Trade shows are a marketing strategy that has the potential of increasing sales by 83%. Your trade show booth design has a lot to do with the number of new clients you attract. An attractive booth design enhances face-to-face interactions with clients, which they deem more valuable today than two years ago.
Apart from attracting clients, your trade show booth design also speaks volumes about your company. It’s the basis upon which you shape the success of your marketing efforts. For this reason, strive to choose a design that’ll create a lasting impression on your visitors.
Here, we look at ten tips that you can adapt to help you stand out from the crowd.
1. Embrace Brand Consistency
Regardless of the length of time you’ve been in the market, you need to embrace brand consistency. This is to say that all the products you promote should bear the same logo, look, and feel. Some ideas to borrow include the use of product images that construct consistency.
Additionally, make use of pillar structures with uniform colors. The visitors will have a mental image of thematically balanced space.
Brand consistency can also be achieved through all the items at your booth stand. Let them bear your company image if possible. Be creative enough not to crowd your booth space though.
2. Visibility of Key Messages
If you want your marketing messages to be visible, place them three to four feet high. If possible, post your company logo in every possible area. Keep the message simple to avoid ending up with information overload.
The key message should be printed in large bold letters, visible from a distance. If possible, have your team wear t-shirts bearing the marketing message. This means they’ll carry the message with them wherever they go.
3. Make Your Booth Interactive
If you check most booths in a trade show, most owners will sit in their booths and wait for visitors. A few others will try to engage the passing visitors, trying to make them visit their booth.
Doing the same will earn you the same results; probably a few visitors with and little or no sales. For your booth to stand out make it interactive and attractive. You don’t need to do anything extraordinary to achieve this, but creativity is essential.
For example, put up a video screen and have a documentary or related content around your business and products. Go for content that draws visitors to you. Another idea is to run a trade show game where visitors can win prizes.
The longer the game takes, the more time you’ll have to interact with the attendees. Incorporate product demos and giveaways to attract people to interact with your content. Be creative in using touch screen technology for more interaction.
4. Lighting Speaks Volumes
No one will want to visit a dimly lit booth where they don’t know what to expect. Good lighting should be a big part of your trade show booth design. Proper lighting not only makes your booth more welcoming but also highlights the unique features of your booth.
The architecture and graphics are part of marketing your brand. When they’re well illuminated, they tell the visitor more about your values, tastes, and preferences. Consider placing LED lights around the edges of graphics to provide consistent backlighting.
If you want to pull off visually attractive trade show displays, invest in people talented in the area. This could be a tough budgeting decision, but it’ll be worthwhile at the end.
5. Play Around with the Positioning of Your Company Name
The traditional approach to placing your company name is to have it at the top. If you look around, you’ll realize there’s nothing unique about that. Graphics hierarchy is essential in trade show booth design, but it doesn’t dictate the first position of the company name.
This especially works for lesser-known companies and brands. Instead of telling your visitors who you are, tell them what you do. For example, “For Business and Personal Development Insights” tells a reader about your services without necessarily mentioning your name.
Once they know what you do, they’ll come to you to find out who you’re, where, you’re based, and how you do business.
6. Give Away Something Useful
Apart from the awards your visitors can win in the games mentioned above, be more creative. In this case, it’s not about expensive gifts or things that will end up in the trash can. Think about providing snacks and free water to your visitors.
You could give away unique water bottles and other promotional products with your company name on them. The visitors will forever have memories of your company whenever they use water bottles. Other ideas are free coffee or popcorn to snack on as they wait.
7. Work on Building Relationships
Your trade show booth design should incorporate private spaces where you can sit down with prospects. This is the space where you’ll work on building a lasting relationship with your potential clients. With this kind of treatment, it’s highly likely that the visitors will start business negotiations with you.
8. Remove Clutter
As you try to create booth space that’ll be attractive to your visitors, it’s very easy to end up with cluttered space. Strive to keep the area as clear of clutter as possible. Wide open spaces are more inviting, as they provide room from the busy and crowded aisles of the trade show floor.
One way to create the impression of ample space is to make use of low walls. This will make it easy for visitors to view the inside area. Besides, it’ll create a rich backdrop for dialog.
9. Choose Colors Carefully
Colors have a psychological impact that’s complex to explain. Different people are drawn to varying shades for varying reasons. The colors you incorporate in your booth can make or break your business deal.
As a tip, colors like green, blue, and white spell big on professionalism. However, they’re not so good at grabbing attention. Colors like red, yellow, and orange are warmer and more engaging than others, yet can be domineering.
Strive to strike a balance with the colors you choose, being guided by your primary brand colors.
10. Consider the Function of Your Booth
One thing to incorporate in your trade show booth design is its function. Be sure to tell your designer all about the various points of service you consider essential. If this is your first trade show booth, remember the design phase will take up most of your time.
Getting the design wrong could be disastrous, and you may have to live with the consequences for years. Take into consideration meeting areas, sample areas, and product storage areas. If you’re just starting, a large meeting area may not be necessary as you may not have many guests.
Storage for company products and personal items is essential. You don’t want everything placed in the space meant for your visitors.
Focal Areas
Remember that some parts of your booth are visually more important than others. As an example, the wall at the back forms the focal point for most small to mid-sized enclosures. It should, therefore, be the wall where you put the most crucial design element, logo, or message.
Larger booths may have more than one focal point. It may even have two back walls. Choose your focal area carefully as it should contain the most important brand information.
If you don’t have enough space on the walls, portable and pop up displays can come in handy. The good thing with these is that you can place them on the walkways, increasing your visibility.
Bonus: What One Thing Should Attendees Remember?
We’ve already looked at the ten tips to make your trade show booth stand out. As a bonus, we’ll give you an extra tip. This has to do with making your booth memorable.
Think about it carefully. What is the one thing you’d like your visitors to remember about you? Several factors could influence your decision. For example, if you’re in the exhibition for the first time, choose something that’ll promote your business.
This could mean something like free giveaways with your logo on it. For repeat exhibitors, take the notch higher. Maybe it’s time to launch new products or services in style.
Trade Show Booth Design – Take Away
If you plan to have a booth stand in a trade show, make sure you stand out. Remember every other business in attendance will also do their best to be noticed. Come up with ideas that’ll set you apart from the competition.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with unique ideas. The first thing to think about is the impression of space. You don’t want to turn away visitors for lack of space. If possible, incorporate private meeting space where you can engage them intensely.
Make a budget for giveaway or gift items. Better still, let them bear your logo if you want to remain in the minds of your clients. Other things to consider are the color scheme, lighting, activity, and graphics.
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