Thinking of expanding your business activities into a new market? This article will take a closer look at the benefits of attending trade fairs when entering a new market.
Trade fairs are a very powerful marketing, research and development medium for companies that are considering expanding their business activities into a new market. Trade fairs bring together thousands of international buyers and sellers in one place in a short space of time. This article will give you a breakdown of the benefits of attending trade fairs.
Whilst there are many ways and sources to look for products and suppliers, nothing can beat the benefits that trade fairs have to offer. They do not just gather all the significant players from the industry but enable visitors to evaluate, compare attend demonstrations and ask detailed questions about a large number of products.
Trade fairs provide visitors with a comprehensive overview of the entire market and industry. By taking advantage of the benefits the trade fairs have to offer, you can increase your market knowledge and acquire valuable contacts all in one go!
Trade fairs take place in the biggest cities of a country. South Africa has long been a top destination when it comes to hosting international trade fairs relating to trade in Africa. This is mainly due to the country’s well-established flight routes, as well as its multiple trade fair facilities. Let’s take a closer look at the benefits of attending a trade show when considering expanding your business activities into Africa.
Benefits of attending Trade Fairs when expanding into a new market
- Forge business relationships and cooperation partners
When expanding your business activities into a new country it’s important that you establish relationships with reputable business partners who can assist you to navigate the new market. Because let’s face it, everybody needs help no matter how big or great they are as a company. Companies such as InterGest South Africa offer market entry services and can help you gain a better understanding of the country’s regulatory environment in terms of business and tax structures.
Furthermore, forging alliances with other industry-related companies can help you enter vertical markets that you would not be able to break into otherwise. Trade fairs also can offer opportunities to expand your networks through face-to-face meetings.
- Conduct competitor analysis
Trade fairs expose the strategies and best offerings of all the top brands in the industry. It’s a location where all competitors come together in a bid to market themselves to potential customers. Participating in a trade fair as a company that‘s considering entering the market for the first time will give you the benefit of seeing all the competitors come together in one place. You can take advantage of this by collecting competitor brochures to better understand their product offerings to the local market. As much as your industry and competitors will tolerate it, perform in-depth research in their booths. Learn as much as possible about what they have deemed to be their most significant offerings. By understanding how your competitors are positioning themselves, your marketing team can start working on a strategy to differentiate your brand and gain interest from potential customers once you actively start doing business.
- Raise brand awareness and target leads
Trade fairs offer newcomers a great opportunity to raise brand awareness among industry professionals as well as key decision-makers. Expanding your business activities into a new country can prove to be a difficult task which is why raising brand awareness is such a critical task. Raising brand awareness at a trade show is a relatively straightforward process. Start by attending the conferences, networking events, workshops, seminars, and panel discussions – introduce yourself to the participants and exchange as much business information as possible. Once you start knocking on the right doors, lead generation will come. The math is simple, trade fairs are well attended by large crowds of highly targeted buyers. Attendees who made the effort to attend a trade show do so because they are actively looking to buy the right products for their needs. They simply need to be approached and introduced to your company and the products you offer.
- Gain industry knowledge
Trade fair programmes usually include parallel educational sessions that help you explore and learn about the industry you operate in. Attending these information sessions will bring you up to speed on the local industry’s latest developments and new technologies. This will enable you to plot a competitive course for your business. Prioritise attending sessions that are most related to your business, fit them into your schedule, and take notes during the educational events to remember actionable information to be applied once you get back to the office.
InterGest South Africa has been assisting foreign companies with entering African markets for the past 20 years. We have a credible record of companies that have entered the market using our market entry models and who continue to grow year after year.
Let us help you take the first step. We have compiled a list of Trade Fairs taking place in South Africa from multiple industries for the year 2023. Now that you know the benefits of attending trade fairs, which month will we be welcoming you to sunny South Africa?
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