Before choosing a trade show, it’s essential to determine your trade show objectives. Identifying trade show objectives will help your company select the best trade shows to appeal to your target audience. A distinct plan will ensure success before, during and after the trade show. Most importantly, well-defined trade show goals can improve your ROI and help your company spend trade show money efficiently. Every business has unique trade show objectives. Be careful not to go overboard. Select one to three goals for each show and measure them closely. Here’s a short list of common trade show objectives to get you started:

• Obtain qualified sales leads
• Generate revenue with new sales
• Increase sales with existing customers
• Introduce a new product or service
• Educate clients and prospects about your products and services
• Branding and building company awareness
• Promote your industry
• Conduct market research
• Recruit new employees and partners
• Gain media exposure or publicity
• Meet new distributors, suppliers and representatives
• Learn about the competition
• Participate in speaking engagements
• Demonstrate and highlight new products or technology

Don’t attend a trade show for the sake of attending a trade show. With clear objectives in place, you’ll be able to select the right trade shows and present relevant information to attendees. This will help ensure your investment pays off by strengthening customer relationships and generating profitable sales leads.