Trade shows can be incredibly important to new and growing businesses, as they provide an opportunity to reach new customers, increase brand awareness, and strengthen your company’s reputation with existing clients. 88% of businesses participate in a trade show for branding. However, there are dozens of other businesses doing the same thing at trade shows, so you need to make sure your booth stands out from the crowd if you want people to remember it and your business when they return home. Here are 8 ways to make your trade show booth stand out.
1. Make extensive use of a large display board
Using a large display board can help attendees notice your booth. People who aren’t interested in stopping by may stop anyway just because they want a closer look at what’s on display. In fact, 49% of attendees at a trade show buy at least one of the products or services on display.
2. Display a Visually Appealing Sign
Use some basic design principles to create an aesthetically pleasing and inviting display. Your goal is to create a visual hierarchy with big-picture items like signs or brochure holders drawing attention and smaller elements filling in around them. Use bright colors sparingly; they’ll stand out and grab attention, but overuse will make your booth look unprofessional or feel garish.
3. Choose the Best Color Scheme for Your Booth
Color plays a huge role in drawing attention, so you want to make sure your booth is color-coordinated. In fact, studies have shown that both men and women typically make up their minds about a product within 90 seconds of laying eyes on it because colors can send powerful subconscious messages and can help evoke certain emotions or reactions. You’ll have to take into account which colors are considered attractive for your industry.
4. Use freebies to entice attendees
The best way to attract people to your booth is with freebies, especially if you are competing against other companies that have bigger budgets. Everyone loves free stuff. Give away a free t-shirt, samples of your product, or other similar things that attendees can take home and remember you by. Attendees will be more likely to visit your booth if they feel like they got something out of it. You can even give them coupons for discounts on future purchases. Just make sure that whatever you give away doesn’t add much extra weight or size to your booth display—you want people interested in your company, not staring at a pile of disorganized swag bags!
5. Provide Product Information
The easiest way to make your booth stand out at a trade show is by providing high-quality, relevant product information. While you may be tempted to try every new technology and tactic you can think of, forgoing solid foundational elements could damage your chances of success. Think about everything you want people to know about your company and products before creating handouts, brochures, or other materials that can be handed out at the trade show. When people have a lot of questions after viewing your products, they’ll have somewhere convenient to go for answers. Be sure all the information is easily accessible on a website or other digital platform so people can save it or reference it later if they have questions while considering working with you.
6. Customize with Branding Elements
The most effective trade show booths are both functional and fun. One of the most affordable ways to achieve that goal is by customizing your booth with branding elements. Instead of using a generic template, invest in high-quality signage and backdrops customized with your company’s name and slogan (or even products). Creating custom displays is an affordable way to make your booth stand out without breaking your budget.
7. Friendly behavior as a foundation for future relationships.
Use friendly behavior to lay the groundwork for future relationships. When meeting a prospective customer at a trade show, make sure that you ask for their contact information. If they don’t have time to get into detail about your product or service, simply tell them you’d like them to visit your website so they can learn more. By getting people interested in your company and its offerings from an event booth, you can do a further follow-up in email and other channels that are more likely to be fruitful than a follow-up at an event. Think of it as building a list of contacts for future marketing purposes instead of looking for immediate sales.
8. Include brochure holders.
Brochure holders are used at trade shows and conferences in order to hold your company’s promotional material. To make your trade show booth stand out, simply add brochure holders around your exhibit space. Not only will they serve as an extra reminder for passing traffic, but they’ll also help you organize your brochures so that they are easy for people to grab on their way by.
Conclusion
Finally, sometimes a trade-show is an opportunity to get your brand in front of new eyes. With so many other competitors, creating something that stands out from everyone else can be tricky. There are some things you can do, though, to ensure you get attention when you’re at a trade show. In order for people to remember your booth, or business for that matter, there are several ways which a company can incorporate to make it stand out from all of the others.
