Due to the ongoing pandemic, live exhibiting programs have been “on the shelf” for a year—or longer. I think you’ll agree that it is a long time to be out of the game.
Vaccines are making their way to frontline workers and, eventually, the general public. We have survived virtually, but we are all anxiously looking forward to getting back to live expositions.
PACK EXPO Las Vegas and Healthcare Packaging EXPO 2021 (Sept. 27-29) will be the only comprehensive packaging and processing event in the world in 2021. Packaging and processing professionals will benefit from everything learned in 2020 and given the first opportunity to unveil new products and develop key relationships with buyers in-person.
The question is, are you ready to make the most of your first in-person event in over a year?
Have you taken this unexpected pause to take a step back from your previous live exhibiting program and objectively look at what worked and, more importantly, what needs to be improved upon, so you can re-enter the live exhibiting arena better than ever before?
With PACK EXPO Las Vegas and Healthcare Packaging EXPO poised to return to an in-person event this September, here are seven strategic questions you should propose to your teams to thoughtfully answer in preparation for re-entering the live exhibiting arena better than ever before:
1. What are your primary reasons for exhibiting at live trade shows, and have you put in the work to convert those reasons to specific, measurable, and actionable goals? Understanding your company’s needs helps ensure the execution of a results-focused exhibiting program.
2. Have you carefully defined your ideal customer profile and determined the specific problems, challenges, improvements, goals, and opportunities your company can help them address by visiting your exhibit? This profile provides a template that will give you highly-effective content to drive traffic and design a compelling visitor experience.
3. Have you designed an integrated pre/post-show marketing campaign for PACK EXPO Las Vegas and Healthcare Packaging EXPO to drive traffic to your solutions? Proper actions before and after a trade show will ensure your exhibit is highly-visible to the right people and help you drive qualified traffic to your exhibit.
4. Have you reviewed your booth layout to provide attention-grabbing graphics and A/V and ensure it accommodates proper social distancing, providing a safe and welcoming environment for attendees? These unprecedented times call for additional due diligence to ensure that your exhibit gets noticed and drives traffic safely and efficiently.
5. Have you analyzed your products/services and developed an interactive, educational, problem-solving demonstration of your latest technology? More than any other feature of an in-person trade show, attendees want to interact with live exhibits to see new types of machinery and technology in action. With 78% of attendees at PACK EXPO Las Vegas and Healthcare Packaging EXPO making or influencing their company’s purchasing decisions, you need to be prepared to show them how your new machinery, technology, materials, and containers will solve their packaging or processing challenges.
6. Have you reviewed your current LEAD qualification, capture, routing, follow-up, and reporting processes? This will help you ensure your exhibit program supports your sales or distributor networks and will lead to higher sales conversion.
7. Have you reviewed the specific metrics your company will use to analyze your exhibit performance, calculate value received, and measure return on investment? This will help you look even better to your boss or manager and ensure you get the support you need from senior management.
PMMI is following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and all federal, state, and local directives to ensure a safe and productive show.
For more information on ways PMMI is actively working with trade show industry leaders to put thorough and up-to-date protocols in place, visit: PACK EXPO Las Vegas Safety
Jefferson Davis, President of Competitive Edge, is North America’s leading exhibiting productivity expert. Since 1991, his results-focused, process-based approach to addressing critical exhibiting success factors has helped clients generate more than $800 million in combined exhibiting results. Jefferson provides highly-intensive exhibit consulting and training services guaranteed to deliver results. For a no-obligation discovery meeting, visit: Meet with Jefferson
