Facing Trade Show Challenges? We Have your Remedy.
At EXHIBITORLIVE 2025, WE showcased what’s possible when creativity meets strategy.
Inspired by the idea of traditional apothecaries being a hub of human connection—a place of both remedy and relationship—our booth became a destination for conversation, curiosity, and customized “remedies” for the challenges event marketers often face. The result? Awards for Best Large Booth and Best Booth Staff, but more importantly, meaningful connections and realizing the challenges where Derse’s remedies can help event marketers experience clarity.
Whether or not you visited the Derse Apothecary booth and experienced it firsthand, the pain points we heard are common, and our solutions are actionable.
THE RESULTS ARE IN! HERE IS WHAT WE HEARD.
Many event marketers, like you, are facing similar challenges and what we heard from attendees at EXHIBITORLIVE shows it:
These pain points aren’t unique to EXHIBITORLIVE attendees, they’re the pressure points of the entire trade show and event industry. But, just like any challenge, there’s opportunity for a customized remedy—and with Derse, it has your name on it!
Strategic Remedies for Your Program
The following are actionable insights to help you overcome obstacles, refine your approach, and drive measurable results.
1. ENGAGEMENT & CREATIVITY
Your audience is craving connection, not just a simple interaction. Consider these steps to elevate engagement, captivate audiences, and spark unforgettable brand moments.
- Craft face-to-face brand guidelines by defining how your brand shows up in live experiences to ensure every interaction feels intentional, cohesive, and memorable.
- Design the ideal attendee journey by mapping out key touchpoints that lead visitors through a seamless, immersive experience tailored to their needs.
- Distill the stories you want to tell and identify the core narratives that differentiate your brand and weave them into interactions that resonate.
- Seek inspiration on the show floor by observing trends, engaging with other exhibits, and gathering insights to refine and elevate your approach.
2. SCALABILITY & FLEXIBILITY
Your program should evolve and scale seamlessly, not hold you back. Consider these steps to enhance scalability and flexibility across your program.
- Create a dynamic inventory of on-brand assets by developing a core set of properties that seamlessly adjust across event formats while reinforcing your brand presence.
- Optimize booth configurations for efficiency through assessing booth sizes and structural similarities to streamline logistics, reduce costs, and simplify scaling across your event calendar.
- Align your event schedule for maximum impact by identifying overlapping shows and regional opportunities to consolidate resources and maximize reach.
- Diagnose scalability challenges before they arise by regularly assessing your program’s property inventory and discarding old, unused elements to address inefficiencies before they become obstacles.
3. BUDGETARY PRESSURES
Your budget should be a tool for creativity, not a constraint. Consider these steps to stretch your budgets further and maximize impact.
- Uncover the true cost of ownership by diagnosing your full program investment to uncover hidden expenses and ensure every dollar is working harder.
- Right-size your show schedule, focusing on the most impactful events to maximize ROI while reducing unnecessary spending.
- Optimize your booth staffing model by adjusting staffing plans across your event calendar to enhance engagement while controlling costs.
- Identify cost-reduction opportunities that compare and contrast show expenses to uncover areas where you can streamline operations without diluting impact.
4. RESOURCE CHALLENGES
Internal bandwidth is stretched thinner than ever. Consider these steps to help fill your resource gaps.
- Leverage your exhibit partner’s knowledge, resources, and strategic guidance to lighten your team’s load.
- Learn from subject-matter experts to stay ahead of trends, optimize your program, and refine your approach.
- Build a partnership plan for success by aligning with your trade show partner to create a proactive, long-term strategy that maximizes efficiency and impact.
- Uncover hidden capabilities within your network by deepening your understanding of your exhibit partner’s full range of services to unlock new efficiencies and solutions.
5. PROVING VALUE
Data matters, but a strategy rooted in insights and measurable ROI is just as important. Consider these steps to help prove trade show success.
- Define your trade show program’s role in the sales process to demonstrate impact and drive measurable outcomes.
- Refine your lead ranking system to prioritize high-value prospects and focus efforts where they matter most.
- Extend engagement beyond the show floor with nurturing strategies that reinforce key messages and keep conversations active.
- Rethink your lead survey by adjusting survey questions to capture meaningful data that informs future strategies and proves event ROI
And there you have it, 30 actionable ways to get started resolving the challenges you are facing across your trade show and event program.
If this sparked some ideas—or just some questions—we’d love to hear them. Let’s turn that spark into ideas and results.
Click here to get started.
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