Are Trade Show Goals Important?

 

When it comes to building a trade show booth, you might want to set some goals. These goals can be for both your company and your client or individual goals. These can be set by an artwork deadline, ordering your products on time, and getting everything checked off the list to be built at the show. There are a lot of steps to getting everything completed before the show. Goals are a great way to start the process of building your booth and will ensure that both the client and you can stay on schedule, get on the same page, and have good communication. 

Ideally, you want to start the process a few months ahead. Especially if you’re relying on artwork from your client or your designer. This can be the longest part of the process, which involves a lot of going back and forth with the client and production. Key components of the artwork are high-resolution photos, PMS colors, and branding guidelines. When clients are doing their graphics, it's important to identify and communicate these requirements. If not, there could be issues with the design that cannot be fixed, or worst-case scenario, require starting from scratch. Artwork is the most important part of a booth. 

When deadlines are set, both sides are liable for getting everything completed. You must be timely with weekly updates over email or notifications. This will ensure you have enough time for production, shipping, and fixes if necessary. It's important to have some buffer time in the process. These days, we have encountered production and shipment delays that we need to account for in the timeline. Most clients don't understand this long process time, but this is what will save you time and money in the end. Rush fees on shipping and production could almost triple in price, so this is important to stay on your timeline. 

Goals are important to be established to motivate and to hold each other accountable. Creating a trade show booth is a long and stressful process, but setting these goals and deadlines can help make something complicated into a stress-free show.