Attending trade shows has become a fairly prominent part of the marketing mix for many companies today. Along with the other common branding strategies available – including traditional advertising and more modern methods utilising web, social and mobile outlets – the trade show strategy now accounts for a significant part of the budget among many thriving organisations.

If your company is getting ready to attend a show soon, it's good to go into the event with a set list of goals in mind. What are you hoping to accomplish?

The show itself can go by quickly – all the people and meetings and exhibitions can blur together. For this reason, savvy marketers know to plan thoroughly beforehand so they don't lose themselves in the hectic environment of the show once it starts.

Common goals for trade show exhibitors

When you first hit the trade show floor, what are your objectives? Every company is different, and every marketer has varying goals when it comes to brand activation – but according to market research from Skyline Exhibits, there are a few common themes. The following are the most common goals that businesses have:

• Brand awareness: Simply put, the first step is getting people to know you exist. A trade show represents a large group of potential customers all gathered in one place, so it's a tremendous opportunity to let people know about who you are and what you have to offer.

• Lead generation: Before you can make sales, you have to initiate contact with potential customers, opening lines of dialogue and planting the idea in their minds about patronising your business. Fortunately, every trade show is a goldmine of possible leads.

• Relationship building: Once you have people on the hook, the next step is to build stronger bonds with those individuals and move them further along in the sales funnel. Keep the conversation moving in the right direction.

How you can start on the right foot

No doubt, you're going into your next trade show with an endless list of ideas about how to further your brand and build stronger relationships with leads. The bad news, however, is that every other company attending the show has the exact same ideas. That's why, according to HubSpot research, one of the most important skills in trade show marketing is the ability to promote your brand with creativity.

Offering fun games and contests are a great way to draw attention.

How can you make your trade show booth unique so that it sticks in people's minds and helps to further your reputation? What features – think events, contests, games – can you include that will help make you memorable? You want to create excitement so that your company does more than just get lost in the crowd.

Branding a business is all about creating buzz, and there's no place that buzz travels faster than at a trade show. If you do something distinctive with your brand, people will take notice, and the word will quickly spread.

Design factors prominently into your plans

To achieve all of your trade show marketing goals, one of the primary things you need is a booth that's designed for success. That's why it makes sense to invest in professional help in this area – thanks to Exposure Group, you can now reach out to expert exhibit designers who can help you with all the displays and graphics you need to make your brand pop.

There's no need to handle trade show display design yourself. At Exposure Group, we have a world-class team of professionals who can tackle that challenge for you. We can either work within an established brief or use our creativity to develop an entirely new collaborative design process. Either way, we're ready to help you achieve all your marketing goals and then some.