You’ve spent a lot of time and money getting ready for your tradeshow, but once you’re at the show it can be overwhelming to keep track of everyone you talked to, what they want to order, and the next steps you’ll have to do when you get back. Don’t let those issues keep you from having a great show and getting new leads to grow your business. Here are 5 common mistakes for companies exhibiting at tradeshows and how you can avoid them!

1. Getting Partial Contact Information
   It’s the 21st century and there are better ways to get someone’s contact information than having them write it down in a notebook. That’s where technology comes in! It’s easy to use the SAGE ShowLink app on your device to collect all the information you need. All you have to do is scan the attendees’ barcoded badges and it loads all of their information for you. This way, you can keep all the contact details in one place. You’ll even get a full lead report of everyone you talked to right after the show.
   
   
2. Losing All the Business Cards
   We’ve heard horror stories of companies that have a great show and triumphantly head back to the office but forget the stack of business cards in their booth, or put them in a suitcase that gets lost on the flight home. Don’t let all your hard work go to waste, once their badge has been scanned with ShowLink all your lead’s information will be saved directly to the cloud for safekeeping and so anyone on your team can access it.
   
   
3. Not Taking Notes
   Don’t trust yourself to remember, there is so much going on at tradeshows things can get mixed up or forgotten altogether. Take the time to write down some notes on what the customer is interested in, what they liked about your products, and if they need any additional information right in the ShowLink app to make follow-up easier. Don’t have the time to write notes after each interaction? You can use the talk-to-text feature so you can quickly enter the notes and get back to selling your product!
   
   
4. Letting Hot Leads Slip Through the Cracks
   You have a customer in your booth who is ready to order, they just need to get some samples. Don’t put them on the back burner and risk losing the sale to a competitor, send their information back to your team right away! Use the rating system in ShowLink so your team knows who needs immediate attention and who can wait until you get back in the office. Rating a lead a five will automatically send their information back to your office so your team can get started helping them right away and turn your leads into sales.
   
   
5. Having Follow-Up Timelines Pass You By
   Nearly 80 percent of leads generated on the tradeshow floor go unfulfilled, even the most interested customers can be lost if you put off contacting them. Set follow-up reminders in ShowLink to make sure every lead will be a priority once the show is over. After a week, people are more likely to forget about your meeting and will be less likely to respond to your calls and emails.
   

SOURCE

Do you think that banner signs can be relevant to promote any business? Yes, they are relevant for business promotion. In fact, banners can be the best tool for the advertisement of any event, product or service. Sometimes they can be even more efficient than the modern ways of marketing. Here, we will focus on the reasons why banners are the best option when it comes to promotion of products, services, brand or events.

Banners are used to attract the attention of people towards a brand or event. Because of their size and colored graphics, they instantly catch the sight of people passing by. Banner signs come in multiple sizes and types. You can create a banner according to your advertising needs and goals. Here are the reasons why banners are still an important tool for the promotion of a brand or business.

Banner Signs are Versatile

Banners such as vinyl banners and aluminum banners can be created in any size according to the location in which they are to be used. No other marketing tools can offer you the flexibility of size for your advertisement.

If you want to use a banner inside your office, small banners are the best. The small banners are used by the restaurants and food outlets to display their menu or special offers inside their premises. They are also used by retail stores to display a new product with a brief description of the features and price.

Medium sized banner signs are the best to use on the storefronts to catch the attention of people passing in front of the store. They are used to show the new products and offers that a company is presently providing to its customers.

Large sized banners are used at outdoor locations. They are used for promotion of shortly opening stores and large clearance sales. Large banners are used on storefronts, intersections, and locations which are usually busy with people. Sometimes, large banners are also used in the stores which are large. For example, automobile dealerships use them to advertise their new or upcoming cars to attract the attention of customers.

Banners are Cost Effective

Banner signs are cost effective as compared to the other advertising tools. The high cost of advertising could be an issue for businesses having a small marketing budget. Usually, the small startups don’t want to spend more on advertising. Banner signs are the best solution for such businesses as they cost less than other forms of advertisements like TV ads, radio ads and newspaper ads.

Moreover, the facility of digital printing is available almost everywhere, even in small towns and semi-urban areas. If you know, how to use some image editing tools or desktop publishing suites, then banner may cost you even lesser as you will need to pay only the printing cost.

Targeted Advertising

Target advertising is the best way to use your marketing efforts. Banner signs help you to target your potential customers. For example, when you use a banner sign in an event for the promotion of your products, you are sure that the people who see your ad are your potential customers.

When you promote your business through radio or TV, people may miss your ad as they are distracted by the multiple advertisements and programs. Even in the case of digital marketing, people are using the internet for a purpose, and they may ignore your advertisement as they are not your potential customers. However, if you use banner signs for the promotion of your products, services or events, your potential customers see your advertisement.

For example, people attending an event are interested in that event, that is the reason they came there. If your advertisement is related to the event, people watching it are likely to be converted into your customers. If you are running a restaurant business, the ads you place inside and in front of your restaurant are only seen by the people who are interested in dining outside.

Continuous Advertising

While advertising on television, radio and online marketing an advertisement is shown once, and it is over within seconds. If your potential customers miss the advertisement, they will not come to know about your new product or service until you advertise again. Even if you use social media for promotion of your brand, you need to post your ad again and again.

On the other hand, when you use banner signs, they continue to advertise your product or service until you replace the banner. Even people, who missed your banner ad once, may see it when they pass through the location next time.

When you install your banner signs in a high traffic area, people see your advertisement multiple times, and they remember your brand and the product you show in your advertisement. Banners help to create your brand image in the minds of people. Even if they don’t buy your offering now, they may buy from you in the future because they remember your brand.

Banners installed at places like city centers, shopping malls, railway stations and bus terminals generate continuous exposure from frequent commuters.

Attracts Local Audience

Banner signs are used to attract the local audience of a city or area. Due to its local approach, they are relatively cheaper to advertise your brand and offerings as compared to other advertising media like TV and radio. Advertising through banner signs is also inexpensive as compared to online marketing tools like Search engine optimization and Social media marketing.

Durability Matters

Banner signs are durable and weather resistant. They are not spoiled by rainwater, winds, and bright sunlight. The use of vinyl and aluminum in creating banners make then durable enough to face all the harsh weather conditions. Moreover, the use of UV ink in digital printing makes them more resistant to fading. The test and graphics printed by the UV ink do not get fade, and your banners do not degrade even if placed in direct sunlight.

The brightness and looks of your banner sign are important to be seen by the people. Banners which are made up of good quality material and ink remain bright for extended periods of time and attract attention. Bright colors, weather resistant inks, and material make your banner signs durable, and they continue to attract the attention of people.

The long-lasting visibility of banner signs attracts many potential customers to your business who may purchase the product you show in your advertisement. If you place your banners in an event, you can reuse them in future as they are made up of durable material.

Brings Traffic to Your Website

Banner signs not only advertise your product, services or events, they also bring traffic to your blog, website, and social media pages. You can mention the URL of your blog or website in your banner advertisement. Banner signs work the best when you provide a special offer to the customers who order from your website.

Everyone who is online today has a social media account. When they see your social media links on your banner, they like your pages and receive your social media posts in their feed. This shows that banners are not only meant for offline advertising, they also bring traffic to your website and social media pages.

Ideal for Short Messages and Ideas

Banner ads are the best to communicate short messages and ideas to your customers. Although small businesses post free ads on social media pages, they are shown to people who have liked your page.  The banner signs convey your message to mass customers even if they see your banner for the first time. Unlike social media ads which are shown to people who like your page, banner signs convey your idea or message to all the persons who follow the route where it is installed.

Creative Flexibility

The present imaging technology provides extended creativity by which the banners are visible from a distance. Earlier, such technologies were not available, and the banners were not that effective. The banner signs used for outdoor advertisements can show larger than life images which look similar to three-dimensional objects and attracts attention instantly.

Ideal for Construction Companies

The banner signs are ideal to be used by construction companies to tell people about their ongoing and upcoming projects. Real estate companies make use of construction signage banners to advertise about their project to the potential customers. Usually, they use mesh banners or billboards to convey the message as they are large in size and ideal to show a big image of their project.

Final words
​
There are many types of banner signs such as billboards, vinyl banners, aluminum signs, shade cloth banners, site signage banners that are used by businesses according to their marketing needs and goals.  Even though it takes time to design high-quality graphics and print the banners, the result is the professional quality you need to advertise your offerings. Considering the flexibility, cost-effectiveness and other benefits of banner signs, they are still the best solution for the promotion of your brand and business.


​SOURCE