A great form of outreach for small businesses is attending and setting up booths at small business trade shows. If you haven’t considered going to one, you should. These shows provide great opportunities for networking, brand awareness, and a chance to learn. In today’s post, we’ll be discussing the benefits of attending local small business trade shows and how they can help take your business to the next level.

Customer Outreach

Obviously, the essential aspect of trade shows is customer outreach. By displaying your brand and all the unique items you have to offer, you can make a good impression and continue to raise awareness. Though raising awareness doesn’t guarantee customer acquisition, it plays a huge role in the process and any chance you get to promote your brand is one you should leap at. In addition, you might find companies who are looking to sell your product. Maybe there’s a boutique store or an online wholesaler who loves your product and would like to work with you. Deals like these can cut in on your profit margins, but they also increase brand recognition and get your product into the hands of people who otherwise may have never found it.

Media Outlets

Another huge aspect of trade shows is the media coverage. Many different media outlets attend small business trade shows so that they can report on all the new and exciting products and brands they discover. This is a great opportunity for you to obtain free advertising for your business. Even if it is just a small shout-out in an article, this is still great publicity.

Networking

Trade shows are a great place for networking. With all sorts of different businesses around you, it is important that while you are at the show you explore and talk to as many as possible. Maybe there is a service your company is looking for, such as professional photography, or maybe you’ll come across a brand you really like that you would consider collaborating with. Plus, even if you don’t find those kinds of connections, you’ll have spent the time raising awareness of your brand and what you offer. After all, the fellow business owners at the trade show should all be considered potential customers for your product.

Networking at trade shows is a key part of what electrIQ does. By going to trade shows, we are able to speak to hundreds of businesses about what aspects of marketing trouble them. We are able to interact face-to-face with those businesses that need help refining and optimizing their marketing to take their companies to the next level.

Personal Interactions

Social media, e-mail, and phones are great, but there truly is no substitute for face-to-face interaction. At trade shows, this type of interaction makes up almost all of the interactions you’ll have. The advantage of being in-person is you can display not only your excitement for the product your selling, but you’ll also be able to have real and spontaneous discussions that allow you to answer questions immediately and display all the facets of your product that can’t be expressed through other forms of communication.

Giving Away Products

Giving away products at trade shows is a great way to get your product out to the world. If you give away a few items, odds are they’ll be used, and if they are enjoyed, then you will not only have obtained a possible future customer, but also everyone that person mentions your item to. Overall, though you shouldn’t bankrupt yourself giving away free items, giving out a few of your cheaper items is a great way to build awareness and get your product out there and in use. You don’t even have to be a product company, one of the best examples I’ve seen is a consulting agency handing out stuffed llamas for all of the attendees to bring back home to their families and kids. It’s all about increasing awareness.

Locate Competition

Finally, trade shows are a great way to learn about competition. Booths at the show will represent companies putting their best foot forward, and so it is a great and easy way to learn about what products are competing with yours and what they have to offer. In addition, they’ll have loads of information about their products displayed on specially designed informational boards for their booth, so you’ll be able to see all the little details about their products.

Overall, trade shows are a great option for small businesses. They offer so many ways to raise awareness for your brand, whether it’s in-person communication, or being featured in a media article. Hopefully after reading this article, you’ll be inspired to look for trade shows near you where you can raise awareness for your brand, build meaningful connections, and, most importantly, take meaningful steps in the process of growing your business.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to reach out, and don’t forget to check back for more posts on how you can take your business to the next level.

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