For a more powerful presence at the BIO conference and beyond, create a personalized exhibit experience to enhance engagement and tell your biotech brand’s own unique story.

According to Exhibitor magazine, 32% of companies who incorporate exhibit marketing into their promotional mix are increasing their budgets in 2012. On the other hand 25% are trimming the fat, while 41 are maintaining. What does this mean for biotech brands?

The trade show industry is slowly rebounding from the recession and exhibiting biotech companies are looking hard at how they can maximize their presence and budgets going forward. It’s a perfect time to rethink this element of your biotech brand’s marketing mix. Technological advancements are transforming the exhibit experience allowing brands to tell their stories in new ways that offer greater engagement and impact.

Here are eight ways to get the most from your trade show road show:

1) What is Your Brand Story?
Your brand message and the promise behind it set you apart from everyone else exhibiting around you. Here’s your opportunity to elevate your biotech brand’s uniqueness and the specialization of your products and services. Start by asking yourself – how is my biotech brand making a difference to my audience?

2) Be Memorable – Engagement is Won in the First Few Seconds
Visitors to your booth or exhibit are looking for new information – things they haven’t seen before or don’t already know that hold their attention. Strive to provide your information in new and exciting ways that become memorable.

3) Think About a Solution-based Strategy
Create a more personalized experience for visitors by focusing on their needs rather than what you need to sell or accomplish. Your business objective should be centered around what you want your customers and prospects to think, feel and remember after experiencing your exhibit.

4) Set the Stage for Conversation
New mobile technologies, like the iPad, are now helping to facilitate conversations at trade shows. Beyond the magnitude of information that can be shared, this simple and user-friendly technology enables your biotech brand representatives to step out from behind the counter and interact more intimately with prospects. It also allows visitors to interact with your information and learn more in ways that are familiar and intuitive.

5) Shift to Dynamic Graphics
Technology is also allowing for more dynamic graphics as opposed to static imagery on vinyl booth panels. Consider the power of LED signage, flat-screen monitors, video and 3-D technology as both content providers and architectural statements. Not only can they draw visitors in, they enable you to tell a deeper brand story which naturally leads to more engagement and communication with your prospects as they now become part of your presentation.

6) Consider Your Exhibit’s Sustainability
This is a great place to start trimming the fat. Reusing structures and materials is obvious but have you thought about fabric as a primary structure? It’s reusable, lightweight and versatile. Digital technology is also enabling exhibitors to do more in a smaller package. LED screens are being mounted in a variety of sizes and ways to create live environments with powerful meaning. QR codes are also enabling companies to share more information, saving on printed material.

7) Expand Your Footprint
Speaking of QR codes, consider how they can expand the footprint of your exhibit. QR codes can help lead visitors to your booth, through strategic areas of it, to a VIP after party and finally to a mobilized version of your website that they can return to anytime.

8) And Don’t Forget the Lights!
Lighting will always have the power to shape attendee experience. Sure it can illuminate your latest biotech product or device but lighting also has the power to provoke emotion and guide visitors through key areas of your exhibit.

Good luck at BIO!

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Creating Valuable Business Relationships for your Biotech Brand