First off, let’s address the obvious: There are plenty of challenges a business must face when deciding whether to exhibit at a trade show. Yes, creating and hosting an effective exhibit booth at a trade show takes a lot of time, money, and energy. Yes, you may have to travel a long distance to get to the conference. And yes, it can be overwhelming to properly train your employees and sales team on how to project your brand.
Not to mention that a poorly planned trade show exhibit strategy can be a failed investment that does little to help with your business goals.
So why exhibit?
Because exhibiting at a trade show is a powerful marketing strategy that can quickly advance your business through more brand-awareness, leads and customers — especially if you are unveiling an innovative product or service.
Reasons why you should exhibit
From visibility to credibility, exhibiting at a trade show has a myriad of benefits for your business. Establishing a presence, whether big or small, for your company at a trade show gives you a platform for meeting new customers, connecting with your existing ones, and building a more established and reliable brand.
1) Capturing leads: Trade shows give you the opportunity to generate leads for your business — through direct contact with potential customers to attendee lists.
2) In-person marketing: Conferences allow you to attach a face to your brand. Having a booth at a show is an effective way to meet with a lot of existing and potential clients in one place over a few days.
3) Brand promotion: Big corporations and small businesses can benefit from promoting their brand at trade shows. And you don’t need to dominate the show floor, a simple standard exhibit booth (10’ x 10’ in size) is good for establishing product displays.
4) Making sales: Thousands of people attend trade shows because they’re looking for a new product or service that will solve their problems. A presence at a show allows you to generate actual sales from new customers who you may not have been able to reach.
5) Analyzing the competition: Trade shows are an opportunity for you to look around and see what your competitors are doing at their exhibits and help you better position your brand and services.
6) Introducing a new product or service: Trade shows are ideal for introducing the latest products or service offerings to a targeted audience. If you’re selling something tangible, then the audience is bound to see it up close and experience it first-hand.
7) Building business relationships: Trade shows are not all about trying to outdo other competing businesses. Sometimes, you find partners or other companies that can help your business succeed. As a manufacturing company, this is an opportunity to build a personal relationship with industry providers.
8) Gathering customer feedback: You will receive direct and honest feedback from your target audience at trade shows. One-on-one conversations help you better understand your customers’ needs and how you can better service them.
Remember the six Ps: Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance
Having a successful trade show is all about preparation. Make your sales goals clear to your team before your next trade show and ask them to generate as many leads as possible. A good show will allow your team to connect with prospects and close deals. Make sure to:
- Establish key sales goals before the event to give your team an objective.
- Interact with all visitors to your exhibit, as they could turn into customers.
- Keep notes of your conversations so you can follow up after the event.
Learn what’s working (and what isn’t)
Trade shows are great opportunities to learn which direction your industry is heading. During a slow period, have your staff walk the floor to check out how your competitors are marketing their business – from the type of giveaways to booth design. Remember to:
- See which booths attract the most attendees and learn from their strategy.
- Compare the prices and special deals offered by your competitors to your offers.
- Pose as a customer and see how other salespeople interact with you and what their objectives are.
Develop and strengthen your brand
By using your exhibit strategically, you can position your company’s niche or unique benefits within your market. Some tips from Display Wizard include:
- Promote your participation and booth number through email announcements and social media.
- Use eye-catching, recognizable display banners to make your exhibit easy for customers and prospects to notice.
- Include your social media information on your exhibit so event attendees can connect with you online.
Close sales without cold calling
Exhibiting at a trade show gives your company’s sales team an unprecedented level of access to important prospects, without the pressure of traditional direct sales. Typical objections disappear as customers are in a buying (or research-focused) mood. Ways to capitalize on this opportunity include:
- Whenever possible, try to close deals on the spot to capitalize on the buying mood of the event.
- Take a direct approach to sales, as most attendees are already interested in your company’s products or services.
- If you can’t close deals during the event, set up appointments with key prospects for the week after the trade show.
Make sure you choose the right show
The biggest factor in trade-show success is choosing the right trade show for your company. Patrick Hull, an entrepreneur and trade show expert, recommends asking competitors and peers for their trade show recommendations. Attending the wrong trade show can cost your business far more than it produces in sales income. Hull also suggests scrutinizing attendee lists to make sure your target audience will be there… and before the show, consult this list and invite key people to breakout meetings or dinners.
A great way to prepare for a tradeshow is to download the Exhibitor Toolkit. For example, the upcoming MPT Expo offers exhibitors marketing resources to build awareness of your booth, including:
- Event logos.
- Social media graphics and text.
- Customizable banner ads.
- Personal invitations.
Finally, exhibiting at a trade show is an investment; treat it as such. Proper planning and execution will provide a great return.
Upcoming courses
A Practical Approach to Managing Gear Noise
March 4 | Live Online
This course combines light theory with a healthy dose of practical testing and simulation techniques used to manage gear noise. Topics focus on insights into the mechanisms for both whine and rattle, the two most common categories of gear “noise.” The course presents clear explanations relating subjective evaluations of audible noise to objective actions, including troubleshooting and countermeasures, based on the instructors’ direct experience in industry.
Epicyclic Gear Systems Design
March 18-27 | Live Online
Learn and define the concept of epicyclic gearing, including some basic history and the differences among simple planetary gear systems, compound planetary gear systems, and star drive gear systems.
Cover concepts on the arrangement of the individual components including the carrier, sun, planet, ring, and star gears and the rigid requirements for the system to perform properly. Critical factors such as load sharing among the planet or star gears, sequential loading, equal planet/star spacing, relations among the numbers of teeth on each element, and calculation of the maximum and optimum number of planet/star gears for a specific system will be covered.
Basic Training for Gear Manufacturing
April 7-11 | Chicago, Illinois
Learn the fundamentals of gear manufacturing in this hands-on course. Gain an understanding of gearing and nomenclature, principles of inspection, gear-manufacturing methods, and hobbing and shaping. Using manual machines, develop a deeper breadth of perspective and understanding of the process and physics of making a gear as well as the ability to apply this knowledge in working with CNC equipment commonly in use.
Gear Manufacturing and Inspection
May 6-8 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
While function and rating are important factors in a successful gear design, to be truly optimal and successful, the gear designer must also design the gears to be manufactured and inspected. In this course, therefore, we will address key factors in a wide variety of manufacturing and inspection processes to enable the gear designer to better design optimal gears considering both rating and the necessary manufacturing and inspection processes to produce the gears as designed. We will also help the designer understand how to interpret inspection data so they can ensure the gears meet the design. To be clear, this is not a course in how to operate the various machines. Rather, it addresses the design provisions required to allow the gears to be optimally manufactured and inspected. The learner will develop a broad understanding of the methods used to manufacture and inspect gears, as well as interpret how the resultant information can be applied and interpreted in the design process.
Fundamentals of Parallel Axis Gearing
May 13-18 | Minneapolis, Minnesota
Gain a solid and fundamental understanding of gear geometry, types and arrangements, and basic design principles. Starting with the basic definitions of gears, conjugate motion, and the Laws of Gearing, learn the tools needed to understand the inter-relation and coordinated motion operating within gear pairs and multi-gear trains. Basic gear system design process, gear measurement, and inspection techniques also will be explained. Fundamentals of the stepwise process of working through the iterative design process required to generate a gear pair will be reviewed.
Analytical Gear Chart Interpretation
May 20 | Live-Online
This course is an introduction to the methodology of analytical gear inspection and the evaluation and interpretation of the resulting data. The application of this information to identify and correct manufacturing errors will be explored. Additionally, it will review chart interpretation and apply inspection data to understand the causes and cures of manufacturing errors. Many chart examples will be used to understand cause and effect.
To register for a course, go to: www.agma.org/events-education/upcoming-courses
Upcoming meetings & events
AGMA Curated Tour at RAPID
April 9 | Detroit, Michigan
AGMA is actively engaged with professionals in the additive industry and will provide a curated tour with 12-15 stops on the show floor. During the tour, you will learn about many different types of printers and materials used in metal 3D printing. Exhibitors will speak directly to the gear industry audience with targeted information.
New in 2025, AERODEF is co-located with the RAPID show, and AGMA will make at least one tour stop in that section of the show floor. LIFT will provide a tour of their facility (free add-on) the day before the event for those who are interested in learning more about the equipment added to their facility to create more additive powders for the industry.
This event is in conjunction with the Rapid+TCT event 3D Printing & Additive Manufacturing Event | RAPID + TCT
2025 AGMA/ABMA Annual Meeting
April 24-26 | Austin, Texas
Join gear and bearing professionals from companies all over the world as the industry gathers to learn from experts in economics, trade, workforce development, political forecasts, and AI in manufacturing.
There are overarching issues affecting the whole industry, including the workforce shortage, the skills gap, and technology and AI adoption. With executives representing companies of all sizes and industry thought leaders, the depth and breadth of knowledge and viewpoints at the Annual Meeting is a goldmine.
For more information, go to: www.agma.org/event/2025-agma-abma-annual-meeting
Calendar of events
March 17 — ISO TC 60 WG 12 — Teams
March 19 — ISO TC 60 WG 12 — Teams
March 18-27 — Epicyclic Gear Systems Design — Live Online Course
March 25 — Gear Applications Committee — Teams
March 26 — WEBINAR: US National Security Update
April 2 — Flexible Couplings Committee — Teams
April 7-11 — Basic Training for Gear Manufacturing — Chicago, Illinois
April 8 — Gearbox Repair — Live Online
April 9 — AGMA Curated Tour at RAPID — Detroit, Michigan
April 10 — Aerospace Gearing Committee — Teams
April 15 — 3D Printing Committee — Teams
April 24-25 — 2025 AGMA/ABMA Annual Meeting — Austin, Texas
April 29 — Robotics Committee Meeting — Teams
April 30 — WEBINAR: Trade and Tax Policy Update II
