Your trade show exhibits have a small window of opportunity to attract attendees. Squander it and you may not get a second chance. Each element of your display booth must be designed to communicate your company’s message, showcase your products, and entice your audience to investigate further. These things are the critical precursors that allow your booth staff to engage visitors in conversation in order to qualify them as targeted leads. But, they don’t happen without careful planning and design.
Below, you’ll discover the 6 secrets to designing effective trade show exhibits. Most exhibitors ignore them and their results on the convention floor suffer. Use the following tips to gain a competitive advantage.
#1 – First, Grab Attention
Nothing happens until people visit your display booth. The challenge is that you only have a few seconds during which to grab their attention as they’re walking by. Your trade show exhibits must make an immediate impact upon attendees. An attractive, uncluttered design that incorporates motion and creative lighting can stand apart from the crowd.
#2 – Limit The Message
As attendees walk through the convention center, they’re confronted with a barrage of stimuli. While they can easily absorb the sights and sounds they encounter during their first hour, such stimuli quickly becomes overwhelming. At a certain point, their brains become desensitized; their memories, less acute.
Limit your trade show marketing message to its most powerful elements. Rather than communicating a dozen features, focus upon three or four key benefits. By listing those which speak directly to your audience’s needs, your trade show exhibits will make an immediate impact.
#3 – Use A Tactile Approach
If possible, include demonstrations within your trade show exhibits that allow your visitors to actively participate. For example, if your company sells business software, let attendees experience it firsthand. You can hire trade show vendors to setup a kiosk that gives your visitors an opportunity to interact with your product.
#4 – Clear The Path
Amid the clutter and tumult of the convention center, clean-looking trade show exhibits can seem like a welcome island of clarity. Try to clear the path to encourage attendees to visit. Keep literature and marketing collateral organized and tidy. Ask employees who are not actively working in your exhibit to avoid lingering. The more tidy your booth is, the more welcoming it will seem to your audience.
#5 – Engage Multiple Senses
Trade show exhibits should be attractive on several levels. If you can simultaneously reach your audience through sight, smell, and sound, you will make a greater impact upon them. Your trade show graphics and other display elements will already create a visual connection. Consider using music to appeal to their ears and food to appeal to their sense of smell. For example, customized popcorn machines can send tantalizing aromas through the aisles of the exhibition hall.
#6 – Extend Your Brand
Your trade show exhibits should represent a visual extension of your company’s brand. By communicating the same powerful message in your display booth graphics, staff apparel, marketing collateral, and promotional giveaways, you maintain consistency. Over time, that consistency creates familiarity in your audience, bridging the gap between you and your prospects more quickly.
Creating Trade Show Exhibits That Deliver An Impact
Attracting your target audience to your display booths doesn’t happen by accident. It requires careful planning and execution of proven strategies. Use the tips above to design trade show exhibits which stand apart from the crowd. While other exhibitors watch in wonderment at the traffic you’re generating to your booths, you’ll know your exhibits are making an impact based upon smart trade show marketing.
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