Trade shows and conventions are a big part of the legal cannabis industry landscape. You want passersby to wonder, “What are all those people looking at over there?” Creative visuals and head-turning designs are a key first step toward making your booth a place that people want to be. Making connections and speaking face-to-face with potential clients and partners are essential to your business development efforts at cannabis conventions and expos. Since trade shows and networking events are pretty noisy, reserving a private room or scoping out somewhere quiet near the show floor where you can take meetings will make it easier to create meaningful connections and have quality conversations. And make sure you’re comfortable giving your pitch before you set foot on the trade show floor. This could mean creating the wrong type of product or missing the mark on your ideal customer and their needs. Hyper-regional targeting When coming up with new cannabis campaigns, we often look to the successes of the technology and healthcare industries for inspiration. These two sectors thrive on innovation, and companies in these spaces market their products and services using creative data presentations. For example, they use data to solve marketing riddles such as: Who is this product or service for? Analyzing data can also inform a cannabis company which states have the fastest growing medical or recreational cannabis markets.
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Trade shows and conventions are a big part of the legal cannabis industry landscape. The best events offer great opportunities for industry veterans, novices, policymakers and influencers to network productively with colleagues and potential business partners, learn about the latest industry developments and generate promising new leads.
But let’s face it, B2B trade shows are massive events with thousands of attendees, and it’s easy to get lost in the commotion if you’re not working hard to make memorable first impressions.
Devising attention-grabbing strategies is a specialty of mine, as a visual-minded graphic designer who’s organized and manned booths at numerous conferences and expos in the cannabis and action-sports sectors. And here are some secrets worth sharing:
1. Focus on the “wow” factor.
Never underestimate the power of visuals at trade shows. With so many businesses vying for attention, one of the most effective ways to cut through the noise is to create a booth that stands out from the rest.
Establishing a memorable presence slows down the walk-through traffic, which will help you connect with prospective business partners and clients. Invest some time, thought and resources to create attention-grabbing visuals that draw people to you. You want passersby to wonder, “What are all those people looking at over there?”
Creative visuals and head-turning designs are a key first step toward making your booth a place that people want to be. But once you’ve compelled people to take notice, you want them to stick around for a bit. Added comforts like seating, snacks and beverages can be really effective. And offering access to tastemakers and thought leaders, or setting up interactive games and hands-on activities, are all great ways to start a conversation.
2. Have a networking strategy.
Making connections and speaking face-to-face with potential clients and partners are essential to your business development efforts at cannabis conventions and expos. It pays to do some homework and outreach before the big event. Research other companies that will be displaying booths and speakers whom you’re inspired by, or who you’d like to connect with.
If you can nail down meetings beforehand, you’re already closer to your goal of making a positive impression and forging new, potentially lucrative business partnerships. Since trade shows and networking events are pretty noisy, reserving a private room or scoping out somewhere quiet near the show floor where you can take meetings will make it easier to create meaningful connections and have quality conversations. You’ll have a better chance of closing deals if you can limit distractions and talk one-on-one with people who are interested in your product or service.
You’ll also want to nail down your 30-second “elevator pitch.” It can be hard to focus at these bustling events, and you only have a brief moment to reel people in. Effective elevator pitches…
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