A successful product launch can be ‘make or break’ as to whether your company’s name makes it out into the wider business sphere.
Exhibitions can be a great opportunity to harness the power of live, real-time marketing and high numbers of footfall by launching your product here.
There are some things you’ll need to consider though, so here are our tips to nailing a product launch at an exhibition.
Define Your Priorities
You need to define the purpose of your product launch, it could be all about selling as many products as you can, or it could be capturing contact details for future marketing endeavours that will showcase a larger range of your products.
Clearly defining your priorities will help you and your team stick to a sole goal and communicate with attendees to achieve the outcome that you want.
If you go in without a goal, it will be mayhem, your team will have no idea whether they’re trying to push a sale or if they need to engage with your audience to form a relationship and collect their information.
You need to have these goals established and be working together on this to really enhance the experience for visitors to your booth, as nobody wants to be told different things by members of the same team!
Utilise Other Events, Trends or Changes
Let’s say you’re launching a new app, or there’s been a massive scandal in your industry, why not launch your new product alongside this?
Purchase offers at the exhibition could include priority early access and free download of your app, or in the case of a scandal you can push your product to the top of the market and overshadow your competitors’ mistakes by enticing your trade show audience.
Stay current and real with your audience and it will go a long way. Everyone wants to feel like they’re involved in a revelation so make it feel this way to your audience.
Make it Unique – Value Proposition
Nobody wants to see the same techniques used repeatedly at exhibitions, they’ll become tiresome and won’t be likely to make an impact on the visitors’ impressions of you. They will see you as just another stand with nothing new or interesting to offer!
Having a unique strategy can make you stand out from the hundreds, potentially thousands of other stands in the arena and drive traffic to your stall ready for you to launch your exciting new product!
It’s also important to consider the value your product holds for your ideal customer – what problem does your product solve and how? Why will it be attractive to the customer?
If you can show this in real life, real time to those visiting your stand, they’ll really be able to envision how this product might revolutionise their working or personal life, and with a demonstration or ability to try the product out. This can really encourage them to make the final purchase if it’s considered a ‘must have’ rather than a ‘would like to have’.
Work with the Venue
One key way to attract attention and help the success of your launch is to work with the venue. Getting your application for a stand in early means that you will be able to request the ideal spot, and if you’re unsure of this the venue representative should be able to tell you.
Building a good relationship with staff at the venue also means they might be more flexible to any last minute requests you have.
They’ll also be able to advise you of any health and safety regulations that might threaten the success of your launch, so it’s a really good idea to get to know these people so they can help plan your launch in the space they provide and give you the best chance at success!
Plan Your Timescale
There are some things you’ll need to plan way ahead of time just for the exhibition itself, take a look at our exhibition marketing blog series for more help with this.
When considering a product launch as well, there’s even more planning, so you might want to have a timescale sorted for:
- Pre event – at this stage you will want to organise the professional photography and graphic design of the content you will use to promote the product, and press releases and your build up on social media and creating a buzz.
- At the event – you’ll want to have planned any press packages or goodie bags, speeches and scripts for your team.
- Post event – here is where specific product follow up is important, and you should have as well considered your product release plan and any early access opportunities you might give to those who interacted at the exhibition.
By this point, you should know the most important things to consider in order to really maximise the effect of your exhibition product launch. Now all you need is the perfect stand, browse our options here, or contact us at 200m2 for more information.
