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Trade shows can be an incredibly ideal tool to promote a business and increase its sales momentum. At the same time, they can also be a sheer waste of time and money. So, whether a trade show will be a wild success or a wipeout for a business depends largely on how that business prepares promotion and sales planning in advance of participating in the show. Here are some basic things to do to ensure businesses, particularly small ones, can get return on investment (ROI) from any trade shows where they are planning to take part.

# 1- Define Goal for Trade Show Participation:

First ask yourself what you want to gain out of your trade show participation. If it is about selling a particular amount of inventory at trade shows, or becoming known to the community of wholesale suppliers, or focusing on promotion of your products and/or services, or simply hoping to launch a new product and/or service of your business; you have to define your goal as to why you are going to take part in such a trade show. You may have eyes for achieving more than one of these goals. But, the point is that it is necessary for you to define a clear idea as to what your trade show participation is going to attain.

# 2- Explore Trade Shows:

You need to select those trade shows which may give your business the optimum return on investment in terms of your goals. For instance, if you aim to sell products and/or services on-site, erecting popup displays at any big flamboyant trade shows where your pop up trade show displays can be one of a dozen that sell similar products and/or services may not be an ideal selection. What would then be a good step on part of you is to select trade shows that best target the audience that you look to reach, and also best suit your participation goals. Explore thoroughly what particular trade show’s objectives are, and inquire about the anticipated turn-up volume of target audience.

# 3- Fix Budget & Book Trade Show Space:

Once you have decided to participate in a trade show, determine your budget. Fixing a plan for budget depends on the cost for trade show space, and trade show displays. While going to book a space, make sure that you look around the space area in the trade show floor. Go for the space which gets maximum visibility to the traffic and that can afford to set up your trade show booth.

# 4- Know Audience & Plan Trade Show Booth Accordingly:

Before you take part in a trade show, make sure you identify the type of audience expected to visit the trade show floor. Keep in mind that different audiences ‘shop’ differently as per their needs. For instance, retail customers may have needs which must differ from those of the wholesale customers. So, plan to deck your trade show booth in accordance with the nature of target audience.

# 5- Make Advance Publicity:

Start beating the drum for spreading the news of your coming trade show participation. Invite your clients cordially to the trade show venue. Make sure that you have mentioned full details, such as your booth number, in the trade show advertisement. Focus on the web platform that helps spread any news like a wild-fire.

Once you have prepared concrete trade show participation planning, you need to start planning to figure out how to put together trade show popup displays which help impress and pull the audience you want to attract. Remember that you should rely only on the professional display designer in this respect.