With 2012 looking to be one of the busiest years for London and its businesses it is no surprise that the number of exhibitions taking place around the UK seems to be rising.
Exhibition Stand
More and more businesses are taking part in small and large scale events in order to increase their exposure and potentially add more people and businesses to their client base. But with marketing budgets at a low I wanted to think about ways of saving money whether you are new to exhibitions or have already completed several.
Exhibition Stands
One of the biggest costs for businesses at an event is the exhibition stand construction, design and dismantling. Whether you contract external designers to complete the work for you or have your own workers that do it themselves the time taken alone is likely to be costly.
I think that keeping the construction time low is a vital part of starting a successful event and as a result using a basic shell scheme (where available) that is provided by the organisers is a good starting point. This can then be dressed up by using freestanding banners, posters and a range of products from your company.
Brochure stands are often a useful addition and can make the space look inviting. Over or under staffing should also be considered. Over staffing can cause crowding on your stand and make it less appealing for visitors, but understaffing can mean that some visitors are not dealt with in a timely manner and therefore lost. This can be a fine balancing act, especially when considering costs as well but useful information can be obtained from previous exhibitors and organisers about visitor numbers and busy and quiet times at previous events.
Event Preparation
Make sure you have suitable leaflets, brochures and products available without overstocking. If you are purchasing promotional gifts or leaflets for a specific event then try to gain as much information as possible on visitor numbers and footfall expected on your pitch from the organisers.
Of course, far easier than any of these options is to re-use any products and stand materials you might have created for a previous event. Printed products that are not time bound are handy and when well thought out designs are used you can keep using them time after time.
