Exhibiting on a Shoestring Budget

Issue: 
Vol 2, No 8
Author: 
Linda Musgrove

While the economy shows early signs of recovery, money is still tight and many companies can’t afford to exhibit anymore, or at least so they think. However, if you do your homework and spend your money wisely, you can stretch your exhibit dollars. Here are some tips and tricks you can use to exhibit on a shoestring budget. This might come in quite handy since it will still be quite a while before the economy is where we would want it to be. So let’s get creative with our trade show planning.

Exhibiting is a surprisingly complex enterprise and it is a good idea to build up some experience before going all out. The good news is that there are many ways you can save money without sacrificing the quality of your exhibit program. Here are several examples to help get you started. These examples just scratch the surface of how you can exhibit on the cheap. There are many other things you can do such as look for shows that are nearby and don’t require hotel nights or shipping, you might be able to share exhibit space with a partner, or even recycle signage from the office. There are many ways you can save money that can fit your company and budget. I even had a client that embroidered shirts from a thrift store. So consider the ideas below  just as a springboard to get your budget conscious creative juices flowing.

Promotional Items

Expensive promotional items do not belong in our shoestring budget, and rarely provide you with the value of what you spend. So consider these suggestions:

  • Distribute an item that attendees will be likely to reference often, such as a tip sheet relevant to your key prospects and company. This is something that can be printed in the office inexpensively. For example, a promotional item that I often use is a Trade Show tip sheet that exhibitors can keep as a reference tool.
  • If you decide to purchase a promotional item, keep them at the back of the booth. Do not hand one out to everyone indiscriminately. Make sure to qualify people first and only use your give-aways for qualified attendees. That way you can order smaller quantities and save your budget dollars.

Display

Besides the exhibit space, the actual display is often the most expensive part of a show. One thing that makes a display really expensive is changing messaging for specific shows. This is conceptually not a bad idea since you really want to focus on your show specific target audience. So the best way to accomplish this without having a lot of extra expense is to have your main display have only your logo, a tagline, if you have one, and some graphics. You still need the specific messaging, but you can put that on smaller inexpensive banners or on a presentation you play on screen. That way you can customize your message for each show and eliminate the need to replace your large display as often. You will get a lot more mileage out of your display this way, and a new set of well-designed banners on quality material should run you less than $100.

  • Use banner stands instead of buying an entire display
  • Print a 10’ x 10’ banner with grommets that can be wrapped over the pipe and drape. This works well on vinyl or fabric.
  • Use fabric to make the display lighter; saving money on shipping costs and material handling.

Collateral

Instead of printing and handing out an expensive data sheets and brochures, send the information to attendees by e-mail after the show. However, do not  send everyone the same information. Just as you would hand out only the relevant literature in the booth, be sure to personalize the e-mail and only attach the relevant product information for each attendee. Write down which type of product or service they were interested in on their lead form or business card.This gives you a great reason to contact them and it is environmentally friendly at the same time, and you know they actually have the material when they get back to work, instead of potentially throwing it away before leaving the show.

Show Services

Renting everything from show services can add up and be quite costly; especially when you pay for renting things like a cardboard garbage can for $20. Here are a few of the items you can save money on:

  • Bring your own garbage can, or buy an inexpensive one in the show city. You can even use one of the garbage cans from your hotel room for a few days; just be sure to return it.
  • Paying to have your booth vacuumed is convenient, but you can save money by bringing a lint roller and use that to clean the carpet instead.
  • For furniture, if you have a partner company in the show city, ask if you can borrow a few items from them. Or visit stores such as IKEA, Wal-Mart, Kmart, etc. and pick up inexpensive furniture items.
  • Buy a large table cloth that matches your company colors instead of renting a skirted table or buying a printed table throw.
  • Print your own lead form instead of renting the lead capture machine.
  • Buy floral items at Target, Wal-Mart, Kmart, etc.
  • For smaller booths, you can virtually eliminate shipping and material handling fees by bringing the items to the show yourself. If the show is local you can drive the items to the show yourself and carry them to the booth. If you are flying to the show, bring the items on the plane with you. If you have frequent flyers in your team, have them check the items since they are usually exempt from baggage fees.
  • If you need to ship several items, ship them to the hotel you are staying at and carry them into the show.  However, check if your hotel is charging a handling fee. I recently was with a client in New Orleans where the hotel wanted to charge between $10 and $25 per received items. The hotel ended up waving those fees, but you may want to call ahead and find out if there are any handling fees if you are considering to ship items to the hotel.

Advertising

  • Most shows give each exhibitor a complimentary 50 – 100 word description as part of their exhibit package, a surprisingly large percentage of exhibitors don’t take advantage of that, make sure you do.
  • Advertise that you will be exhibiting at a particular show on your company website. Be sure to include the booth number, name of the show, as well as the show location and city.
  • Use social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and your blog to announce that you will be exhibiting at a particular show.

Public Relations

  • Write a press release announcing that you will be exhibiting at a particular show; announce the product you are promoting at the show, as well as the show location and your booth number.
  • Print copies of the press release and place them in the press room at the show.
  • Distribute the press release on-line via Free Press Release distribution sites. You can find these sites by entering Free Press Release, or something similar in a search engine, such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.
  • Ask the show for the registered press list. Make contact with the media pre-show to arrange meetings during the show.
  • Inquire whether the show offers a free press release distribution for exhibitors. Some shows offer a 100+ word press release option for free. 

Hopefully, these ideas can save money when exhibiting on a shoestring.

Linda Musgrove is President of the Trade Show Training firm, TradeShow Teacher. She focuses on teaching companies to significantly improve Trade Show Results through strategic, customized Trade Show Training for individuals, departments, or entire teams. Musgrove also presents customized training programs for Trade Show Producers to offer exhibitors. Most recently she authored  “The Complete Idiots Guide to Trade Shows.” Learn more at http://www.tsteacher.com and sign up for the FREE monthly Trade Show Tactics newsletter. Follow on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/tsteacher . Send an invite to connect on LinkedIn (email is: linda@tsteacher.com).