Understandably, navigating the trade show industry can be a bit tricky, especially if you’re just getting started. There’s a lot to consider when you’re looking to work with a company whether you’re designing your first-ever trade show display or you’re simply ready to upgrade your tired exhibit. Every which way you turn, it seems there’s a company shouting that they can give you exactly what you need. But what if you don’t quite know what you need? Let’s take a look at the different types of trade show industry companies, what they typically offer, and how to find the right company to work with that perfectly suits your trade show display needs.
Trade show marketing offers you a unique opportunity to successfully generate highly targeted leads, strengthen brand loyalty by meeting existing customers in person, increase brand awareness and close sales. It’s a great chance for your business to strut its stuff and cut through the interwebs to connect with your potential customers face-to-face.
To participate in a trade show, you’ll need to outfit your booth with the proper creative visuals such as pop-up displays, tension fabric displays, banner stands, hanging signs, etc. Or you might decide that a custom exhibit is the best route for your marketing needs. Whichever avenue you choose, there are a few things you’ll want to look for when choosing the right company to work within the trade show industry. Most companies in this industry fall into one of two categories: distributors or custom exhibit houses.
Distributors: These companies typically represent different wholesalers and they generally offer standard products with little to no customization available.
Custom-exhibit houses: These companies rarely sell portable displays, banner stands, etc and instead focus primarily on large custom exhibits and the logistics that go along with those.
Each of these types of companies are typically experts in their designated category. But it’s rare to find a trade show industry company that provides both services and has the experience to serve you well throughout your entire trade show marketing journey.
However, growth and change are inevitable throughout your trade show marketing experience. So it’s wise to work a company that you can partner with long term.
As we mentioned, your marketing needs will change throughout your business’s existence. And they should if your marketing efforts are truly working. So while you might start with a few rented pieces of equipment to outfit your 10x10 booth at your first ever show, you may soon see the need to graduate into a full custom exhibit. Here at Godfrey Group, where we specialize in both services, we can walk with you through every step of your trade show marketing experience. We take the time to get to know our clients, narrow in on their specific goals, and we work with them long-term to provide them with every item they need to execute their trade show marketing program from start to finish.
Most trade show industry companies specialize in either wholesale distribution of standard products such as banner stands, pop-up displays, fabric displays, etc or they specialize in handling custom exhibits. At Godfrey Group, we distribute products when we feel that the products meet a need for our customers, we manufacture some proprietary portable trade show display products in house, and we also build large custom exhibits in house.
In short, we can expertly serve every customer that has an interest in trade show marketing.
We’ve been in business since 1970, evolving and adapting along with the trade show industry to best serve the needs of our clients. And with our 50 years of industry experience, we pride ourselves on our customer service. While other companies now rely on detached automations, we encourage our customers to call, answering every single call live during business hours. No recordings or automated phone systems here. Instead, your call connects you with a trained expert who is prepared to walk you through all your options in order to arrive at the best solution for your trade show booth. We know that our clients are busy and when they have questions, we’re here to provide answers.
We work with everyone from mom and pop businesses to start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. Get in touch! We would love the opportunity to consult with you on your trade show needs.
