Trade shows can be great for increasing your organization’s visibility and awareness of your brand and work. In the United States, the typical company spends about 32% of its marketing budget on exhibits and events. They spend more than $24 billion every year on trade show displays. The problem is that at least 70% do not set specific objectives for their trade show booths and exhibits. Here are some tips to make your trade show exhibit design stand out and have the impact you want it to have.
- Unique booths are memorable. Trade show booths are seen by a lot of your peer organizations and others who are important in your industry. They also require a large investment of your time and money. If you are going to go through all of that, you will want your trade show exhibit design to be unique and memorable. The best plan is to have a booth that you can use at multiple trade shows. That will give you more mileage from your investment. If you think shrimping on this is a good idea, you should probably reevaluate your participation in the trade show. You can and should talk to a good exhibit design services company to help you with your booth.
- Pass out the best swag. Creative swag is an important. People are very likely to take and carry with them great promotional items with a company’s name. Everyone at the trade show will be talking about your organization or company if you hand out the right chum. Find high quality items that can be used. You do not have to give your best swag out to everyone but your best prospects or influence makers in your industry. Make sure when you give anything away that you get contact information from the people to whom you give it.
- Host events at your trade show booth. The best trade show booth designs are interactive exhibit designs. You can make the booth itself be interactive and/or you can run events, such as contests and games. Trade shows are great for a lot of things. They are perfect for networking and learning about advancements in your industry. They can also be mind numbingly boring and people enjoy contests and games where prizes are given away and people can get to know each other while having a little fun. Consider putting on raffles, trivia games and bingo. When people participate, make them sign up with their contact information. They will have a good impression of you and your trade show exhibit design and you will be able to reach out to them when the trade show is over.
- Show off your products with a demonstration. Do you have a unique product or service? The trade shows offer perfect opportunities to show off what you do. Find a way to demonstrate what you do. When you are working on your demonstration, focus on what you, your product or service can do for your target audience. These demonstrations are a lot like infomercials about your product or service.
- Incorporate new technology in your trade show exhibit design. Touch screens and digital signs can add a lot of interesting elements to your trade show booth. These can be used to educate the trade show attendees about your organization, goods and services. They can also highlight testimonials, showcase your processes and just show how you are different from other organizations that do similar things. You can even have text messages go out to people as they walk by your booth asking them to come by and get more information.
- Make the most of your social media. The direct connections you make at trade shows are great but not everyone can attend. Using your Facebook page to go live is one way to use that channel to reach people who are not at the trade show. Use any hashtags that are related to the trade show in your posts so people who are following what is happening at the trade show will see them.
Spend some real time and effort on your trade show exhibit design and you will get a lot out of the event.