Use It or Lose It: Prepare for Next Year With Your 2020 Trade Show Budget

If you had grand plans to attend and present your company at a trade show this year, your plans, along with every other business, were most likely interrupted by COVID-19. The need to social distance and avoid enclosed spaces with large groups of people forced many events to be canceled. As a result, you probably have a trade show booth budget that not only has gone untouched but is also going to waste. Instead of reallocating that budget, why not use it to prepare for next year?

What to Do With Your 2020 Trade Show Budget

When you decide to represent your organization at a corporate event, there’s something you need to do before you focus on the trade show booth setup process. The first step toward having a successful trade show experience is planning out a budget for your booth. This doesn’t simply refer to the cost of the booth alone—it also refers to the costs associated with show services, electricity use, personnel costs, material handling, lodging, meals, and more.

When all is said and done, trade shows are an expensive part of any marketing budget, and since you don’t deal with these types of expenses on a regular basis, coming up with the money for them can be challenging. It takes a lot of time and effort to create the right budget for a trade show. There’s no need to let all that hard work go to waste, however. You can use the budget you created for this year to get everything you need for next year.

Preparation is the key to achieving success in any situation. Having your budget already planned out for 2021 speeds up the prepping process. The less time it takes to sort out your plans for next year, the more time you have to look into certain aspects of your project, like designing your booth graphics or choosing a vendor for your booth management and storage needs. This presents the opportunity to make sure everything is perfect going into your next event.

Thinking about sprucing up your booth in preparation for 2021 but don’t have the budget for a whole new build? Revamping with new graphics, virtual reality, or even audio/visual elements can make your booth feel brand new.

How to Plan a Trade Show Booth

Since you already have a budget in place, you can skip ahead to planning out the remaining steps for your show floor experience. This is a tricky process that trips up novices and veterans alike, so it’s important to know how to go about preparing your exhibit. If you’re unsure of how to go about planning for your next show, here are a few trade show tips to follow:

Determine the Goals and Objectives You’re Trying to Accomplish

While the terms “goals” and “objectives” are often used interchangeably, there’s an important distinction between the two. Think of goals as what you’re trying to achieve and objectives as what you need to do to reach your goal, like a plan of attack. The usual goals of an exhibitor are to build brand awareness, find leads, and create relationships. When you decide what your goals are, you can start to set objectives that will guide you to realize those goals.

Setting goals and objectives not only allows you to create a plan of attack, but it also allows you to determine the potential return on investment (ROI) your exhibit can provide. Gateway specializes in this area. We use our extensive knowledge to help you determine the optimal idea for your marketing campaign, factor in lead generation and potential sales, and then we see what aspects of your exhibit could be enhanced to give you a greater ROI.

Choose the Right Show to Appear At

There are many trade shows that your organization can attend. In fact, there are about 13,000 trade shows held in the United States alone, according to Jobsinmarketing.io. You want to make sure you attend a show that makes sense for business. For instance, if you operate in the automobile industry, you don’t want to attend a healthcare industry-specific event.

Have an Exhibit Designed Around Your Goals

Your booth should reflect the goals and objectives you set for your event experience. Make sure you have the proper amount of floor space, plenty of seats, marketing materials, and more. Having a booth centered on your goals and objectives makes it easier to achieve them.

Let Us Take Care of Your Booth Needs

The Gateway Structures team specializes in trade show exhibit services. We work with clients in a variety of industries to deliver incredible trade show experiences. We offer everything you need to grab the attention of potential clients.