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New exhibitors should be easy to find in a dedicated area with an enticing name, like Innovation Alley at The Car Wash Show™.
Want to capitalize on the ways new exhibitors — whether they’re startups or established brands — can benefit your event? Make sure your promotional strategy includes:
Kimberly Hardcastle-Geddes
Location, Location, Location
The days of relegating new exhibitors to a “startup” area in the back corner of the show floor are long gone. Attendees want to discover products and companies they haven’t seen before, and that means new companies need to be easy to find. Give the dedicated area an enticing name, like Innovation Alley at The Car Wash Show™ or Eureka Park at International CES — and include it in pre-show promotions to enhance on-site recognition.
Also consider catering to younger companies who might not have the budget for elaborate booth setups by offering sharp-looking turnkey solutions in this area to help create a space that feels dynamic and inviting, making it more likely for attendees to stop, engage, and remember seeing fresh brands.
Experience, Experience, Experience
Planning activations and special events — and listing them with the location name in event promotions — can go a long way toward driving traffic to new exhibitors. A beer crawl, a premium coffee station, or even free education sessions can turn the area into more than just another space in the exhibit hall — it becomes a destination. These extras give attendees a reason to visit and increase the time they spend there, meaning exhibitors have more opportunities to make meaningful connections.
This is also a great opportunity to get creative and distinguish an event from competing shows. For example, IEEE PES held a well-promoted pitch competition at its Grid Edge Technologies Conference & Exposition, where startups delivered five-minute presentations to a panel of judges in front of an audience of attendees. This not only helped attendees discover new companies and drew them to a specific area of the show floor, but it also lowered the barrier to entry for brands lacking a budget for full-on booth setups. Touches like awarding oversized checks to the winners helped create a memorable experience.
Promote, Promote, Promote
Freeman’s winter 2024 research found that nearly nine out of 10 attendees (87 percent) list “opportunities to discover new products/solutions” as the top factor influencing their participation at in-person events. But today’s audiences want more than vague “new product” promises. In your marketing, drive home the value of visiting the new exhibitors’ area with specific details on who’s there and what kinds of solutions attendees will find. Animated ads featuring new exhibitors’ logos, emails about industry trends that tie into solutions at the show, and similar tactics provide credibility and underscore the value of the overall event experience.
Evolve, Evolve, Evolve
The key to promoting a “what’s new” area at an event is keeping it fresh. If the offerings and dedicated spaces for new exhibitors stay the same for years, it can be tough to make the case that an event is truly committed to innovation. Whether it’s adding new activations, shifting the layout, updating pricing and exhibit options or changing up the promotional tactics, evolving the experience is crucial for continued success.
Kimberly Hardcastle-Geddes is president and chief marketing strategist at mdg, A Freeman Company, a full-service marketing and public relations firm specializing in B2B events.
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Download Freeman’s “2024 Attendee Intent and Behavior” trends report.