The Basics Of Building an Effective Trade Show Booth Strategy

Trade show exhibits are an essential marketing tool for businesses looking to make an impact in the marketplace. Recent statistics show that 92% of trade show attendees go to an exhibit looking for new products, services, or suppliers to tap into.

In addition, 46% of these attendees are either executives or in upper management roles, the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) reports. This means that it’s also imperative for brands to create a unique experience through their trade show booths and couple it with a robust pre-show and post-show marketing strategy.

Here are some top tips to ensure your next trade show exhibit is successful.

1. Define Your Goals and Plan Ahead

Before investing in a trade booth design or rental exhibit, identify what your brand wants to achieve through the trade show. This should include measurable objectives such as leads generated, sales made, market research collected, and more.

Once you have set goals for your booth strategy, it’s essential to plan and ensure all details are mapped out in advance. That includes booth design, show services, audio-visual materials, shipping your products/services display pieces, staffing, promotion, and more.

Ideally, you should start planning for the trade show six months to 1 year before the exhibit date. This will give you ample time to develop a strong concept for your event booth design and overall strategy, make adjustments, and have everything fabricated, shipped, and set up.

2. Create an Experience With Your Show Display

Most brands, assuming that simply setting up a one-dimensional booth will achieve the same results, make the mistake of cutting corners when it comes to booth design. This, however, is hardly the case most of the time.

Trade shows are a smorgasbord of options for attendees, so unless you’re a very well-known brand, it’s essential to create an experience with your booth set-up that leaves a lasting impression. Your booth design should be more than just a physical representation of your brand. It should also provide an experience for visitors through interactive elements, audio-visual displays, furniture that encourages engagement, and other features that create an inviting atmosphere.

Remember that the booth doesn’t need to be overly complicated or expensive – even the simplest of designs will do as long as it’s well thought-out and helps you achieve your event goals. Partnering with a reputable booth design company can help you develop innovative ideas to represent your brand and propel you toward achieving your goals.

You’ll want to start with a concept and build out from there, working with creative individuals (graphic artists, 3D renderers, carpenters) to inform your design and help you create a concept that’s ready for fabrication. Depending on your goals, you might need custom shelving or demo stations to effectively showcase a product or service you’re launching.

3. Don’t Neglect Pre-show Marketing

Trade show visitors can easily be overwhelmed by the many brands vying for their attention. Usually, they rely on instinct or search out familiar names before deciding which booths are worth visiting and which should be bypassed.

For this reason, pre-show marketing is crucial, as it helps potential and current customers remember to find your booth and see what you have to offer. You can maximize social media for this by setting up an event invite and putting up a few sponsored ads or sending out personalized e-mails to clients inviting them to attend the trade show. Ensure it includes relevant information to help people locate your booth easily, such as an address and map of the trade show floor with your location marked off.

You can also tease followers on social media by posting photos and videos of booth preparations or offering exclusive follower-only discount codes they can use at the venue. Using such strategies can increase the possibility of higher foot traffic on the day of your trade show exhibit and boost social media following before and after the event.

4. Get Your A-team Ready

Finally, ensure the people manning your booth are well-versed in the brand and its associated products/services. This means investing in team training sessions to bring them up to speed on what is expected of them and how they should present themselves before visitors.

Also, ensure that after each day of the event, you review the experience with your team, encouraging them to provide feedback or raise important issues. This helps you hone in on areas that need improvement and identify any successes during the trade show to be carried forward in future events.

This step also includes preparing your booth staff’s uniforms and props, if any. It’s often overlooked, but having at least a theme in clothing or a common prop helps draw visitors’ attention and increases engagement.

5. Prepare Giveaways and a Follow-up Strategy For Maximum Conversions

If you’re looking for an effective way to market your booth during a trade show, then nothing does it better than offering enticing giveaways that attendees would be happy to have. Forget about pens and notebooks—instead, hand out useful items, like branded canvas bags that visitors can use at the trade show and after. This will ensure maximum exposure to your brand long after the event has concluded.

Make your swag bag work for you by putting useful items, such as travel adapters, earphones, battery packs, or even a branded USB drive containing your catalog or presentation. You can also include coupons and discount codes to entice further conversions post-event.

Remember to come up with a follow-up strategy as well, where you can send out emails or newsletters after the trade show to keep customers engaged. This helps build relationships and encourages further customer engagement. It’s best to reach out within 72 hours post-exhibit, as this will ensure that your booth visitors still have a strong recall of your brand.

If possible, ask booth staff members to be the ones to reach out to customers they’ve interacted with, as this would provide a more personalized experience and give customers the impression that they are getting VIP treatment. Following up with customers after a trade show can be an important part of the process, and it will help you maximize your trade booth design efforts for next time.

Don’t Sweat Your Preparations—Work With Metro Exhibits

Metro Exhibits is your one-stop-shop trade show booth partner, ready to assist with booth design, fabrication, and other aspects of the event. Our services include shipping and logistics, graphic design, printing, project management, installation and dismantling, storage, inventory, and even international exhibit assistance.

Our expertise in setting up show-stopping trade show booth displays for our clients speaks for itself, and our experienced staff is sure to make your exhibit memorable. If you’re looking for assistance with trade show booth design, get in touch with us today. We’ll be more than happy to help out!