For people in the promotional products industry, one of the biggest parts of the job is going to trade shows.

With more than 250 convention centers all across the United States, there are trade shows going on all the time and many of them happen every year. For promotional products salesmen, there are many benefits to trade shows:

• They give people chance to sell directly to customers and thereby increase their chances of doing business.
• They give people a chance to interact with customers face-to-face, which allows a company to show prospective clients what their company does and what it’s all about. In fact, 51% of trade show exhibitors said they value face-to-face meetings with prospects and customers.
• Trade shows are a chance for companies to showcase new products and why customers need them.
• Trade shows give people in the promotional products industry a chance to mingle with their contemporaries, bounce ideas off each other and maybe even partner up to do business together.

As you can see, there are many benefits to trade shows. But for companies to be successful at trade shows they need to set up a successful trade show booth and draw companies to their products. With that in mind, here are some tips to setting up a successful trade show booth:

• Showcase your product: If you’ve got a booth at one of your industries big annual trade shows, there’s no doubt people are going to be stopping by your booth. It’s your company’s job to show people what you have to offer and why customers need your product. People like to interact with products and see things in real life before they order them out of a catalog. The best thing you can do is to have plenty of product on hand for customers to see.
• Make use of samples: If there’s one thing trade show attendees what about trade shows, it’s getting free stuff. Believe it or not, giving out samples is a highly successful marketing technique. Whether it’s buttons or bracelets or stickers or stress balls, anything with your company’s name on it is a chance to leave a positive impression with a customer.
• Develop your brand: Every business that sets up a trade show booth does soul wanting to impress hundreds and hundreds of customers are likely to see during a trade show. For many companies, this is the one time of year they really get a chance to connect with their core customer base.
  With that in mind, companies need to really focus on their brands and what sets them apart from their competition. That means figuring out how to draw customer in, keep their attention and ultimately get their business. That means asking what your company can provide for a prospective. That means asking how you can develop your brand to appeal to loyal customers. That means asking how your company can be original and have something new to offer it every trade show you attend.
• Don’t be afraid of social media: Social media is everything these days and everyone uses it. If your company isn’t using social media effectively, you’ll get left behind real quick. You can use social media to engage with potential clients and loyal customers to keep them informed about what’s going on with your company, what deals you might be offering and you can also provide examples of ways you can open customer get what they need.
• Be inviting: If you’ve got a trade show booth, you definitely want to showcase your product, but you also want to find ways to be welcoming. One way you can do that is with effective digital printing that really draws a customer’s attention. You can find a digital printing company that will do banner printing, poster printing, business card printing and any other kinds of printing you need to set up your booth. Poster printing for example can draw in customers immediately and poster printing can also be used to showcase a product.

By using poster printing and other kinds of printing to showcase your products, customers will flock to your trade show booth to hear about what your company can do for them.