There were 250 stands at this year’s TFM&A exhibition.  We spent a couple of days walking round Earls Court 2 checking out what was on offer, and gathering up freebies by the bag-full.

Now the dust is beginning to settle, and as I wade through all the free pens and stress-balls (and in one case a stress-elephant – don’t ask) it occurs to me that there are some key points that make the difference between ambling past and stopping for a closer look.

Before I go into some of the stuff that really impressed me from the exhibitors I have to indulge in a minor rant.  There was no readily available WiFi at this years TFM&A.  I sat in two or three really interesting presentations about Twitter engagement, (notably Dan Martin of www.businesszone.co.uk, and Paul Taylor of 6Consulting) but was unable to tweet about them!  Ardent blur-Marketing fans may have noticed I was Tweeting live, but had I to relay my Tweets back to our office via SMS so they could be posted.

Also, if you’re putting on a Technology exhibition, it might be a good idea to explore how technology can enhance the visitor experience – there was a TFM&A app (which I was assured was available on Android, but couldn’t find) but we were given pages and pages of information from the organisers, and because there was no WiFi people had to go and sit down and take 5 minutes to work out where they were, and where they needed to be.

Anyway – there was a lot to like at TFM&A, so read on for examples of stalls that averted my attention from trying to decipher my handbook.

When I arrived at the exhibition I had a quick look at the map to see where I might visit first.  I was presented with 250 little grey boxes with numbers on them, and then an Index on the opposite page – this map was only any use to people who knew which stalls they wanted to visit before they arrived.  It certainly wasn’t ‘browser-friendly’.  Like most of the people there I decided to work my way round and see what I could find.

Obviously those stalls which were front-and-centre got the most traffic, however there were a few stalls which I distinctly remember because of where they were positioned. Consider where people will have to go, and more importantly where they will have to stand for a period of time.  There were a couple of fairly drab, forgettable displays opposite the cloakroom, even though they had a captive audience of those queueing to drop off their coats – they could have made the most of this and attracted my attention rather than letting me stare into space while I waited.

These exhibitions are notorious for free pens, keyrings, mint imperials etc. etc.  Make your freebies stand out.  Give people something that others can see when they’ve left your stall.  The BPMA (British Promotional Merchandise Association) have mastered this.  They make the freebies, so they’ve clearly given a lot of thought to this and it showed.  They were handing out artificial roses with ‘BPMA’ printed on the petals.  The roses were on the end of stems about 2 feet long.  this meant that they stuck out of the top of your bag.  Not only was the freebie advertising to the person who’d been given it, but to everyone who saw that person for the rest of the day.  It was also a novel departure from pens!

Director General Gordon Glenister made a very persuasive case for the value of free gifts to businesses.

A mention should go out here to WebSpiders.  They developed the official TFM&A app, and had a quirky way of handing out freebies while getting their hands on some data at the same time.  They had a laptop with their Facebook page open, and I had to log in and ‘like’ the page.  Using the laptop’s camera I could then scan a 3d bar code which I picked at random from a ‘lucky dip’.  The bar code related to a freebie prize.  I won a keyring in the end, but adding the chance to win better freebies is what attracted me to the stall.

From WebSpider’s perspective they were able to demonstrate their novel technology, and get my data as a fan of their app.

3 – Branding.
Everyone at this exhibition wore a badge with their name, and job title on it.  I played the mildly diverting ‘find the funniest name’ game, but the badges didn’t really stand out, and it was often difficult to know if you were approaching the right person at a stall as everyone wore a suit.

It may seem un-businesslike, and a bit cheesy, but branded clothing made people more easily identifiable and approachable.  The guys at Alterian did a really good job of this.  Not only were they wearing branded shirts, but had readily available business cards and mini booklets explaining their services.  You wouldn’t believe the number of people who had to scrawl their email address down on a scrap of paper for want of a business card.

If people can see who your people are, they’re more likely to come to them with an enquiry, and if they’re given a business card they’re more likely to follow it up.

4 – Display.
My favourite display was undoubtedly from Inbox Warriors.  They had laid out a 6 seat dinner table complete with cutlery, crockery, port, cheese and biscuits.  When I asked Director Mike Parry about this he explained the premise that “the best place to talk is after a good dinner”.  This was the only stall I saw where people were actually sitting down to talk to the exhibitors.

You have to give people a reason to sit and chat – just having a couple of chairs on the off-chance that someone will use them means you’ll only get tired people looking for an excuse to take a load off.  Mike’s whole approach was based around ‘talking’ not ‘showing’.  There were no bullet points on their posters, no text-heavy brochures, and the fact that I had to ask him what they did was a good thing.  They’d got my interest, and explained that they offer bespoke client-centred email marketing solutions.

In writing this blog the only company I haven’t had to consult my notebook for was Inbox Warriors.

5 – Handshake, Eye-contact, Name.
I know this is three points, I know they’re basic ones, and I know everyone understands how important they are.  However, if your exhibitor is holding a clipboard, or is sitting behind a desk it can be cumbersome to shake their hand, especially if you’re laden with bags, or holding a notepad yourself.  Also, the temptation to demonstrate with the aid of a brochure or a poster seems to detract from making eye-contact (and therein a lasting impression).  Thirdly make sure I can see their badge.  Over the course of the exhibition I must have introduced myself to 40-50 people.  It’s hard to remember that many names, so when it comes to the end of our chat it helps if I can glance at their name badge as an easy reminder of who they are.

If you follow these tips you’ll get more people stopping for a chat, and when they do they’ll stay longer and pay closer attention to what you have to say.  Obviously it helps if you have a great product or service!