Exhibiting for the right reasons

Having decided to exhibit, it is necessary to establish your prime reasons for showing. These might be to:

• Introduce goods, products or services
• Demonstrate goods, products or services.
• Research goods, products or services
  
  

• Test market products.
• Meet old and new customers.
• Enter new export markets.
• Support trade associations.
• Sell more products profitably.

Now it is also necessary to decide which exhibition or trade show you will support. In many industries there are maybe one or two main trade shows, whilst in others there may be several to choose from. Trade associations can provide useful data to help in the choice. All exhibitions and trade shows also produce information relating to attendance, numbers of exhibitors – both national and international – and sometimes press cuttings. Exhibitions provide good opportunities for social interchange, new contacts names, new enquiries for products to be introduced and an opportunity to share a group brochures that could reach an important new trade audience.