Running a booth at a trade show can be a great way to promote your business, advertise your services, and expand your customer base. Managing a booth requires a lot of hard work, so you should make sure you get the most out of your trade show display to get the best return on the time and money you’ve invested. To do this, make sure your trade show booth stands out from the rest, has an eye-catching design, draws people in, and gives them a reason to stay a while. You should also hand out unique, but useful giveaways that will attract the attention of other attendees and encourage consumers to seek out your booth. You can accomplish all this and more by following these tips for a successful and profitable trade show booth.

 

Create a Strategic, Eye-Catching Design

For a successful booth that will attract crowds, start with a design that stands out, is memorable, and incorporates your business logo and brand. The whole point of having a booth at a trade show is to advertise your business and attract new customers, so be sure to theme your booth around your business colors, logo, and the products you are promoting. For example, if you are a company selling water bottles, consider a white and blue, water-themed booth with crashing wave cutouts, or add a working water feature. Use your space wisely, don’t be afraid to go big. Create a large graphic if your booth space has room for overhead signs. A banner or structure that rises above the other booths will attract attention and trade show attendees will seek you out just to find out what it is. The most important thing is to be memorable, as a booth, as a brand and as a team.

 

 Set Up a Photo Booth or Selfie Station

Selfies and social media are all the rage right now, so setting up a station where attendees can take unique selfies or have a cool picture taken will give people a reason to stop at your booth and look around instead of walking by. Again, don’t be afraid to go big and design something that is unique and attractive. A company that sells mountain climbing equipment might want to set up a mountain climbing photo station with a stunning backdrop and a 3D mountain people can pose with. This can also help with the previous goal of using the overhead space and creating something eye-catching and memorable. Be sure to include your logo somewhere visible on the selfie station so your business or product will be promoted whenever the photo is shared social media. If you’re taking the pictures, you can have people record their contact info to receive the pictures, which now gives you another opportunity to engage and encourage potential customers to buy your product.

 

Get People Engaged

It’s important to give people a reason to stop at your booth long enough to learn about your product or for someone from your staff to interact with them inside your booth. A photo booth can help but, consider incorporating other elements people can interact with. If you can, provide samples of your products for people to demo and test. Consider hosting a contest and giving out prizes for the winners. Creating excitement at your booth will attract a curious crowd of attendees who are eager to learn more. Hosting a drawing where people drop their business cards into a bowl to win a prize will give attendees a reason to pause and look at your display, which will increase your chances of interacting with them. Remember, those business cards can give you a list of potential customers to follow up with after the event.

 

Create a Rest Station

Giving people a chance to sit and do nothing may seem counterintuitive to our previous points emphasizing the need to engage potential customers, but sometimes letting them do nothing can be more beneficial. Trade shows are often loud, crowded, and overwhelming, with very few places for people to sit and take a break. By creating a comfy rest area with your logo or brand cleverly worked into the space, you can draw people in and get them to spend time in your booth, observing your products while associating your company with positive emotions and connotations. To create a great rest space, consider theming it around your company or product. For example, the previous hypothetical company selling mountain climbing gear with the mountain photo op could create a lodge-themed rest area with an electric fireplace, pine-looking paneling, and big comfy lodge-style chairs and couches. To really increase your popularity, consider providing a charging station where people can plug in their mobile devices to charge while they relax.

 

Get Your Giveaways to Work for You

Giveaways are an important and fun part of any trade show.Try to avoid the standard pens, laser pointers, and brochures that you normally see at trade shows. Instead, give away something that is useful, practical, and/or eye-catching that everyone will want. Examples could include a high-end water bottle (think something with a fruit infuser or unusual design), coffee given away in reusable mugs, or a nicely-designed hat. You want your giveaway to be easily seen and intriguing. This way, when someone leaves the booth carrying your branded product, they are now advertising your company as they walk through the rest of the trade show. If the branded item is unique enough, it can drive traffic to your booth as people seek you out just to get a fancy coffee travel mug of their own. Keep in mind that the product itself does not have to relate to your brand or company. If it does that’s an added bonus, but the goal when it comes to giveaways should be to help attract more potential customers to your booth and to gift them with a product they won’t throw away at the end of the day, but will instead continue to use or wear and be remind of your company every time.