Opening a display booth at a trade show  or buying a trade show booth may seem very “last century” when it comes to marketing in this new, digital age. You should not, however, be too quick to dismiss this time-honored method of getting your business out there. It has a number of benefits over other marketing strategies, and we will go over a few of the big ones here. It Makes You Look Like a Serious Player in Your Industry With this benefit, one can make an analogy to websites. When done right, you can have a website that can level the playing field between you and a bigger rival. In other words, if you have someone create a professional site that makes a powerful impression on people, you can look as good as that much bigger business selling similar things. Trade shows are similar to this. You may not have as many products or as varied a product line, but when you put the effort into creating a professional looking display, you can look far bigger than you may be. Just being in the same room as these bigger competitors helps your reputation and the perception of your business by those who may have an interest in what you have to sell. Opportunity for Immediate Sales A trade show display can be an immense opportunity to make sales that you should take full advantage of. You may think that this is only a place where you show potential customers what you have to offer, and be ready to take orders from those who are interested. Many businesses, especially smaller businesses, need cash flow now while they are working to build up their company. Any short-term cash concerns can be helped by ensuring you have product on hand to sell now to customers. This is also the best way to get future customers. If your product truly is great, then letting the customers buy and use it should be the quickest way for them to discover this. Potential to Get Many Leads for Future Business This is probably the biggest benefit from a trade show display. You get yourself and your company out there, so prospective buyers will see you, and you try to entice them into buying what you have to offer. Typically, trade show attendees will be businesses that are trying to get other companies to stock their product to sell to their customers. Most of them probably will not buy right then and there, but you paid for this opportunity to meet and greet this highly-targeted group of people when you bought your trade show display. Ensure you make the most of it by smiling and shaking as many hands as possible while getting as many flyers, businesses cards and other marketing pieces into as many buyers and buyer's agents hands as possible. It Offers a Personal Touch That No Other Form of Promotion Can Match When you have a product or service that you are really excited about and proud of, nothing conveys that as well as your own excitement when talking about it to someone who is standing right in front of you. No matter how slick looking a brochure is or how professional looking a website is, it just can't match looking someone right in the eyes and speaking passionately about what you have to offer them. This also gives you the ultimate in interactivity in that you can answer any questions they may have immediately without them having to stumble through an FAQ page on your website to see if it's answered there.