Every event has a purpose. A concert gives music lovers, a chance to hear their favorite artist sing live while a conference is a great way to impart information, gather feedback, and generate new ideas through discussions. A gala gives people the opportunity to socialize and build connections while an exhibition or a trade show gives people an opportunity to learn more about products and services they may want to buy immediately or in the near future.

This article will focus on 'Exhibitions' and talk about when you should participate at an exhibition and the benefits of participating at exhibitions.

If you want face to face interaction about any aspect of your business with your key audience … whether they may be customers, agents, reseller, retailers or even trade peers, an exhibition is probably the best way to go. Usually, an exhibition is the best place to launch or revive a product or service and get feedback on the activity from the key stakeholders. An exhibition's immediacy also makes it the perfect platform to draw industry and audience attention toward your product or service in a short time. Compare that with, say, a market research activity which takes months to plan and execute and gives you results after a long time span.

Typically, attendees at exhibitions tend to have a more definite agenda in mind. They attend exhibitions with the intention of buying, booking or at the least seeking information in order to make a purchase in the near future. In fact, research shows that 54% of visitors to exhibitions specifically come to see new products and services; 48% come for information; 40% to keep up to date with technology; and 15% to make business contacts.

In addition to the above-mentioned benefits, participants at an exhibition also receive the following benefits:

Product Launch: An exhibition or a trade show is the perfect platform to launch a new product or service as all parties - members of the industry, interested buyers and media are in attendance. This enables you to attract the attention of multiple audiences towards your product or service easily.

Buyer Database: An exhibition or a trade show is a great way to meet thousands of new buyers in a short period of time. It also enables you to collect data of said buyers in order to develop a quality database.

Build Relationships: Exhibitions or trade shows are excellent places to network with potential buyers and client, thus, giving you the opportunity not only to develop connections but also personal relationship with said buyers and clients.

Inform & Educate: Exhibitions and trade shows are an opportunity to inform and educate all attendees from industry buyers to general public about the benefits of your products and services. Moreover, you can conduct demonstrations or let buyers try the product or service to gain appreciate of the product or service and negate any objections.

Ready Feedback: Once a buyer or client has tried and tested a product or service, you can get request for immediate feedback. This will serve two purposes – the first, you can gauge how well the product or service is received and two, gain inputs about what other features or products the prospective buyer or client is interested in.

Instant Sales: Exhibitions and trade shows enable one-on-one interactions with your target market. This interaction can help you overcome buyer doubts, thus, enabling you to accelerate the decision making process (buying process). You can also kick start your revenue by selling your products and services at your stall at the exhibition or trade show.

As you can see, participating or hosting an exhibition has multiple revenue increasing and relationship building benefits.