Exhibiting at events and expos is one of the most effective ways to get your brand, products or services in front of the right people.
Whatever trade you’re in, heading to events can help establish your name in your market, learn more about your industry and meet potential leads.
However, preparing for an event can often be as stressful as the event itself…
Here we share our comprehensive marketing guide for exhibiting at events and expos.
From brochures to banners, emails to social media, this is your definitive guide to ensure you’re prepared to make the most of each event.
Choose the right events and expos
We won’t lie… we’ve attended and exhibited at events in the past and come back to the office thinking: ‘That was a bit of a waste of time’. Not because the event was necessarily bad, but because it simply wasn’t the right event for us.
Before you sign up for an event, do your due diligence and look at the types of exhibitors they have had in the past.
You don’t want to blend into the crowd, but you also don’t want to be so different to the exhibitors and visitors that no-one is interested!
Depending on your industry, you may have expos and trade shows you attend every single year, but is it time to take a step back and ask: ‘Are they helping us win business?’
Exhibition stands
When it comes to planning for your event stand, there are a few things to consider.
At a glance, it should let attendees know:
- Who you are – with a logo and perhaps a picture of your team
- What you do – a short description or tagline
- How you can support them – a brief line on how potential clients could benefit from your services
- Why they should speak to you – any special offers, chances to book a call etc.
It’s important that your stand is eye-catching, decked out in your brand colours and is demonstrating what is unique about your business.
Banners
Your banners can be seen from across the room, so it’s important it stands out and presents a clear message.
Make sure you use just a small amount of text in an easily legible font, such as Helvetica, Georgia, PT Sans or Poppins (our font of choice).
Adorned in your brand colours, your banner should be bright and tell attendees what you do in seconds.
Podium
Positioned in front of your stand, your podium could be home to your merchandise or brochures, or simply serve as somewhere for you to stand to greet attendees.
If you’re looking for a design for your podium, don’t overthink it – like with your banners and stands, keep it simple, to-the-point and clear.
Print marketing material
If you think print is dead, we’re here to prove you wrong!
The truth is, even in the age of digital marketing, there’s something special about physical, printed marketing material.
Here’s a rundown of some print marketing to put on display at your stand:
- Business cards – even in this day and age, business cards are a simple, convenient way to give out your contact details and collect data from potential clients
- Brochures – let attendees find out about your business's story, your team and the services you provide
- Leaflets and flyers – if a brochure seems like a long read, a leaflet or flyer can do the trick, providing readers with key points about your business and its products or services
- Magazines – if you produce a monthly or annual magazine, it could be an interesting pick-up for those who attend your stand
- Product guides – want to put the spotlight of one of your key products or services? A short, sweet product guide can be the perfect way
Merchandise
We’ve become well-known for our huge flamingo balloon and endless chocolates and pens.
If someone pops by your stand and just grabs a pen, notepad or stress ball before scurrying off, don’t be disheartened. If they put it on their desk, your brand could be in front of them for months or years to come.
Social media marketing
If a B2B business exhibited at an event, but they didn’t post about it on social media… did it even happen?
It’s important to create a social media marketing strategy that builds interest in your presence at the event, sharing key information like:
- Event date
- Event time
- Event location
- Your stand number
While you’re at the event, posting images of the event itself, pictures with other exhibitors and attendees you’ve spoken to, or photos of your stand.
Don’t forget: head to the LinkedIn profile of the event or organisation itself and see what hashtags they use to promote it.
Ahead of exhibiting at IntraLogisteX 2025, we created a social media campaign pre-, during and post-event for our clients, Digipal, garnering over 100 combined reactions on LinkedIn.
Email marketing
When it comes to sending personalised, targeted messages to attendees, potential attendees and fellow exhibitors, email marketing campaigns are often most effective.
These audiences can be segmented and tailored emails written to encourage them each to attend or engage in conversation with you at the event.
TIP: You could even send attendees the chance to pre-book a meeting slot with you at the event.
Event follow-up
Have you exhibited at or attended an event, had lots of interesting and valuable conversations, and then forgotten all about them by the end of the week?
You could have the most promising chat with a potential lead, but trusting them to make the next step and get in touch post-event is a big ask.
The importance of event follow-up simply can’t be underestimated. It’s crucial that you collect information from potential leads at events and continue the conversation.
Event follow-up is even important for those you didn’t speak to, as it may be a second chance for them to declare their interest in your products or services.
How can Flamingo Marketing Strategies help?
At Flamingo, we’re experts in creating full marketing campaigns for events.
Whether you’re exhibiting, sponsoring or even hosting your own event, we can create everything that goes into making it a success.
Explore how we executed standout marketing campaigns for events for our clients, Wealthwide and Worldwide Structures, in the case studies below.
If you’re looking to build momentum ahead of an event, do get in touch and let’s discuss how our marketing campaigns can support you.
Request a brochure
Considering working with a marketing agency? You can request a copy of our brochure here.
Just fill in your details, and we’ll pop one in the post!
We’re here to help!
We’d love to offer you 60 minutes of our time to find out more about what you do for your customers and show you how we would tackle your marketing (and messaging) to drive the best results. We’ll spend up to 60 minutes on Teams where you can share what you’re doing marketing-wise and we can give you some ideas, feedback and suggestions of additional things to throw into the mix.
You can watch the video below to find out more.