Every exhibition strategy starts off with a ‘why?’

Why do we want to participate in this exhibition? You need to ask this question time and time again, either to yourself and/or to management. Participating in an exhibition is a costly affair and should not be undertaken without having a solid and clear strategy in place. The often heard phrase “we are exhibiting at…” demonstrates the passive attitude that so many companies adopt in regards to their exhibition participation.

Exhibitions can be a very important component within the totality of a company’s sales and marketing efforts. At least, this is the case when the medium is used to its full potential and when your participation forms an integral part of your company’s overarching sales and marketing strategy.

What do we hope to achieve with our exhibition participation and which target group will we be able to engage with at this exhibition? What are the alternatives?

If we exhibit here, what is our budget, who will be on the project team and how much time can they dedicate to this project?

It doesn’t make any sense to get started, unless you have a satisfactory answer to all the above questions. You need to have a clearly defined goal as well as the certainty that all involved parties can dependably tackle the project.