Interior design tradeshow marketing is already incorporated into the fundamental ideas of exhibiting at a trade show. An interior design trade show display introduces a life-size sample of a interior design industry business's style to thousands of potential customers in a very short amount of time.

In addition to demonstrating the ability to use lines, shapes, colors and textures to decorate a living or workspace, an exhibitor needs to use creative and unique interior design trade show marketing strategies to stand out from competitors vying for the attention of the same customers. When developing your interior design tradeshow marketing plan, you must:

1. Enhance image and visibility to interior design trade show traffic through a great booth location and maximized use of the space.

2. Establish a strong presence at the trade show by appealing to customers in as many ways as possible.

3. Demonstrate your design services in ways not possible in other marketing avenues.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get your interior design tradeshows advertising started months ahead of time

It is important that you advertise your presence at interior design tradeshows well in advance of the shows' dates. Contact trade show management to see if you can ride their marketing tailcoats by getting listed as an exhibitor in their interior design trade shows advertising, or focus on high profile industry publications.

I recommend: Sign up early with Florida's Largest Home Show or the IKEA Southern California Home & Garden Show to ensure a listing in their promotional materials. Advertise an upcoming trade show presence in prominent trade journals like Interior Design Magazine.

Turn attendees into advertisers with interior design trade show giveaways

Buying promotional items bearing your business name to pass out as interior design tradeshow giveaways is another great way to bring people to your booth. While promotional items should be inexpensive, they also represent the quality of work and style of your interior design business, so choose carefully from items such as art prints, calendars or wall clocks that properly represent your design philosophy.

I recommend: Splash your name or logo across a huge selection of art prints at GotPromo.com, unique calendars from LeaderPromos.com or wall clocks from ePromos.com.

Create an interior design tradeshow follow-up marketing plan

Make sure you have a tradeshow follow up marketing plan in place, by collecting the names and contact information of the people that visit your booth. Offer an incentive for people to leave their name with you, such as a free home or office design consultation or free fitting for window dressings.

I recommend: Visit A Shelley Design's Interior Design Marketing Portal to fulfill all of your post trade show marketing needs. Or, sign up for one-on-one meeting The Designer's Coach to custom tailor a post-show marketing campaign.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Stick with a common theme and carry it through all aspects for interior design trade show marketing from the booth to the slideshow to the promo items.
• •  Try to secure media interviews prior to the show, a great avenue for free interior design tradeshow promotions.