The Event Planner Expo is at its most exciting when participants are out networking and mingling on the exhibit floor. This is usually when the crowd is their most bubbly and engaging selves. For nearly every event planner in New York, watching how people connect is the moment they know all their hard work was worth it. Why? Because they made those connections happen.
A huge part of successful engagement is creating an ambiance that attendees can feel relaxed and are able to step out of their comfort zone. The best way to do that is to have exhibitors deliver unique, appealing, on-floor experiences that help develop the ambiance and draws attention to their brand.
YOU ABSOLUTELY SHOULD SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF
Listen, we’ve all been there where you’ve planned out every detail down to every minute of the expo but you didn’t contemplate on the WIFI acting up or the A/V conking out on you. It simply happens to the best of us!
So, make sure you do a walkthrough of every activation method you’ve brought to exhibit at The Event Planner Expo. That means that you test your live-stream connections, selfie stations, functionality, power, space, and that you have a back-up plan for each item.
You and your team should also do a few trial practices of Q&A so that you have the answers to any possible question ready and a plan to engage your booth visitor.
PROPER ACTIVATION
If you’re exhibiting at The Event Planner Expo, then that means your brand is relevant to the events industry. Now, what value does your brand bring to the attendees? That’s the question you must first answer so that you can decide what type of entertainment and offerings you want to have at your booth.
Our best advice? Ask yourself how you can demonstrate or prove the value of your brand to attendees.
Plus, this is an excellent chance to think outside the box and be more creative. Not only to gain brand recognition but also to prove the value of your brand and ability to entertain or engage attendees.
Another golden key piece of advice is to partner with another brand and create an entire experience for attendees. For example, if you’re a caterer, you can partner with a photographer and offer a cake smash photo opp for attendees.
Be sure to partner with a vendor who is local to your business and perhaps this can become an ongoing collaboration to gain clients together.
START THE NOISE EARLY AND REGULARLY
Make sure that your brand is building momentum and awareness before the event on all of your social media channels. Use any opportunity to spread the word. May it be on your blog, social platforms, or even publish media that will make some noise and create a buzz about your brand exhibiting at The Event Planner Expo.
Social media platforms in particular offer you the opportunity to tell your brand’s story, draw attention, and engage participants. Create and start using a unique event hashtag before the expo so you can highlight the activations you’ll be offering at your booth.
Live-streaming brand activations are an excellent way to get participants excited and involved. Whether you do it through social media channels or alternate live-streaming platforms. For example, event planners in New York could create a “behind-the-scenes” Facebook Live post one day prior to the expo and feature the brand activations and interactive opportunities that will be available to attendees. Promoting that type of fun may even be the type of post you want to promote using paid marketing options on platforms such as Facebook or Instagram. If you select the right target audience to promote your post to, you are guaranteed to have heavy traffic at your booth.
CONCLUSION
The Event Planner Expo has had many memorable moments not only while in session, but also afterwards. Building a memorable brand experience while exhibiting your brand at the expo will not only bring life to your booth, but it will also create a truly engaging experience for attendees. After the expo, you will be remembered for sure which will make your follow-up calls and emails more productive and increase your chances of gaining business from those participants that simply could not forget their minutes with you at the event.
