PR at exhibitions

Exhibitions are an opportunity for clients to meet current and prospective customers, journalists and analysts all in one place.  However, it is also easy to be overlooked amongst the many exhibitors.  This can be rectified simply by having a PR strategy around the event.

The most important time for PR surrounding an exhibition is utilising the buzz beforehand, rather than waiting until the actual event.  Exhibitors need to create some excitement about what they are announcing or demonstrating at the exhibition in order to drive traffic to the stand.

Below are a couple of points which will help you get the most out of exhibitions. 

Meet the media
Too many companies focus on securing interviews at an exhibition and build their PR strategy around this.  Interviews at the exhibition are always hard work as journalists often speak to between 10 and 15 companies over the course of the day.

A better idea is to conduct a media tour two or three weeks ahead of the exhibition.  Journalists will have more time to speak to you, and your messages are less likely to be forgotten.

Timings of news announcements
What are you announcing? Are you the biggest player in your market? Will you be heard over all the noise at the exhibition?   Depending on how you answer these questions, maybe it is worth distributing your news just ahead of the exhibition rather than at it. With so many companies holding back their news for the big event, you may have more opportunity to make a bigger splash with your story before rather than battling against everyone else.

Speaking opportunities at the exhibition
Are you speaking? This is a great tool to use at exhibitions, but you need to get organised well in advance. Unless you are a big name, you may also need to find a customer to talk with you.  Organisers putting together speaker schedules love case studies and this can be a great platform to show off what your company does and the problems it solves within a real-life scenario.

Are you in the exhibition’s daily publication?
Make sure you have contacted the show organisers and know who is producing the exhibition’s official publication, and the type of content they are looking for, whether news, case studies or opinion articles.

Also, look into any opportunities to appear in show guides.  These are handed out to everyone who attends and can be a great opportunity to drive people to your stand. 

The PR opportunities at exhibitions are endless, but timing is crucial in order to fully maximise them.  By doing your research and preparation in plenty of time, you can be sure of a great event.