This is a guest post from Jude King, the Sales and Marketing Manager at Hannibal Brown Personalised Wine Design – providing bespoke bottles of wine for all occasions. With experience buying, selling and sampling internationally sourced wines, Hannibal Brown Personalised Wine Design ensures each customer’s experience is unique to them.

Experiential marketing has faced a dramatic growth in popularity in recent years, and with businesses turning towards immersive environments to market their brand, success at exhibitions and consumer shows is crucial for staying ahead.

This holds true for the food and drink sector, where consumers hanker after a more authentic relationship with providers, often something that can only be provided by meeting them and tasting their goods in person.

This is good news for the organisers of trade and consumer shows in general, but for food and drink festivals in particular.

What makes for a successful food and drink festival? 

The triumph of your food and drink festival relies on both the exhibitors and attendees, which is why organisers must adopt a holistic approach when it comes to planning.

A successful event for exhibitors will generally lead to a successful event for the organisers, as it will result in immediate re-bookings and retained business over the long term. And of course creating success for exhibitors means you need to ensure your food and drink festival is a hit with everyone in attendance, as their engagement and activity is what drives the success of food and drink stalls.

In today’s post, we’re taking a look at how to transform your upcoming food and drink festival into a success story with the top 5 ways to encourage brands – and attendees – to pitch up at your food and drink show.

Related: How to organise the perfect food and drink festival

1. UTILISE SOCIAL MEDIA AHEAD OF THE EVENT

Attracting exhibitors

Social media channels are in excess – and they’re free. To attract more brands and businesses to your upcoming event, make sure you spread the word on a range of social media platforms. This low-cost marketing technique is one of the best ways to make an impact, and your strong online presence will help to build a sense of trust with potential exhibitors.

Attracting attendees

Marketing via social media is one of the easiest and most-impactful ways to access potential customers, as well as offering an exciting communication channel for keeping in contact with current clients. Whether they’re on Facebook or Instagram, an online presence is vital for any business, and utilising social media platforms in the run-up to an event can be invaluable.

Encourage exhibitors to let the world know that they’ll be attending an upcoming exhibition or event, and encourage their active followers to come support them. Here are some of the best ways to utilise the most popular social media platforms ahead of an event:

• Facebook: from creating online event-pages to uploading live video footage of your event, Facebook is a fantastic platform to spread the word about what your next event will be like. Maximise your online audience by investing in sponsored advertisements or offer incentives to your followers in return for the sharing of your news – it’s all about generating maximum interest when marketing your event online.

• Twitter: with a limited character limit available in each Twitter post, short and snappy captions are a must. Share your photos on this social media channel and utilise Twitter’s trending service with a memorable hashtag. Encourage others to #spreadtheword about your upcoming event and your exhibitors will soon benefit from increased attendance.

• Snapchat: with the development of the Snapchat Story feature, this global phenomenon has changed the way that society broadcasts their news on social media. Share live videos with the world or spread the word about your whereabouts with your followers, this fast-paced app is sure to create a buzz in a short period of time – and exhibitors will be able to see what you’re up to throughout an event.

• Instagram: share the photos and videos of your event exhibitors, products and stands on this photo-sharing app, and you’ll soon be building a valuable following from potential clients. By showing how successful one event has been, you’ll attract more exhibitors to future events.

Related: Social media: A tool for supercharging food and drink events

2. MAKE YOUR EVENT IRRESISTIBLE

Attracting exhibitors

As any event manager will know, planning a trade show is often not without upfront costs. To ensure that your exhibition makes a good return on investment, you’ll need to attract exhibitors and make sure the day is one that goes off without a hitch.

From hiring talent and attractions for attracting attendees, to offering ample space for branding on exhibition stands, making your event exhibitor-friendly will dramatically improve the number of interested vendors. The key is to show your potential vendors that you have a plan for driving valuable, targeted traffic to their stands.

Attracting attendees

Whether passers-by are familiar with the exhibiting brands or it’s the first time they’re seeing them, an interactive and interesting stand is sure to make them stop and find out more.

Make sure you provide your vendors will a list of trusted production experts and stand builders if they don’t have suppliers already lined up, so you know they will putting on their best front on the day.

It’s also your job to ensure you set up a great flow on the flow, with key attractions dotted around to keep people moving; and value-add attractions that won’t keep people from the stands for too long.

Related: The top 30 food & drink influencers in the UK

3. LURE IN TRADE WITH FREE SAMPLES

Attracting exhibitors

There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but exhibitors can get near enough at any well-designed event. While vendors may be paying for their pitch, offering additional services for free – such as Wi-Fi or discount codes for their followers – is the perfect way to reward your exhibitors – and it will no doubt entice more brands to attend your event.

Attracting attendees

Free samples are a must at any food and drink festival, so advise exhibitors to attract passing trade with irresistible tasters.

Consumers are far more likely to associate a sense of loyalty with a brand that operates a ‘try before you buy’ policy at events. If consumables aren’t an option, giving out free branded gifts is also an option for exhibitors. From key rings to USB sticks to canvas bags, printing logos onto low-cost merchandise is the perfect way for businesses to increase their reach.

Related: How to successfully promote your food and drink festival

4. GET PERSONAL WITH PERSONALISED GIFTS

Attracting exhibitors

Personal gifts will always be well-received, but the impact of a personalised product in business is undeniable. From a branded bottle of bubbly to something as simple as a mug or umbrella, a corporate thank you will be all the more effective when you get personal. Consider tailoring your products to suit each vendor, or make your brand memorable by opting for a gift that’s personalised with your logo.

Attracting attendees

As any exhibitor will know, striking up a personal connection with passers-by is one of the best ways to network with potential clients at events. Whether it’s offering a bottle of personalised wine or a t-shirt that’s branded by staff on the day, this unique added touch is bound to help exhibitors stand out from the crowd.

5. ENTICE TRADE USING SPECIAL OFFERS

Attracting exhibitors

With the high number of expos being organised on a daily basis, it’s no surprise that organisers are finding that there is fierce competition when it comes to attracting vendors.

Encouraging exhibitors to your trade show is vital in order to ensure that it’s a success, so consider offering discounts to loyal vendors; or free upgrades if they take larger stands. You could also offer a first timers discount to lure in new brands that want to test out the ROI of your event, without committing to a huge investment.

Attracting attendees

Whether it’s a time-based discount that expires when the show ends, or exclusive voucher codes to redeem after the event, special offers will always attract passers-by.

Exhibitors can encourage consumers by promoting event-only offers or invite potential clients to visit their store or website in the future, where they’ll be entitled to a promotional discount. Attendees love feeling as though they’ve bagged a great deal, which is why special offers work so well at events.

Encouraging customers to visit their business at a later date will ensure that exhibitors see event success – meaning they’re more likely to work with you in future.

CONCLUSION

As a food and drink festival organiser, you not only need to ensure plenty of businesses exhibit at your event, but that they, in turn, attract customers – meaning a well-attended event is the key to a successful trade show. By thinking in this holistic way, you’re bound to have a hit festival on your hands for everyone.