These methods are great for drawing attention in the physical world, but there are also simple methods to make your event an even greater success with the use of online tools, as outlined below.

1. Your web site. Is the event advertised on your home page with a link to a separate page on the site? If not this is a key way of drawing attention to your event with people who are already interested in your product or service. Implementing an online registration system is beneficial for committing people to attending your event. Get this set up early even if you don’t have a full list of acts or times etc, you can have a “send me more info” button.

2. Use Social media. The secret to this powerful tool is to get word of moth referrals. If you tell 5 people and they each tell 5 people who in turn tell 5 people after 8 steps you have told nearly 80,000 people! Make it easy by giving them the text and a pre-shortened link, using a service like tinyurl, to your event homepage or registration page that they can copy and paste to Twitter and Facebook. For Twitter users, add a hashtag (a # sign followed by a word or phrase, i.e. #homeshow2010) to brand individual tweets about your event. This lets Twitter users (and you) easily see who else is tweeting about the event. Keep tweeting whenever you have fresh news, a new act or special guest.

3. Use email. If you have an email list use it to send a series of emails prior to the event. The first email sent out in plenty of time could be a simple invitation sent, such as ‘8 weeks prior to the event’. Make it personal, keep it short and to the point but sell it to them “A great day out for the whole family” is a good example of this. You could ask them to pre register on your event homepage and give them an incentive, maybe “Free entry to our prize draw”.

Nearer the event, say the week before, send a follow up email. A new invitation for those who have not registered with an attention grabbing headline; “Only 2 days left” “10 seats left”. Also send a reminder to the people who have already registered. A helpful reminder that can boost attendance.

4. Partners. – Ask for links from suppliers and partners. Have you got caterers booked? Are you raising money for a charity? Ask them for an advert article or link on their web site, giving you exposure and awareness.

5. Blogs. These deserve a separate section away from other types of social media as you can search for blogs related to your industry, product or service and narrow your focus on people who would have an inherent interest in your event. See if you can get a link or advertising banner on the relevant blog, as this will be beneficial for both parties.

Google Local helps your advertisements show up in Google searches that are made in close proximity to your business which will help you get more traffic, leads and ultimately sales.

It is a simple task that will take no more than 15 minutes, and as well as being beneficial for Google rankings, it is also useful to point potential customers towards as it can be linked up with YouTube videos, directories you appear in, and customer reviews.
To get started go to: http://www.google.com/local and click on the link “put your business on Google maps”.

Here are a few tips when adding your listing:

1. Go to www.google.com/local and search to make sure your business is not already listed.

2. Make sure you pick a town that people will search for. Although it may be easier to rank well for a small village, it usually isn’t beneficial as nobody will be searching for it. Maybe look around at a few big towns and cities near you and pick the one with the least competition. You can use Google Keywords to check; in the word or phrase box type in queries such as “Display Stands Cardiff” and “Display Stands Manchester” and compare the two.

3. It might take a few weeks to get listed so check back to make sure you’ve been included and you’re happy with how your page looks. Try to make the most of the your listing by providing as much information as you can and follow this up by asking customers to leave reviews for you.

As well as Google Local, there are lots of other free places you can list your business. Here’s a few to get you started:

Thomson Local

Yell Direct

The Business List

Just One Uk

UK Small Business Directory

WWWi

Free Index

Streets Local

The i Group

Access Place

The UK’s Best

Space – your piece of trade fair real estate comes at a cost.  That cost will likely vary by exhibition type and scope.  Some fairs rent their space for a flat fee, while others calculate by the square foot.

Exhibition Stand, Graphics and Accessories – Many companies invest in a modular exhibition stand that allows them to use different pieces for different exhibitions, depending on the space they occupy.  Modular exhibition stands can be updated easily with graphics that change according to the venue or audience.  You should also calculate expenses for brochure racks, furniture, lighting and other necessary accessories.

Freight and Drayage – The cost of shipping your exhibition stand from one venue to the next, or back to the warehouse, can be done via air or ground.  Large exhibition stand vendors like Discount Displays are often able to provide the best shipping rates because of the volume of business they provide to the shipping companies.  Drayage is the charge that the on-site venue assesses for moving your equipment from the loading dock to the show floor.

Utilities – Each venue will assess charges for providing power to your exhibition stand.

Labour – Some venues required that you use their personnel to set up your exhibition stand; others will allow you to furnish your own labour.  Whichever it is, be sure to include it in your exhibition fair budget.

Staff – Your trade fair budget should include the expense of staffing your exhibition stand during the run of each show.

Travel and Entertainment – Calculate these costs carefully and advise your staff of what you have budgeted unless you like being surprised.

Promotions – Budget for any giveaways or trade fair promotions and assign the cost to each show so you can track the ROI by venue.