Corporate events, networking meetings, conferences, and tradeshows are fabulous ways to promote your business. They give you a great way to make essential connections, meet new suppliers and people that can help you further your business, connect with your customers , start to build relationships and reach a much wider audience. Millions of brands and companies attend events like this every year, not to mention customers, supplier, and others.

This makes for a lot of competition. Even if your brand does something totally new, and you feel it beats anyone else in your industry, just getting noticed can be almost impossible. Especially if you are new to these events, don’t already have a large audience and don’t have a massive budget to spend on displays, props, and free gifts. But, luckily, it’s entirely possible to get noticed at an event without splashing vast amounts of cash.

Get a Uniform

No one wants to wear a uniform on a day out of the office, and most people that attend trade shows and other events dress reasonably casually. It’s a long and busy day, so this is a good idea. But, that doesn’t mean that you can’t use your clothes as a way to advertise your brand and get spotted. Company shirts carrying your logo and colour scheme are an easy way to get spotted in a crowd. You can even give some away or employ people to wear them around the show to get the word out.

Offer a Freebie

At large events, like meetings and shows, many brands give everyone they speak with a goodie bag. This is a fabulous way to get noticed and remembered. But, some freebies work better than others. Everyone gives away pens and tote bags. So, make your different. Give people something that they actually need and make sure your tote bags are bigger, brighter or more fun than everyone else’s. These are a fantastic advertising tool.

Build the Buzz

Your attendance at the event should be at the end of a big build up. Let your existing audience know that you’ll be attending on social media. Start your own hashtag and encourage people to share photos with you or your displays and products on the day. Start a countdown, offer sneak peeks of what you are doing and generally work to build the buzz before the big day.

Offer a Deal

If you can offer everyone that visits you during the event an exclusive deal. This could be a small discount or extra service. It doesn’t need to be huge or costly. People love thinking that they are getting something different, or more than what’s usually on offer. They like to feel special.

Get Online

Social media is exceptionally important when it comes to getting noticed and growing a business. So, don’t stop just because you’ve got a real event going on. Offer real-time updates on your social media profiles, offer live deals, post videos and photos and get your audience involved.

Chat

The best way to get noticed at any event is talking to people. Ask questions, answer questions, chat with your audience and other businesses. Get out there making connections with as many people as you can.