 x.11  |  f. 631.231.5159
ECoastGraphics.com