The most expensive trade show material is the one that comes back to the office in an unopened box. Not because it was bad - it was simply printed in too large a run, or was not needed at all. Putting together a good trade show kit starts with a sheet of paper and a few simple questions, not with browsing a printer's catalogue.
Trade shows have a feature that is easy to overlook when planning: over a few days you talk to a limited number of people. Even at a large event your stand will serve as many visitors as two or three of you can physically handle. That number - not the attendance figure announced by the organiser - defines sensible print runs.
Below you will find a calm way to work it out: what is genuinely worth taking, in what proportions, what is better left unprinted and what to do with whatever is left over.
- Base your print runs on the number of conversations you will realistically have, not on the number of visitors.
- Split the materials into three baskets: the core, the options that depend on your goal, and the things not worth printing.
- Take business cards with a surplus, leaflets to match, brochures the fewest - they date the quickest and weigh the most.
- Keep dates and the name of a specific show off the materials if you want to use them at the next event.
- Before you order, decide what you will do with the surplus - that one question changes the whole calculation.
Start with the number of conversations, not the number of visitors
Organisers quote attendance for the whole event and that figure can go to your head. Only a fraction of it will pass your stand, though, and you will have a conversation longer than a brief hello with a smaller share still. Work it out on paper: how many hours each day lasts, how many people staff the stand, how many minutes a meaningful conversation takes. You will land on a range that is usually far more modest than your first instinct.
That number is the reference point for everything you print. Material handed over during a conversation is ordered against the number of conversations. Material left on the counter for anyone to pick up is ordered against footfall - but then you knowingly accept that some of it will end up in a bin before people even leave the hall.
Three baskets: the core, the options and the skip list
Instead of writing one long shopping list, build three groups. The first always travels with you, the second depends on why you are going, the third stays at the office.
The core - what you take to every show
- Business cards - the most used item in the whole kit and the one with the lowest cost per contact. Classic business cards without a date or event name will serve you across many trips.
- One simple leaflet - one page, three sentences about what you do and a clear way to get in touch. A small-format leaflet fits in a jacket pocket, and that is its greatest asset.
- A document folder - for people you hand more than one sheet to. A company folder keeps materials from scattering around a bag and gets them to the client's office as a complete set.
- Something to write with - a note written by hand in front of the person often turns out to be the most effective element of the kit.
Options - depending on the goal of the trip
- A brochure or catalogue - these make sense when you offer something that cannot be explained in three sentences. You hand them to selected people, not to everyone.
- A drive with materials - a presentation, photos, documentation. How to play this we covered in our post on how to use a promotional flash drive at trade shows and conferences.
- A small gadget - it works when it is useful and stays on a desk. Engraved promotional pens are a classic that still holds up, simply because someone actually uses them.
What is better left unprinted
- A full price list - it dates faster than anything else and closes the conversation before it properly begins.
- Materials carrying the event date - after the last day of the show they are only fit for recycling.
- Named versions for every person on the team - a space to write in a name and number with a pen is entirely enough.
- Heavy catalogues in a large run - after a few hours visitors leave behind anything that weighs and take whatever folds.
How to estimate print runs and avoid a leftover pile
A print run is not one number for the whole kit. Every item plays a different role, so you count each one separately and in different proportions.
- Settle on the number of conversations - realistic ones, not wishful ones. That is your base.
- Multiply business cards with a surplus - you hand them out beyond the stand too, at registration and in the coffee queue. They have no expiry date, so a surplus does not hurt.
- Count leaflets to match - as many as conversations, plus a small buffer for the copies laid out on the counter.
- Cut brochures hard - they go to people whose conversation went further than the first question, and that is usually a small share of visitors.
- Check the break-even point - unit cost falls as the run grows, but the difference between a small and a medium series is often smaller than it seems. Before you add a zero, read our post on how to plan a print run without overpaying.
If you are hesitating between two quantities, pick the smaller one for anything carrying specific details about your offer, and the larger one for whatever is neutral and will survive the next events.
Where to save and where never to
Saving money on a trade show makes sense when you cut the number of items and the print runs, not the quality of what the client holds in their hand. A thin, bent business card says more about a company than a whole conversation, and unfortunately it is not the message you are after.
- Cut the number of items - three well-considered materials make a better impression than seven random ones.
- Cut the run, not the quality of the stock - fewer copies of a decent piece will always beat a pile of flimsy sheets.
- Invest in quality where there is touch - the business card and the folder reach the client's hands and stay with them the longest.
- Combine small items into one set - a few inexpensive pieces given together work better than each on its own. We wrote about it in our post on how to build an inexpensive promotional pack from a few small gadgets.
Design your materials so they carry neither a date nor the name of a specific show. Instead, prepare one small element with the event slogan - for example a sticker to put on the folder or the leaflet. The whole kit will then travel to the next show unchanged, and you only swap that one, cheapest addition.
A plan for the surplus - make it before you order
The question is not only how much to print, but also what happens to what is left. If the answer is that it will go back into a cupboard and stay there, that is a sign the run is too big. If you have a concrete plan, you can comfortably add more.
- The next event - materials without dates travel on without a single change.
- Follow-up mailing - a brochure posted after the show to someone genuinely interested carries far more weight than one pressed into a hand in the hall.
- Reception and office - leaflets and folders come in handy at every client visit.
- The sales team - a set in each representative's boot is a natural outlet for the surplus.
A checklist for the day before you leave
The last thing that protects the budget is not panic-buying on site. Calmly check that you have the full set.
- Printed materials - in the counted quantities, packed into boxes by type rather than mixed together.
- A handy reserve - business cards in several pockets, not just in one box under the counter.
- Things to write with - pens, a notebook for arrangements, a way of marking the hottest contacts.
- Technical odds and ends - double-sided tape, scissors, clips, chargers. They cost little, and their absence can eat half a day.
- A separate envelope for collected business cards - so that after you return you know who is who.
A well-prepared trade show kit is surprisingly short. A few items, counted quantities, no dates on the materials and a clear idea of what to do with the rest. The remaining budget stays where it really works: on the conversation, on staffing the stand and on getting back in touch afterwards.
