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Trade shows are one of the best ways for a company to network and introduce their brand to new customers.
With hundreds of presenters and tens of thousands of attendees, the real question is how do you manage to stand out from the crowd? In the past it was hard to differentiate yourself from major companies unless you got a premium location, but now there are lots of other options.
Here is a list of tips you can follow to help make your booth stand out and get noticed for the right reasons.
1. Build Buzz Well Before You Arrive
The best companies understand the benefit of being a destination within a trade show. You want people to know that you’re going to be at a show and going to deliver something they want while you’re there.
Leverage your social media presence and hashtags related to the event to alert attendees to your presence. Create a countdown and add in fun things like hints about what you’ll be showing and the cool things you plan to do.
A great way to show that you’re serious about the show is to do a contest or voting system to pick out the best kind of swag to give away.
2. Invest in Your Display
Anyone who has attended a trade show before can tell you about the eye fatigue. There are only so many bland and boring displays you can look at before they all blur together.
Make sure your booth pops. Custom cloth banners are a great place to start. They’re vibrantly printed with your company logo and branded colors.
They take your booth from the same old same old to eye-catching and interesting. 90% of trade show success is just getting people to notice your booth. Custom cloth banners do that in spades.
3. Give Away Unusual and Useful Promos
When it comes right down to it, there are only so many pens, mugs, and notepads one person can use. If you want your company to see real long term visibility gains from a trade show, you have to go big with your swag.
Forget pens and give away socks, laptop skins, phone cases, pop sockets, and any other interesting item you can think of. It won’t really cost you much more when you order in bulk and makes a huge difference in how attendees perceive your company.
4. Offer the Best Reusable Bag
A lot of the people attending trade shows are there for the expense paid hotel and the swag. One way to use that to your advantage is to offer the best and biggest bag there.
Anyone can go with a small plastic bag with a logo. You want to give them something big, durable, and tastefully branded.
When your bag is the best, that’s the one people will actually use. Anyone who walks into the show will see your logo on the shoulder of everyone they walk by. It immediately creates a buzz about your booth and draws people to you.
5. Optimize Your Branding
If you haven’t had your logo or branding checked in several years, you may be sending the wrong message. You want your company to look cutting edge and in the now. The last thing you want to do is give the impression that you’re coasting.
In many ways, less is more. Use vibrant colors and eye-catching logos, but you also need to remember the value of empty space. Don’t crowd your marketing materials.
Attention spans have been dropping for years. If you overload their eyes with too much information and visuals, most people will just tune out.
6. Tell Everyone Where You Are
Big trade shows might fill up multiple halls of a large convention center. A great way to prevent your brand from being missed is to tell potential customers early and often where you are.
Make sure you publicize your location in social media posts leading up to the event. Include a map with a route to your booth if possible.
This shows attendees that you understand their time is valuable and it can make them curious about what you have to offer.
Be Ready
Getting attention is just the first step to success at a trade show. Make sure your booth presenters are locked and loaded with all the necessary information about your business. The last thing you want is to get tons of attention without the staff to capitalize on it.
