Ultimate Trade Show Checklist for First-Time Exhibitors

Trade shows can be stressful, especially for first-time exhibitors. There are so many details to address in the months and weeks leading up to each convention. For newcomers to the expo world, it might always feel like you’re missing or forgetting something. Fortunately, you can use this comprehensive trade show checklist to guide you. Get a successful event with a stunning custom trade show exhibit, consistently heavy booth traffic, and maximum ROI!

Start Your Pre-Show Planning Months Before the Show

Most exhibitors reserve their booth spaces about a year before an event. In the four to six months leading up to their convention, though, you should start your pre-show planning. This is when you plan your exhibit booth design, launch your pre-show marketing campaign, and determine your onsite staff.

In other words, it’s when you start filling out your pre-show cheat sheet and crossing tasks off of your list.

Planning Your Exhibit Design

One of the first items on every exhibitor’s trade show checklist is their booth design. Before you get too far into the process, you’ll need to equip yourself with some key information, including:

• Your booth space size and configuration (i.e., inline, island, or peninsula)
• The show’s guidelines on booth height and setback regulations (an experienced project manager at a reputable exhibit house will have this for you)
• How many people you’ll have working the booth during show hours
• Your locking storage requirements for giveaways, products, and your booth staff’s personal items like coats and bags
• Technology needs or wants, such as video walls and specialty lighting

Then, you can take these details—and your long list of questions—to talented experts who excel in amplifying your brand through custom trade show booth design. It can take several months from initial design to final fabrication, so it’s best to start your design process four to six months before your show. An expert booth vendor like Metro Exhibits can shorten this timeline if necessary.

Launching Your Pre-Show Marketing Campaign

A strong pre-show marketing strategy is imperative. You need to let existing and prospective customers know that you’ll be exhibiting so they can easily find you on the show floor. Some of the best marketing methods that veteran exhibitors often use:

• Social media posts with the booth number and, when possible, a rendering of the custom booth display design
• A blurb on the company’s homepage about the show, or even a new landing page dedicated to the show floor presence
• Email campaigns, including personalized messages to individual customers and company newsletters announcing that they’re exhibiting
• Companywide email signatures mentioning the show name, dates, location, and booth number
• Direct mail campaigns hinting at the innovations the company will unveil at the show

Additionally, you’ll have to design and produce any literature, collateral, and giveaways you plan to have on hand at the trade show. Your pre-show marketing efforts should both boost your visibility at the event and support your onsite staff.

Scheduling Your Onsite Event Staff

You’ll need talented, engaging staff to work your booth throughout the show, so booth staffing should be next up on your trade show checklist. And, since travel expenses like airfare and lodging tend to increase as the travel dates approach, it’s best for finances and your team’s schedule to check this item off about two months before the expo.

You’ll need to determine things like how many people you’ll have onsite, when they’ll get lunch breaks, their dress code at the convention center, and whether you’ll send company employees or partner with third-party brand ambassadors. For more detailed guidance and to learn what pitfalls to avoid, please read our booth staffing guide.

Two Weeks Before the Trade Show

The closer the expo gets, the busier trade show professionals are—and the more anxious many first-time exhibitors become. This is the ideal time to review your trade show checklist to ensure you’ve addressed all the necessary details and tie up any loose ends. Make sure you are clear with:

• booth staff
• show management
• show contractor
• your exhibit design and fabrication partner
• airline, hotel, car rental

If your trade show booth display was sent to the advanced warehouse, chances are it’s either en route or has already been delivered. The two weeks leading up to a convention is a great time to confirm the tracking information of the booth and any boxes or giveaways you might’ve shipped separately from the display itself.

In short, your motto for the two weeks before your show should be: Confirm, confirm, confirm!

Onsite Exhibitor Checklist

Veteran exhibitors know that life on the show floor is filled with long and tiring days—especially if they’re tasked with being at the convention for the installation, show run, and dismantle. If you’re a first-time exhibitor, use these pro tips to help you stay energized and efficient throughout each onsite hour:

• Prepare an onsite kit. Every exhibitor should pack a personal go-bag with a handful of items to help them get through the long days on the show floor. Mints, water bottle, bandaids, phone charger (but stay off your phone!), 
• Bring hard copies of your show order forms. Most convention centers are enormous buildings with thick walls, so cell phone and internet reception can be spotty. Make sure you have paper copies of all of your show orders, including flooring, electricity, and hanging sign rigging, plus information on your delivered shipments so you can make sure everything has been brought to your booth space.
• Wear comfortable shoes and clothes. You’ll spend a lot of time walking around the convention center between your booth, the food court, the restrooms, and the service desk, so wear comfortable clothes. And even if your company ordered double-thick padding under your booth space carpet, your feet and legs will get tired, so make sure your shoes are well-fitting and supportive.

The more prepared you are before you get onsite, the easier those long days at the convention center will seem.

Right After the Trade Show

Once the show has ended, your exhibit has been dismantled and packed up, and you’re back to your normal routine in the office, your job isn’t quite done. There are still a few trade show checklist tasks to complete: your post-show wrap-up and analysis.

In this phase of trade show management, you’ll look at your booth’s overall performance at the event. Here are a few key figures to calculate and analyze:

• Your pre-convention budget versus final costs for your exhibit, staffing, and show orders
• Number of leads generated throughout the show
• Quantity and dollar amount of orders your customers placed onsite
• Your total cost per lead

You’ll also want to make sure your sales team follows up quickly on the warm leads you earned at the show. Your entire marketing team worked hard to make the event a success for your company, and now it’s time to earn more sales and boost your overall trade show ROI.

Why Choose Metro Exhibits to Help With Your Trade Show Checklist?

We’ve climbed to the top of the trade show industry by providing outstanding design, fabrication, and customer service that takes the stress out of exhibiting. We offer white glove and a la carte services so you stay as involved as you’d like to be in crossing items off of your trade show checklist.

Are you ready to make your upcoming trade show a success? Tell us about your event and goals, and we’ll be in touch within one business day to learn how we can help you thrive on the show floor.