Your booth is your front line when it comes to winning the hearts and minds of would be customers, so don’t skimp. Making every effort to rock your trade show booth could mean the difference between adding an extra zero onto your bottom line and looking for a new job.
Here are seven important tips to bear in mind when building a successful trade show booth presence:
Tip 1 – Red Light/ Green Light. The Art of Attraction
Simply put, you can’t pitch it if “they” don’t stop. Using trade show accessories like custom props, signage or using trade show printing of an unusual and visible color in an odd place will give you that valuable few seconds to make your visual case to convention-goers. Like flies on …
Tip 2 – Check Your Entrance
Is your booth cluttered, hard to get in and out of, noisy or filled with obstacles? Does your exhibit have “flow”? Rock your trade show booth by clearing the way so that guests aren’t skittish about coming in. Having inviting trade show counters with the right booth staff can also go a long way if your target audience tends to be shy.
Tip 3 – Right Exhibit at the Right Show
Trade show planning is essential in making sure your exhibit is not a waste of money and time. At the very least, ensure that your trade show presentation isn’t sub par in comparison to the competition. The wrong research could drive you into a tiny trade show kiosk when a large booth could have been more lucrative. Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight.
Tip 4 – Fit and Finish Matters
Trade shows and expos are expensive, period but the last place you should be looking to cut costs is on trade show equipment and supplies. Exhibit appearance is a direct indication of your product or service. Stained or torn trade show furniture, broken trade show racks, crooked trade show walls or uneven trade show flooring will at the very least turn away potential customers. Worst-case scenario, you’re looking at a lawsuit.
Tip 5 – Incentive in the Form of Comfort
If budget allows, trade show games and giveaways that expressly appeal to the immediate needs of an attendee work well. Branded versions of inexpensive objects like cold bottled water, packets of aspirin or grand prizes in the form of a massage will bring in guests walking the trade show floor and allow you a few moments to chat them up.
Tip 6 – Attention to Attention
If your booth guest doesn’t find something to engage within a few seconds, they’ll wander off to your competitors, guaranteed. A trade show display showing a video on a loop – sound turned down to prevent overwhelming conversation – is a great way to hold their eyes.
Tip 7 – Better Safe than Sorry
Although not for everyone, trade show management becomes increasingly important as you scale your booth. Being in the business of trade shows, we see way to many confident exhibitors go from bright eyed and bushy tailed to “PTSSD” (Post Trade Show Stress Disorder): by the end of the show. Wishing we could have helped from the start, the end of the convention is of course, not the time for custom trade show planning.
