For many businesses, spring is the time of year when they start to prepare for their industry conferences and events season. Whether it’s a business expo, conference or trade show, attending events is a fantastic way to boost brand awareness and generate leads, but they take planning.
The key to any successful event is to start planning as early as possible. By starting to think about what you need early on, we can make sure you have time to think about what you need, create impactful creative and take advantage of economies of scale, ultimately saving you money. It is really important to think about how you plan to engage with your audience, making the most of the opportunity and draw footfall to your stand. Some questions you may like to ask before you start:
- Who will be at the event?
- How can we help them?
- What are our key messages?
- What will the stand look like?
- How do we drive awareness of our business in advance of the show?
- What is the customer journey we wish to take people on?
- What marketing collateral do we need to support customer engagement?
Once you have thought through your business messaging and journey, print will inevitably play a large part in answering these questions. You only have a matter of minutes to attract people’s attention so there’s a lot riding on your brands first impressions. With the event season nearly upon us, Q Print is here to help you get ready for the big day with our ultimate event planning checklist. Tick everything on this list off and you will be set to go.
1. Exhibition Stand
When it comes to designing your exhibition stand the key is to be impactful, remember less is more. The aim is to make people stop and engage with you so try to avoid using too much text – that’s what your print materials are for. Instead use a simple, brand-consistent design. For example, your design could include the brands logo, strap line and brand colours.
Using a stand which can be used time and time again can also make attending events more cost-effective. This means keeping any messaging you do use generic and avoid using any specific dates or offers. When you are planning and designing your stand layout, depending upon your business, don’t forget to also consider what electrics, lighting and/or water supply you may need. The lead times for creating an exhibition stand are long, so the earlier you can start to think about this, the better.
2. Branded Clothing
Branded clothing at an event can be so impactful. Events are busy with lots of people, if your team are wearing branded clothing, you stand out and in many ways are like a walking advertisement that your business is there and to come and see you. Depending upon the weather polo shirts, fleeces and caps are popular choices.
3. Flyers and Brochures
Not all visitors to your stand may have time to stop and talk, this is where an eye-catching flyer or detailed brochure comes in. Easy to handout and a great way for attendees to follow up with you after the event, this is another chance for you to show off your brand. Being sure to think about how you can create impactful creative that reflects your business, even using an incentive for the potential to get in touch eg: an offer or discount. Using high quality finishes or heavy paper weights can also help to create the feeling of quality.
4. Name Tags
Events can feel overwhelming at times for delegates especially when they are speaking to many different people. In the midst of a busy event, sometimes even the smallest things like a professional name tag or badge can make a difference. Not only do they make your brand come across as more approachable, but it also helps the person you’re talking to remember your name. As with all of your marketing materials, it’s important to design your name tags to match your branding including your brand font, logo and colours.
5. Business Cards
Giving out elegant business cards is still a quick and effective way to share your contact information with potential leads. The more unique and professional looking the card, the more likely someone will be to keep your details and reach out. The must-haves for your business cards are simple font, thick card and special finishes. Adding a QR code to your business card brings your printing and digital marketing in line and puts your contact details into the pocket of your target audience.
6. Capturing Potential Client’s Details
One of the main objectives of attending events is to capture the details of potential clients. Think about how you can do this, for example do you run a competition or offer to send them something post event. Think about how you practically might do this, some events have scanners you can rent to do this, so you get a list after, or for smaller events invite someone to sign up to your email list. Don’t forget that once you have collected potential names and addresses of your customers that the follow up post event is really important. Connect with them to reconfirm the event offer or give them an incentive to reach out and connect with you further.
7. Branded Giveaways
Branded giveaways are a great way to boost your footfall and stand out amongst your competitors, everyone loves a freebie! From tote bags, travel mugs and notebooks, to engraved bottle openers, branded giveaways come in all shapes and sizes. Industry specific giveaways such as house shaped mint cards for estate agents or tape measures for the construction industry are to be a sure win with your visitors. Choosing promotional items which are useful, practical and high-quality can make all the difference to their uptake on the day.
In Summary
We hope our ultimate conference and event checklist has been useful and given you something to think about, helping you to make your next event a big success. If you would like some support in planning for your next event, please get in touch to arrange a no-obligation discovery call. We look forward to hearing from you and making your event a big success!
