Before you start getting serious about planning for your next trade show, you must define your target audience.
Your target trade show audience will determine a lot about your marketing strategy before, during, and after your event. This blog will break down tips on defining your trade show audience and tailoring your exhibit to fit that audience. 
Determine Your Reason For Attending
To better define your target audience, you must first identify your company’s reason for attending that specific trade show.
If you’re there to network with other business owners, your target audience will be different than if you were unveiling a new product. Spend some time defining your “why” for being at the trade show, and the right target audience will follow.
Common reasons for attending a trade show include:
- Analyzing competitor’s businesses
- Generating new leads
- Building business relationships
Create Attendee Personas
Attendee personas are fictional descriptions of the people you feel are most likely to visit your trade show exhibit.
Create attendee personas by analyzing your current customers. Pay attention to how your customers interact online, whether in the comment section of your website or on social media. Include details about your customers like gender, age range, job titles, and more. Then use these facts to make 2-3 different personas.
Having a character or persona in mind for who will be visiting your exhibit easily allows you to target them at every stage of the marketing journey.
Send a Pre-event Survey
Before your event, put a call out on social media and through email asking who will be attending the upcoming trade show. Then send this group a pre-event survey. This survey can act as a valuable tool in helping you understand your target audience and why they’re interested in the trade show.
In this survey, ask what speakers or exhibits they’re most excited about. Ask what they’re most interested in learning. You can also ask them questions about their behavior, like their favorite social media platforms.
Here are a few helpful questions to put on a pre-event survey:
- What is your job title?
- Why are you attending this trade show?
- How did you hear about this trade show?
All of this information can be used to further hone in on your target audience.
Tailor Your Exhibit To Your Audience
Once you understand your audience and what they’re looking for, you can tailor your exhibit to them. This level of personalization will impress your audience and spark their interest in your company.
Take what you know about your audience from attendee personas and surveys and apply it to your exhibit. For instance, is your target audience highly tech savvy? If so, incorporate technology throughout your exhibit. Is your target audience social and interactive? If so, design an interactive exhibit for them.
We Can Help You Reach Your Target Audience
Hamilton can help you build an incredible exhibit that’s geared to your target audience.
Contact us today to get started on your exhibit-building needs.