The Exhibitor's Resource – Trade Show Marketing Blog

Have you taken a look at your existing trade show display and wondered how you will be able to showcase your company effectively with such limited display real estate? While all exhibitors are looking for a manageable trade show display, a successful trade show depends on a good fit and enough display space to achieve your exhibiting goals. Is your current display unable to accommodate the AV demos you want to feature at your next trade show? Is there more branding that you would like to do that your display just doesn’t have space for? Does your trade show booth staff complain that there isn’t any seating or private meeting space in your display to facilitate more in depth conversations with their prospects?

These are just some of the reasons that it might be time to look at upgrading your trade show display. Luckily, there are trade show display options that can meet your needs, but not exceed your budget. One option is to rent the trade show display for your next show. Another is to upgrade your current trade show display. We offer a new line of upgrades for the popular Nomadic pop-up display, that allow you to add AV demo stations, header graphics and other accessories to enhance the look and functionality of your trade show display.

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While there are a lot of variables to consider when selecting a trade show booth space, a basic thing to realize is that all trade show booth spaces are not created equal. Here are some ideas on how to select the best trade show space you can.

One factor to consider is trade show space proximity to compatible brands or products, and this is particularly important at larger trade shows, where one expo attracts a wide range of attendees looking for a wide range of products. If, for instance, a software developer exhibits at an electronics show, they might want to position themselves either near the hardware that their software runs on. Each situation is different and may require an alternative strategy, but understanding what “neighborhood” a given space is in is crucial.

Spaces that don’t work as well include some that would initially seem to be prime real estate, but research has proven to be less desirable. An example would be those spaces in the “decompression zone” up front near the entrance. Retail store planners have for some time designed store layouts to place lower-margin merchandise in this dead zone. Just like a shopper, a trade show attendee tends to miss the displays front and center and is ready to absorb more of what they see a little further into their journey on the trade show floor.

And that journey most often starts to the right of the entrance, which is why exhibit planners talk about “left side lethargy” – by the time exhibitors make it to that far left side, they are often starting to tire, and at the minimum, exhibitors with spaces on that side might want to consider a seating or lounge area to ensure they do everything they can to capture this traffic.

Exhibitors should look for spaces away from columns, corner spaces for inline displays, and any space that offers a way to stand out. Although spaces against the convention hall walls might not have as high traffic as others, once advantage is the potential for an exhibitor to make an inline display taller. Depending on the particular trade show’s rules and regulations, an exhibitor might be able to go as high as 14′ or higher and stand up and above the typical 8′ display height for most inline trade show displays.

Another area to potentially avoid would be spaces near restrooms and other facilities. Sure, there will be a lot of traffic moving past those booth spaces, but attendees might have a more urgent task on their mind and won’t necessarily be interested in slowing down to speak with your booth staff. Some trade show displays might do well near food court seating, but a good plan needs to be put into place for how to draw attention for those taking a snack break. Particularly for smaller booth spaces, being close to tables and chairs means that they might be able to move a conversation to a more private location without the expense of an in-booth seating area or lounge.

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Exhibitors benefit in many ways from the shows that they exhibit at, but their post-show process can really be a factor in success, now and for future events.

Here are some of the post-show activities that should be planned to maximize the effectiveness of the show:

• Has a daily debriefing meeting among booth staff been planned?
• How will show leads be processed and followed-up on?
• Has a system been put into place to handle the fulfillment of visitor requests for literature, samples and other follow-up materials?
• How will conversions and sales resulting from the show be tracked?

• Did the show expenses stay within the budget?
• Does the budget need to be adjusted for the remaining show calendar, or for the same show next year?
• Based on the show results, what other shows should you consider exhibiting at?
• What recognition will the booth staff receive for meeting show goals?
• How will the success of each show be determined?

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Trade show marketing requires a lot of preparation, coordination, and imagination. To make trade shows pay off in this new, over-saturated marketing world, an exhibitor must change the way they define their goals and how they execute their plan. As mentioned in previous posts, pre-show communication with prospects AND clients to get them to stop by your trade show booth is essential, as is having something to show them when they ultimately show up.

But an exhibitor can extend the payoff of their trade show investment into the future in the form of press releases, blog posts, photos, video footage and other buzz created while at the show. A trade show presence is an irreplaceable venue for interaction with key industry players, but it’s also a wonderful place to get in front of the media. Reporters from media outlets throughout the country, and indeed the world, attend trade shows looking for trends to report on. The better prepared you and your staff are, and the better your trade show display looks, the more likely you’ll be featured in a news story from the trade show floor.

And you can create your own media splash from the event yourself. An emerging trend in trade show marketing is for companies to launch a new product, announce a new service, or feature exciting demos within their trade show booth space, and document it all with photos and video footage. They then use the content they captured from that blitz across all the media formats and outlets they can. They immediately add posts to their blogs, send out press releases, and distribute the video. The trade show display acts as the stage in many cases, making sure their name, their brand, and their unique offer is seen and understood by whoever sees the photos and watches the clips.

Pulling that sort of coordinated marketing effort together may seem a daunting task, but have no fear, there are resources available to help you. A trade show consultant from an exhibit design firm is a great start, and can help exhibitors develop a strategy, create a design that supports your show activities and goals, establish a budget and help you stick to it, and handle all of the logistical details of the show itself. Because a seasoned trade show consultant has managed many exhibiting programs, they can suggest best practices to save time and money and help exhibitors catch potentially disastrous problems before the show. Exhibitors that work with trade show consultants have more time to devote to other planning for the show, such as rehearsing that demo presentation or energizing the sales professionals that will be staffing your exhibit.

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GOAL #1 – Be Seen. You only have a few seconds to capture prospects’ attention when they walk by your display. Use a stand-out image or attention-getting headline to bring them in.

GOAL #2 – Conspicuously feature your Brand Name or Logo

GOAL #3 – Tell everyone what your Company does

GOAL #4 – What is your offer?  What separates you from your competition?  Why should they stop and learn more?

GOAL #5 – Simplify.  Think billboard rather than brochure – a few bullet points and that’s it.  Rely on your booth staff to take it from there, providing literature, web links and follow-up to further explain your specific products and services in detail.

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The Exhibit Resources team is at the Exhibitor Show in Las Vegas this week. Among the hot new products we’ve seen so far is the Glide – a new display from Exponents that is so eye catching and flexible that it is a true game-changer. In addition to the versatility of acting as an AV kiosk, backwall and standalone attention-grabber, the new display can showcase product samples on a wide range of shelving and rack hardware. The display features an ultra-compact design thanks to fabric graphic “wings” and a clever flat-packing center column. LED lighting is another low-impact feature that ensures that this display meets emerging corporate sustainability sourcing goals.

We’ve also visited the new Vegas rental and design command post of vendor partner Nomadic. We extend our national and global reach through strategic partnerships such as the one we have with Nomadic, and it’s been great to see the enhanced rental facility and meet with the rental designers that are like extended ER family.

More to come!

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