Running a booth at a bridal show or wedding expo can sound intimidating, especially for smaller shop owners. However, these events are a great way to build brand awareness and relationships as brides get to see your dresses, but also meet you! This guide will teach you how to run a booth at a bridal show and stand out!
Make Your Booth Stand Out
When planning and setting up your booth at a bridal show or wedding expo, you want to make sure that your booth stands out. Many times, booths look very similar, or brides have already pre-planned their visits. As a result, making your booth unique and eye-catching will help boost your traffic. The first step is to make your booth look cohesive and on-brand. This is easily done by using your logo, brand colors, and fonts for everything possible. Booths that have more vertical designs also stand out, without taking up more booth space. Another way to stand out can be having models wearing your dresses either at your booth or walking around the venue!
Creating pre-show promotions on your social media platforms and email newsletters can also help increase your traffic by 30%! These promotions leading up can be as simple as reposting the event’s information or creating your own posts. Overall, the best way to stand out is to understand who your brides are and what they want to see from you.
Use your Booth to Generate Leads
Although booking appointments is a great goal to have at events, some brides may not be quite ready to take that step. If that is the case, having another way to engage and get their information can help keep your shop in mind when they are ready to start working! When thinking of ways to generate leads, think of ways to get the bride’s information such as first and last name, wedding date, and email address. By gaining their information rather than simply handing them a business card, will allow you to start marketing to them as soon as possible! Some ways of doing this could be offering a giveaway, offering a random coupon experience, or have a photo op in your booth that sends their pictures to them! Then, follow up with any new leads directly after the bridal show! You can even segment them into your email newsletters!
Engage with Everyone at your Booth!
When brides/grooms come up to your booth have a general script you can run through- don’t start with dresses! Some great questions are… Who is my bride? (Many people will come as a group) How is wedding planning going? Have you picked your colors? Asking these questions will help you get a sense for what kind of dress the bride could be looking for, helps brides feel more at ease, AND help create trust in your brand! Talking with brides/grooms, however, is not everyone! Introducing to other owners that you meet at industry events is a great way to network! Learn more about how networking your bridal shop can help here!
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