Introduction
Trade shows are an excellent place to advertise and show-off your latest products to your prospective customers. A trade show is an ideal place to have promotional or pilot product programs as the kind of customer that comes to such a trade show will have more knowledge about that particular trade and so can give you great customer feedback. For example, if your company sells biscuits or cookies then going to the food and beverage a Alimentaria trade show would be an excellent place to launch a new product or get feedback about an existing product. The kind of people who will attend a food and beverage trade show will most like have a strong interest in this industry and will give better product feedback then someone who is indifferent or uninterested. Therefore, a trade show which is related to the industry sector in which your company works is a great feedback and promotional tool. You can have a tradeshow when your company needs a promotional boost.
History
Almost all major categories of the services sector and manufacturing sector have a trade show which is exclusively for that category. As already mentioned the food and beverage trade show is called Alimentaria and it a trade show which producers of food stuff will exhibit their products and where business owners such as restaurant owners will attend to see what new and exciting products are available. There are hundreds of such trade shows in the United States each year. Some of the big names are Bread Basket, Consumer Electronics Show, EuVend, Gamescon, Light + Building, Tehran International Book Fair, Whisky Live and NAIAS.
Features
The trade show which many people enjoy to attend even if they have little knowledge of the industry of electronics is the Consumer Electronics Show or CES. CES attracts people from all over the United States to come and see what new products and ideas are floating in the electronics industry. Many of the products shown at CES are mass produced in subsequent years. So CES is the place where prototypes are released and some go on to become mass produced. CES is not limited to companies based in the United States, many companies from Germany and Japan also exhibit their products at CES.
Tips and comments
The biggest trade shows will have close to 1000 exhibitors and over 10,000 attendees. Attending such a trade show will give a kind of advertising which is not available through television or billboards. At trade shows people can physically touch and use the product while your trained marketing people explain the benefits, features etc. Also, this medium allows the prospective customer to ask questions and have them answered immediately. It is very important that the people who staff the booths at a trade show know their products and company extremely well. The staff must know the potential strengths and weaknesses of their product and know what to features are to be highlighted. Poorly trained booth staff can hamper the potential of great product so be sure to train your staff very well.
