Trade Show participation is still an integral vehicle for many companies when it comes to promoting, marketing and selling their products and services.
A trade show is a unique meeting place, with sometimes thousands of companies and interested buyers, looking to strike the best deal over a limited period of time.

Trade show expenses are oftentimes the second largest item in a company’s marketing budget. The cost, as well as the grand potential for new business opportunities and fostering existing business relationships, place high importance on a successful trade show participation.

Exhibiting internationally might seem a bit daunting in the beginning. Oftentimes English is not the first language of the respective country you are looking to exhibit in and sometimes there are certain differences in how a trade show is set up and how it needs to be approached.

Building an effective trade show strategy for your company or service is essential. There is nothing more frustrating than yawning emptiness at your own booth, while the neighboring booth is crowded with interested buyers. So how do you unlock the full potential of your trade show participation in Germany?

• Set Goals

What is the goal for your trade show participation? Are you a fairly new company or entering a new market and are looking to promote your company and raise brand awareness? Are you launching a new product or service that you want to circularize in your industry? Are you looking for new partners to establish new distribution channels with? Are you looking to get new leads for your sales team?
Be very clear about the goal for your participation. It will help you gain a clear vision on what you want to achieve and will come in handy when you retrospectively want to measure the success of your participation.

• Identify suitable trade shows

Finding suitable trade shows is key and not to be underestimated. Having clear goals set out will not be helpful, if you are presenting your company at the wrong show with the wrong target group. Since you have already identified your goals in step one, you should be aware of your target market by now. Research trade shows, where your target audience can be found. Most shows display visitor statistics and demographics on their website, which can give you a good impression of who you can expect to meet there. You can use the participant profile of analytica as an example of what you want to look for.

• Booth design and construction

This point is especially important when thinking about exhibiting at German tradeshows. Unlike American expositions, German trade shows require you to have proper booth construction. When applying for a booth you are usually only registering for raw booth space. The booth itself does not come with the well-known pipe and drape system of American shows. Each company is responsible for constructing their booth with actual “walls”. Depending on your budget, designs can range from very simplistic and appropriated booths to very lavishly furnished and designed multistory booths.
If you are not planning on managing your booth construction on your own, we advise you to get in touch with a booth construction company, who will take care of the work for you.

• Trade Show Prep

After setting your goals, choosing the right shows and planning your booth, it is important to prepare your actual trade show participation. This can range all the way from picking the right human resources as your booth staff, to organizing logistics if you plan on bringing bigger products to showcase at the show, as well as bringing your marketing material.

• Post Trade Show Work

Last but not least, don’t forget to do your homework and follow-up on the leads gathered and the contacts made. Only when following up with your potential sales leads, can you really determine the ROI of your trade show participation and evaluate the success.

Trade Show Services GACCNY is the official US Representative Office of Messe Munich. Both exhibition venues belong to the top ten largest exhibition complexes in Germany and deliver top industry events which attract global attention. Our office recruits US exhibitors looking to do international business. In addition to the shows in Germany, we represent shows in China, India, Brazil, the Middle East and other parts of the world.

You can find a portfolio of all of our shows here. We are looking forward to welcoming you to one of our shows in the future.