5 Simple Ways to Make Your Trade Show Booth Stand Out

A trade show booth is always a visual experience. The way your booth looks can either attract attention and as such, audience, prospects and leads. The way your trade show looks can also send prospects and leads in the other direction.

Here are five simple ways to help draw attention to your trade show booth.

1. Hanging Displays - A hanging display above your booth provides extended visibility and can help to set you apart from the crowd. While this may be a great logo opportunity it can also be handled as a great promotion opportunity, particularly if you give away the same sort of prize at every show.

2. Lighting - Effective and creative lighting can help set your booth apart by making a bold and dramatic statement. Much like the theatre, your trade show is on display and as such, deserves to be seen in the best light.

3. Ingenuity - While an acid-etched, glass waterfall may exceed most budgets, ingenuity and innovation can go a long way not only to making a statement but in providing a visual sense of being much bigger than you really are, giving a small company a leg up on its competition.

4. Technology - Technology can be your best friend at trade show. Motion pictures can provide far more impact than brochures. A flat panel computer screen and a simple presentation can be your best salesperson.

5. Custom Built Displays - More often than not, a custom built display booth allows you the most latitude in making the statement you want to make about your company or product in exactly the way you want to make it. By far, the biggest benefit of a custom built display is that everything, from podiums, to collateral to monitors and seating functions together.

A trade show is an opportunity to not only participate in an industry event, but to rise to the top of your industry. As such, your trade show booth is an investment and can provide you one of the best returns on investment any marketing initiative may have to offer.

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5 Simple Tips To Make Your Trade Show Booth a Success

Choose An Ideal Location Before booking your booth, ask to see a floor plan and choose your booth location based on one of four things:

1. A location close to an entrance is perhaps the best booth space, but they typically tend to be booked faster than most others for obvious reasons.

2. A corner location is also ideal as you get traffic from two or four different directions. These two are generally among the first booked.

3. A location close to a washroom or entertainment area can be strategic as while you may not garner traffic on the way to these facilities, prospects are more relaxed when headed in the other direction.

4. In the event that you can t get a space close to an entrance, on a corner or near an entertainment or washroom facility, a location close to a Marquis name who is not a direct competitor. They will tend to have a larger both and draw more audience share, providing an opportunity to capture prospects on the way in, or out.

Give Yourself Enough Time Planning for a trade show booth, particularly in a small company can be one of those things that slips under the radar. Remember you are representing your company in an industry forum, perhaps more than any other time, this is when to put your best foot forward.

1. If you lack either time or internal resources, outsource to a professional. Whether you build a booth or simply rent one, a full-service trade show display company can be your best friend. Good full-service trade show display companies are aware of the pitfalls and the opportunities and will guide you accordingly.

2. Understand that a trade show is a sales opportunity and set goals and objectives based on your investment. Whether in new accounts or new leads set an objective and plan accordingly. An attendee list is the best way to start prospecting.

3. Prepare your collateral materials. Your display company can again be your best friend here as they can assist in preparing collateral materials that fit with your overall image and can ensure you have all the materials you typically require.

Staff According To Your Needs Whether for a new product launch, or for lead generation, the worst mistake you can make is not staffing accordingly.

1. A new product is feature and benefits rich and as such should be handled by marketing staff.

2. For lead generation, business development staff should be frontline managing the booth.

Promotions & Giveaways Promotions and giveaways are ideal, however, there are only so many mints and pens any one individual wants.

1. Choose a promotional item that is unique or at a minimum, useful. For technology, thumb drives, computer lamps or USP ports remain popular.

Get A Name The most important thing you can do at a trade show is data capture. Get a name.

1. For consumers, contest entries or sweepstakes are ideal for database capture however ensure they don t require much more information than a name, an email and a phone number. For associates and peers, a business card draw can be an effective tool.

With these simple tips, you have the start for your trade show.

How to Have a Successful Trade Show on a Budget

For a business, particularly a small business, the thought of a trade show can be daunting, often viewed as a drain on resources and a bit of a financial burden. It is, however, possible to have a successful trade show experience, even on a budget.

When it comes to creating your industry trade show budget, three simple rules apply:

Budget Your Time - Create a plan for your trade show that takes into account budget, staff, resources, requirements and most of all, objectives. A trade show is an industry opportunity and as such, is not the time to be cutting costs and corners. If not only industry associates and peers will be in attendance, but also consumers, influencers and media, positioning your company in its best light is not an objective, it is an absolute requirement. A clear focus can accelerate and highlight your needs. Is the goal new leads or to launch new product? Understanding this can go a long way towards help you manage staff and budget your resources accordingly.

Budget Your Resources - Staff your booth with existing and knowledgeable staff. While that may seem obvious, it is frequently overlooked. If your goal is lead or client acquisition, your business development team or person should be your front line during peak hours. Much like a hockey team, you want your best players on the ice at critical times.

If a new product is being launched, marketing is generally your best front line resource with the ability to speak to product features and benefits.

Remember also that a trade show can be exhausting. Poor attendance can lead to boredom and a long day on your feet is a long day on your feet. Budget your time and resources accordingly.

Budget Your Spending - While the thought of renting a display booth may seem the most cost-effective way to go at the outset, sit down and create a tradeshow budget with objectives and actual costs. If you re planning to attend more than one trade show, a custom display booth may prove not only more functional, but simply more cost-effective in the end.

Approach your collateral materials in much the same manner. It may be more financially prudent to print an over run of collateral materials from the outset, and then overprint with changes of addresses, rates or other key information as required in much the same manner business cards are overprinted.

Finally when it comes your collateral material for onsite data collection, if the audience is small enough it may be easier to capture information into a computer directly presenting a direct cost savings over ballots, and a time savings with having to try and decipher information often poorly and hastily written.

When it comes to trade shows, budget need not be a bad word. When it comes to resources, a little planning can go a long way and result in money you can take to the bank.