3 Tips For Effectively Engaging At A Tradeshow
Securing a booth at a tradeshow can be a great way to bring attention to your product or business. However, without effective engagement techniques, you won't get much out of your time at a tradeshow. You have limited time and you're competing with many other entrepreneurs, so it's vitally important to be able to grab and hold the attention of tradeshow attendees long enough to develop the leads that you need. Take a look at some tips that can help you engage your audience at a tradeshow.
Use Visuals To Make Your Booth Stand Out
Before you can engage anyone, you need to get them to stop at your booth, and that's not always as easy to do as you may think. The visual materials you use can make all the difference. The key is to make sure that your visuals and display materials send a clear message.
When passers-by can tell from your signs, posters, and other display tools exactly what you're offering or demonstrating, they'll be more likely to stop. If your visual materials are confusing or unclear, they'll look right past you to find a clear message that does grab their attention. That means that your best bet is to use visuals that offer a simple, concise statement. Don't confuse things with too many colors, complicated artwork, or ambiguous phrases. A few colors, a recognizable logo, and a simple slogan can do a lot of the work for you. Also, pay attention to the placement of your displays – no matter how well they're designed, they won't attract notice if they're too high, too low, or half-hidden behind something else. Aim for eye level and a clear line of sight.
Bring Out Your Best With Proper Body Language
It's not just visuals that can cause attendees to either stop in their tracks or walk right by. The right body language from both you and your booth staff can draw people in or it can scare them away. Many people don't spend a lot of time thinking about the signals they're sending with their position and gestures, but with such limited time to make an impression, it's important that you and everyone working your booth takes the time to brush up on the body language basics.
Avoid sitting, crossing your arms, eating, or using your phone while waiting for someone to approach the booth. All of these gestures make you appear less approachable. Instead, keep your hands at your sides and make eye contact, and be sure to smile. These are inviting gestures that will draw in an audience. When you're talking to someone, avoid negative or aggressive gestures, like clenching your fist. Even if you're just doing it to make a point, it can be off-putting, and distract from the message that you're trying to send. Negative body language may also make your audience uncomfortable enough to walk away before you've finished your pitch.
Ask Open-Ended Questions
Your visual materials have caught their eyes, and you're keeping them engaged with friendly and inviting body language. But what do you say? Before you go pitching all the benefits of your product or service, it helps to have an idea of how the person you're talking to might best use your product. That way, you can tailor your pitch to their needs.
How do you know what a stranger at a tradeshow needs? By asking open-ended questions. For example, if you're pitching a great new type of business software, ask your prospective lead what's keeping them from meeting their business goals. Their answer can give you an opening to explain how your software can help them achieve those goals. If you're selling a new vacuum cleaner design, ask the customer what flaws their current vacuum cleaner has. Then you can explain how your design addresses those flaws. These questions can be far more engaging than launching straight into a sales pitch. It gives you a chance to address specific needs and gives you important information about what people are looking for.
Don't miss your chance to get everything you can out of your next tradeshow. By using strong visuals to grab attention, using body language to make your booth approachable and your audience comfortable, and using open-ended questions to gather information and personalize your pitch, you can be sure of a successful tradeshow experience. For more information, visit a site like http://www.divinesignsinc.com.