Think Outside the Booth

Trade shows are a popular marketing channel for manufacturing companies. That’s because with the right pre-, during, and post-show planning and execution, savvy manufacturers can really showcase their brand, highlight their quality, and elevate themselves above their less well-thought-out competitors, which results in better leads.

At Crafted, we take a big-picture approach to trade show execution. It’s not just about designing a great booth experience and creating compelling handouts. There are other significant areas to explore as well.

For example:

How do we generate awareness, excitement, and conversations with the right people in the buildup to the show?

What kind of on-brand experience can we create at the show that will resonate with prospective customers while driving conversations and leads?

How are we going to continue the conversation after the show is over?

You can’t measure the success of a trade show over the course of a few days in Chicago or a weekend in Atlanta. Positive short-term feedback is terrific, but a well-planned, well-executed trade show should provide more meaningful results and conversations that continue well after the show has concluded.

Experience Design

For most manufacturers, the design (or lack thereof) of their corporate lobby and showroom represents a missed opportunity to convey their brand authenticity. From a 30,000-foot perspective, it simply doesn’t make sense for a company to budget a significant amount of capital and resources into a one-week trade show display, only to neglect the design of their lobby and showroom that are forward-facing all year long. Shouldn’t the experiences be similar for both? Yet this kind of experiential design is something that most manufacturers are simply not taking advantage of.

It’s all branding, and it all has the power to generate leads both with prospective and existing customers.