From local meetings to international reputation: how trade shows drive business growth and create competitive advantage

Trade fairs can be local, facilitating contacts with local manufacturers, distributors, professionals and customers, or they can have an international reputation, like BUDMA. Such large events attract key players, offering strategic advantages. They also abound with conferences, workshops and panel discussions, not only for those strictly in the construction industry, but also affiliated with academic and government institutions.

This is a great opportunity not only to expand knowledge, but also to promote one's own experts or establish lucrative relationships, both in the Polish arena and in foreign markets. In addition, such fairs are widely reported in industry media, which is an additional valuable branding tool.

Exhibiting at trade fairs

is part of a marketing strategy

In industries where product presentation and direct contact with customers are key, participation in trade shows is a very important aspect of marketing, complementing a long-term strategy.

Trade fairs provide a convenient platform to quickly establish business relationships - with distributors to new markets, with suppliers and subcontractors, as well as with investors interested in both purchasing products and financially supporting innovative projects. Thus, by attending the fair, we can easily expand our contact base.

Personal contact with business partners promotes the strengthening of relationships and reinforces positive brand awareness. Premiere demonstrations attract the attention of customers and the media. The opportunity to hand out samples, demonstrate the product live, talk about the advantages and functionality in real-life conditions, significantly increases sales opportunities.

In addition, observing how booth visitors react to specific elements of an offering makes it easier to identify both strengths and weaknesses in marketing, allowing you to fine-tune them.

Attending a trade show also helps revitalize a company's image and expose the brand on social media, as there is a lot going on both before and during the trade show days. Reporting on the event through photos, interviews or live streaming significantly increases marketing reach.

In turn, an interestingly designed stand or an original form of promotion is a differentiator from the competition, raising prestige and increasing trust in the brand, as are awards and medals granted by the organizers.

How about just visiting a trade fair?

Visiting a trade fair as a visitor is obvious if we're talking about people who are only interested in passive involvement, like individual investors or small contractors. They just want to find out what's going on in the industry, visit the booths that interest them, get advice or inspiration. Increasingly, however, companies, especially smaller ones, are also taking advantage of this form of participation. Why is this the case?

Preparation and operation of a stand at a trade fair require from entrepreneurs a minimum of several weeks of planning: arrangement of the exposition, personnel handling it, promotional materials, as well as the infrastructure around the fair - access, accommodation or catering. Many companies do not have the necessary budget.

However, wanting to focus on market research and networking without long preparations, they choose to visit the fair. This allows them to gather information about innovations in the industry, look at trends, competitors' activities, talk to exhibitors, take part in meetings and accompanying events, and, above all, make contacts that can later translate into business benefits and development.

For newcomers, such visits are also a way to get acquainted with the organization of the fair, the appearance of the stands, the promotional activities undertaken and to analyze the potential benefits, which will facilitate efficient planning of participation in future fairs.