Modular Exhibition Stands vs. Portable Displays

Modular Exhibition Stands vs. Portable Displays

As technology evolves and creations become more advanced, there are hundreds of exhibition set-ups and displays out there, but which one is right for you? With so many to choose from, each exhibition stand and display is compatible for different brand exhibitions, depending on a variety of features like the size of your market and what the exhibition is for.  

We’re aware that different companies require additional features when choosing their set-up to cater for maximum interaction and engagement, but can’t quite decide what’s best for them. We’re here to make it easier for you, so here’s a way to make your decision simpler, providing you with the pros and cons of both modular exhibition stands and portable displays. 

Modular Exhibition Stands 

An obvious benefit of this model is their portability. This model can be efficiently moved and transported, due to its carefully designed, multi-pieced structure. The modular stand can be broken down into much smaller segments so it can fit into more of a compact environment, making them a lot more manageable than other designs. This feature would be particularly beneficial if you’re planning an event or exhibition in various locations, within the same period. This provides a stress-free solution for transportation of your stand, being able to store them into a smaller environment. The question you’re probably asking yourself is ‘how small can these stands really be broken down to?’. Well the magic behind this design is that they’re small enough to be stored in small cars and vans, saving you the stress and money of hiring a more complex transport company.  

The benefits don’t stop there! This model’s light-weight design makes them even more manageable and makes delivery easier, when being sourced by the courier. Heavier designs like those that are custom built, unfortunately don’t have this quality and will require being packaged and transported by a professional courier service, requiring hiring trucks and much larger vehicles. This is not only costly for businesses but is also inconvenient for transport timing as a lot of locations are difficult to access in this way.  

When considering the general set-up of your stand, it is important to be aware that depending on the type of stand, many can require a large work force to construct them and can take a very long time. Fortunately, modular stands are one of the most time effective models and don’t require a lot of work. Taking as little as 6 hours to set up, this style can be built by a small team of just 3 people, and no special tools are required. 

Furthermore, the various graphic applications that are compatible to this design make them more interactive for the audience and create much more of an impact to the more standard and early-staged designs that can be offered. Considering this technical addition of light boxes and various displays, these modular exhibition stands are pretty good in terms of pricing, as the purchase price would be earnt back after just a few shows, making it more of an investment than a purchase. This means that over time you can add to your stand, making it more advanced.  

Reduce, reuse, recycle!  

Sustainability is key where possible so reusing what you can is a major advantage. The framework of these stands is maintained as they can be dismantled and re-mantled, instead of being permanently attached together. 

These features allow this particular model to be environmentally friendly and provide convenience when not only setting up the stand, but also transporting it to various locations. However, when considering the model that’s appropriate for you, its important to consider your budget and what features you require for your exhibition to be more successful.  

Portable Displays  

Are you a smaller company, planning on hosting more of a compact exhibition? Then portable displays may be more compatible to your needs. If you’re looking to take your company on tour, then look no further! 

To make life super easy, this model comes in a travel case to make them easy to move and transport by hand as opposed to a vehicle. This eliminates any extra costs towards transporting the structure and can simply be carried instead. These designs come in a range of sizes, some smaller than others so some of the larger formats may be more difficult to transportbut as a whole these models are made to be versatile and easy to store. 

Portable displays, also known as ‘pop-up’ displays are just like they sound. As opposed to being put together like the modular display, these exhibition stands are a lot simpler in terms of being set up. These pop-up stands also provide a lot more flexibility to suit your brand’s requirements. Whilst they sound like a smaller alternative, these stands can be customised to a range of shapes and sizes to best promote your business.  

There are many misconceptions that the portable display is of a lower quality to many other models as its easier to set up and is generally a lot smaller. However, these structures are made to last and are made to a high quality so that they can be reused over and over again 

What are the different types? 

Depending on sizing and what they’ll be used for, portable displays come in different forms. For example, if your exhibition requires the display of graphics, a flexible fabric display may be suitable, providing a fabric sheet to project images, text and various displays.  

Additionally, banner stands on the other hand are free standing and consist of a smaller panel, which is handy for a smaller business that doesn’t intend to involve graphics and some of the more advanced features.  

 

There are many exhibition stands available to suit every business’ exact requirements, coming in all shapes and sizes and a variety of costs. It is important to consider budget, time management and your preferred sizing when deciding which exhibition stand, as every model is different. We understand that there is a lot to choose from so we hope that this blog will help you find what is appropriate for your brand and kick start your ongoing and successful exhibitions! 

Getting Your Staff Ready for Exhibition Day

Getting Your Staff Ready for Exhibition Day

You’ve got your exhibition set-up ready to go and you’ve employed your staff to champion your company, but where do you go from here? Below is a guide to success on how you can get your event staff prepared to a quality and professional standard, ready for exhibition day! 

The face of your company is what drives people’s interest to your business, on the day of your exhibition. When finding out about what your company has to offer, potential prospects want a friendly face to interact with and face to face marketing is the most powerful and friendly way to communicate with your audience and generate sales.  

Your event-staff team are the most valuable aspect of your exhibition and their prime job is to educate your audience about your business and convince them that your services and offerings are above and beyond everyone else’s. No staff means no success! To achieve maximum sales and interaction, read on to see the different ways and methods that you can get your team prepared… 

First Impressions 

Your crew member’s face is the first thing your audience will see, and a friendly face is key to driving your customers to engage with your event and to invest their time into learning about your company background and ideals. A polite and friendly welcome adds a personal touch and flatters prospects, making their initial experience with your brand welcoming and personalised. A good first impression already begins to build a positive relationship with a customer and gain customer loyalty, making them want to invest their time into your company instead of feeling like they have to. 

Small gestures alone like saying “please” and “thank you” go a long way with your audience, making them feel respected. A good combination of polite qualities doesn’t go unnoticed by the client and makes them feel prioritised by your company.  

Patience is Key! 

Try not to ramble on too much about the company and instead, really take the time to find out about the client and engage with them personally. A method to overcome this could be to prepare a list of questions for your staff, to help them engage with potential prospects. This will help them identify sale needs. This will allow you to personalise your sales approach and work out the best ways to present them with what you can offer them. Your staff may be there to sell your business aspects but the last thing your audience wants is yet another salesperson pestering them about things they’re not interested in. Your event staff are there to make them interested!  

Instead of focusing on quick sales and diving straight into what you want from the audience, slowly get to know them and ease them into taking an interest, leaving them wanting to find out more. Let your audience lead the way and move at their pace. A top tip is not force-feeding your clients with information but gradually telling them what they want to hear and when they want to hear it. A patient approach is a successful approach! 

Knowledge Exchange 

How can you depend on your exhibition increasing sales if your staff aren’t clued up on your company? Your customers are bound to ask various questions, so they are aware of what they’re about to invest in, so getting the answer they’re looking for is a necessity! 

A preparation technique for all your exhibition staff is to make sure they’re thoroughly educated on what you do, how you do it and why you’re better than everyone else. Writing a brief script covering the key areas of your business sets your staff up for all the questions that they’ll be asked and allow them to give the satisfactory answers that the audience are looking for. A professional and educated response will be encouraging for your customers and will convince them that your services are the ones they’re looking for. 

However, we advise that your employees revise the script and don’t fully rely on this when communicating with prospects as the conversation should be natural and convincing.  

Maximum Engagement 

We’re aware that interacting with strangers can be daunting, especially when you’re trying to find out new information. In order to make your audience feel comfortable, your staff will need to have a confident attitude so that the customer doesn’t feel like they’re making all the effort. Standing back and waiting for people to approach you is going to affect the amount of sales you make, so staff members will need to engage with exhibition members but in a way that is friendly and polite 

Whilst approaching your prospects is a must, this will need to be carried out in a casual and less overwhelming manner, showing dedication to your customer interaction. A proven method to a successful sales process is enthusiasm towards the client. Avoid making the conversation dull and repetitive and instead make it enthusiastic yet professional at the same time. It is important to personalise your tone when proposing sales to your audience, as some will take to more of a professional tone and others perhaps a more friendly one. 

 

With these top tips, your exhibition team will send sales through the roof for your business, with their friendly face and top notch enthusiasm about why your company is worth investing in! 

How to Reduce the Stress of Exhibition Day

How to Reduce the Stress of Exhibition Day

If you have done an exhibition before then you will know that it can be stressful and hectic. This may be the reason you love trade shows, the adrenaline of being rushed off your feet. For others however, this may be a daunting thought for you. We’ve come up with a few tips and tricks to help you reduce the stress for that all-important exhibition day.

Checklist

Travelling to an exhibition and forgetting something important is a nightmare! A checklist will help you make sure you never forget anything. Write down all the most important things that you need when you are planning your stand, this way you can add to the list whenever you remember something else you need. For example, have you got enough pens or somewhere to store business cards? It’s all the little things that can make a whole lot of difference at a trade show.

 The Employees on the stand

Bringing some employees with you means you can delegate roles and jobs to other people leaving you to focus on selling. You don’t need to do everything yourself so don’t try and do it all. Bring employees that you trust and who you can rely on to leave alone at your stand. Sometimes you need to leave your stand to network or even just for a walk to stay sane. You shouldn’t have to worry about the people in charge of your stand.

Give Yourself Time

Rushing to set up will only lead to mistakes, give yourself enough time to set up your stand before people start to arrive. If you have a new stand practise putting it up and taking it down before you go to the show. A relaxing start to the show ensures a stress free and a great start to any exhibition. Ensuring you have plenty of time to set up will means visitors will only see you in a professional light, not running around like headless chickens.

Give your Stand your Undivided Attention

Exhibitions usually last about a day, so for that day your stand and the visitors there deserve your undivided attention.  Leave the office at the office. Leave the employees that you trust at the office, so you can focus on the exhibition completely. The last thing you want is to be worrying about work at the office when you are at your trade show.

Having a stand at an exhibition is extremely worthwhile and if you are organised and sensible, it doesn’t have to be stressful at all. All the enquiries you will receive and networking you will do will outweigh any preparations that have to take place. Event Staffing or Exhibition Management is a great way to outsource some of that pressure to experts. For more information on this take a look at our dedicated pages.

Why is it important to visit trade shows as well as exhibiting?

Why is it important to visit trade shows as well as exhibiting?

Exhibiting at a trade show is a great way to build the awareness of your brand and generate more leads for your company. It is the perfect tool to go hand in hand with your marketing, this is why so many companies choose to exhibit at trade shows. What about if you weren’t behind the stand all day and experienced the other side of a trade show? This can be just as valuable to any business owner or anybody working for a company. Here are some reasons why you should take a day off from behind the stand and go to an exhibition as a visitor.

Networking

This is a fairly obvious reason, some of the best networking can take place at trade shows and with the freedom to move around you can decide who and where you would like to talk. Meeting like-minded people within your industry or just an industry that interests is a great reason to go. Good contacts are invaluable in today’s competitive marketplace, they help you stay one step ahead.

Learn

An exhibition isn’t just about stands and businesses vying for your attention, there are talks and seminars within the venue. These are usually held by professionals within that very industry, it is a fantastic opportunity to learn more about that industry but also another person’s perspective of it. There is always something new to learn and knowledge is power! You get the opportunity to learn about new innovative products within your industry or the up and coming trends.  

Benefit your Business

You can use an exhibition as the perfect opportunity to find what or who you need to grow and expand your business. This may be someone to help out with your accounts or someone to provide products for your next trade show, chances are you will find the people you need at a trade show.

Competitors

By not exhibiting or by employing enough staff to man your stand without you, you have the freedom to take a walk and see what your competitors are offering, both at the trade show and outside of the trade show. What are they offering to customers and how are they attracting people at the exhibition. This is also a great way to get inspiration for your next stand and exhibition.

Finding Resellers

Trade shows can be the perfect place to discover new companies and business people who could potentially supply your product. Companies who supply customers with a service similar or a service that compliments your product are the perfect people to resell. They already have customers, so by bringing your new product to them you are growing your market very easily.

There are so many advantages to attending a trade show as a visitor, everyone should do it at least once, you can find out what it’s like to be on the other side of the stand. The advantages are completely different to exhibiting but in different ways just as useful. 

Best Exhibition Giveaways!

Best Exhibition Giveaways!

Are exhibition giveaways a good way to attract footfall to your exhibition stand and build awareness of your brand? Or do most of them end up in the bin and are therefore a waste of money?

The answer is that some are incredibly useful, whereas others aren’t. Understanding your audience and aligning giveaways with your key objectives are the keys to success.

Objective 1: Brand Awareness

If you’re hoping to gain more brand awareness, your exhibition giveaways should focus on visibility. Your giveaways need to be designed entirely around your brand name and logo and be the type of item that people would actually use and see value in.  If you work in the B2B sector, your aim is for people to use them in the workplace, thereby increasing visibility.

What works?

  • Branded post-it notes
  • Branded teabags
  • High quality mouse mats

 

Objective 2: Brand Proposition

If you have a certain message that you want to convey at a trade show, then your giveaways could provide useful visual reminders. Many companies still choose to produce brochures however these are often lost amongst a massive pile and are never read.  Brochures and case studies can be emailed to clients or pre-loaded on to a branded USB stick. Technology like qbit will help you to connect with your visitors without loading them up with expensive and heavy printed brochures.

What works?

  • A competition where people have to answer one or more questions about your latest product can be a great way to educate people about your new product or service!

Objective 3: Building Contacts

Finding the right business card after an event and remembering each specific conversation can be a challenge. This is where online data capture tool like qbit really help.  More and more show organisers are including QR codes on delegate badges for this reason.

What works?

  • Prize draws in exchange for business cards – sign up to our newsletter!
  • Coffee – Good-quality free coffee is the holy grail of trade-show giveaways! What’s more, visitors will stay on your stand while they drink i

So which are the best exhibition giveaways? In conclusion, they are the ones which your target audience will see value in.  They must also align closely with your exhibition objectives.  At 200m2, we provide a complete range of exhibition services from exhibition management to exhibition logistics. Call  020 333 200 92 to find out more!