Note: All dates are subject to change in light of COVID-19
You might feel ready to dominate the world at the next trade show, now that your booth has been reserved, your badge has been obtained, and your hotel reservation has been processed. However, just because you’re at the show doesn’t guarantee the attendees will notice you. Use these strategies to attract people to your booth and boost sales.
With increased competitiveness and more complicated booths than ever before, you’ll need to find a way to stand out. Typically, the most beautifully built trade show booths are the most common at the exhibition. They get a lot of visitors, gain a lot of leads, and have the most social media impact.
Coming up with fresh and interesting designs can be time-consuming and expensive. However, it’s not always the case, here are our top 9 exhibition stall design booth ideas and emerging exhibition stand patterns that we discovered while writing this post:
Use Bold Colors
Normally, major corporations use basic colors in their trade show exhibit designs. The range of colors you can choose from include;
- Red; This inspires passion and excitement, and can also channel danger and fierceness.
- Orange; This creates a vibrant exuberance in people, which is ideal for a product launch.
- Yellow; This is a cheerful color that has the characteristic of brightening up people’s days.
- Green; This color introduces a calm, soothing sense of relaxation.
- Blue; This can make visitors feel subdued, and it can quickly turn into dissatisfaction.
- Purple; This breeds a sense of royalty and dignity, which can only apply in a trade show unless it is directly linked to your business.
- White; It should be the color of the cover, not the table runner since it is pure, clean, and well-organized.
- Black; represents emptiness and negativity. It has a rough first impression to conquer.
The key takeaway is to be mindful of your color choices’ implicit, psychological overtones that affect your booth staff and clients. While choosing carpeting and display colors, keep those hidden messages in mind. There are practical aspects to consider as well – colors can be used to ensure brand consistency, communicate a message clearly, ensure your stall stands out, and make it easier for visitors to understand your
You can rent or buy these stalls, and have all your custom colors mixed and matched by tradeshow exhibition firms. This will ensure you get the absolute value for your money.
If you have a simple logo color, use a small percentage of its color in your setup. For instance, you could implement 5% or 10% of your logo’s base color. Additionally, use a new lighter variant of the same color family for 20% to 50%, depending on the style, and use white or light grey as the base color.
Take Social Distancing into Account
With the global pandemic still in circulation, it would be wise to implement tradeshow design ideas that ensure the covid-19 regulations are met. For instance, you could;
- Install sanitizing stations; encourage all personnel and visitors to sanitize while walking in and out of your exhibition stall.
- Place barriers and partitions for your visitors and employees; keep everyone 6 feet apart from each other, while making them feel warm and welcome(talk to them).
- Ensure all visitors and personnel at your station maintain a social distance without fostering a hostile environment.
- Implement signage and light messaging to keep the social distancing messaging visually appealing and fun to follow through.
- Space out the seats and layouts for the exhibit stall. Again, engage them verbally to make them feel sociable in the space.
- You can also mix and match virtual and physical exhibition stall designs. Virtual experiences allow brands to expand their tradeshow reach outside the hall. This caters to guests who aren’t ready for in-person events and to everyone who wants to stay longer than the show’s length.
Implementing such techniques breeds a level of trust between you and your visitors, which may reflect itself in the sales. Also, it ensures you play your part in the control of the spread of the covid-19 virus, whilst keeping you and your staff healthy.
However, implementing such designs will cost you extra in rental fees. This is because social distancing regulations might require special size custom tradeshow flooring. This does not mean that you cannot implement a 10*10 or 20*20 designs that will cost you between $10k and $20k to rent.
Just ensure you limit the number of people in the stall at any given time through the above-stated implementations. For example, you can implement a virtual exhibit booth idea in such a case.
Design an Eye-Catching Banner
Banners are responsible for creating a sense of curiosity amongst visitors in a trade expo. The more appealing it is to the eye, the higher the chance of attracting visitors to your stall. A successful trade show banner design has several considerations attached to it. Banner options available in the market include;
- Retractable banners; One of the most common and popular banner display types. Seeing as they retract back into their casing when preparing for transportation and travel, these trade show banner stands are ideal for touring. If you’re not using your banner, this prevents graphics, such as logos, from being harmed.
- Hook & loop-receptive banner stands; this is also common since they enable you to customize your stall by using simple touch fasteners to attach sign holders, literature pockets, and other accessories.
- Outdoor event flags; to attract visitors with these banners, use bright and bold colors.
- Hanging banners.
The costs here will involve paying companies to print your trade show graphic ideas. You can do this by yourself, however, it might cumulatively cost more than outsourcing. Ensure this covers a smaller percentage of your trade show booth design cost.
Trade show banner stands should be lightweight, compact, and simple to assemble since these events typically require travel. Banners give you a lot of space to put graphics, logos, and other photographs. They can be put almost anywhere and take up very little floor space.
Promote new items, promotions or specials, and upcoming activities with a banner stand. A trade show banner stand will help you take your ads to the next stage, no matter what you use them for. The majority of these banner stands have custom-printed graphics based on your artwork.
Banner flags banners are ideal for;
- 20’ * 20’ or larger trade show booths
- 10’ * 20’ or larger booth designs.
However, you can implement the use of banner stands and hangers for smaller booth sizes.
Utilize a Led Video Wall as Your Booth Backdrop
Another lucrative tip would be employing the use of a creative trade show backdrop design. Try using a video wall or video signs at a trade show to catch people’s attention. The video is bright, has movement, and draws people’s attention from all over the trade show floor. One of the amazing trade show backdrop ideas available in the market is the direct view LED video wall.
Direct view LED, also known simply as “LED,” is a relatively new form of indoor video wall display. Direct view LED isn’t a new technology and has been used in large-scale outdoor signage for decades. However, it lacked the resolution required for proximity indoor displays in the past. All of this shifted with the recent introduction of very small LEDs, allowing manufacturers to create LED displays with much higher resolution. Direct view LED is among the most common trade show display options today.
You’ll get the benefits of color, motion, and light if you can integrate video into your trade show display design. All of this adds up to something appealing to trade show visitors.
A trade show backdrop design rental is much less expensive than purchasing one. The money saved on a direct view LED wall can be used to improve the design of your booth, train your trade show staff, or make your marketing presentation more engaging and interesting.
Led Video walls come in different shapes and sizes, and can be used as a trade show backdrop design for a variety of booth sizes, from as small as the 10’ * 10’, 10’ * 20’, and 20’ * 20 among others, all the way to larger designs. Ideally, if you have a smaller booth set up you could use small led video walls of around 7’ * 12’. The larger exhibition booths can employ larger sizes of up to 20’ * 40’.
Add a Trade Show Tower
When square footage is a limited resource, making the most of it is a must-have skill when putting together an exhibition stall design. Many trade show exhibitors continue to ignore the vertical space in their booth, focusing instead on ensuring that counters and other horizontal display signage suit properly and effectively convey their message to the target audience.
The number of trade show displays available for use has increased over time. These include:
- Portable EZ tube towers; These are ideal for those looking to purchase a simple tower for their trade show display. One of the features that make Portable EZ Tube Towers so appealing is how simple they are to set up.
- Modular Towers; If the already broad range of sizes and heights is not to your taste, Modular Towers will easily build custom-sized towers for your trade show booth space. When it comes to standard sizes, the aforementioned range is very extensive, ranging from 6 feet to 16 feet tall.
Towers are a perfect way to not only provide more marketing messages but also to significantly improve your exposure without breaking your marketing budget on shipping costs.
Since towers are so easy to mount, you won’t have to pay for any additional on-site labor or the like. When compared to other types of trade show design inspiration, towers are also a less expensive choice. These towers can also be customized with additional accessories to take the marketing vision to the next level.
Trade show towers can be bought at a fair price, once purchased they are very durable. However, if you do not often set up at trade shows, try your hand at renting these towers. For a single trade show display system, try towers that fit your signage. A consistent trade show branding strategy will give your booth a sleek and professional appearance. These can go well with trade show booths of all sizes, however, they should be scaled appropriately.
Stand out Your Booth by Show Lighting
Trade show lighting is one of the easiest ways to attract more attendees to your booth. In a sea of hanging signs, illuminated logos capture people’s attention and stand out. The contrast is particularly noticeable when set against a matte backdrop. This is why it’s such an important part of trade show display design.
Consider how you’ll light your booth: would you backlight the logo, the towers, or illuminate the whole set up from within? There are several tradeshow lighting options to think about. These include;
- Overhead LED lamps for the booth
- Backlit logos and other trade show displays
- Track lighting
- Strip lighting along with the booth layout
Working with trade show exhibit design firms offers its fair share of advantages, inclusive of;
- Working with teams that are receptive to your ideas
- 3 D design; Before construction, you can get a 3D model of your booth to help you envision it and make better design and lighting decisions.
- They know how to bring attention to your goods and services so you can stand out at every trade show.
- Their lighting fixtures are not only high-quality and adaptable, but they are also very cost-effective.
If you wish to maintain a consistent setup across all your tradeshows, consider buying the lighting, however, they are fragile and can easily break. The other option is to rent the lighting setups from companies that avail these services. Lighting will depend on your overall trade show booth design. However, you can install lights in all shapes and sizes ranging from 10’ * 10’ booths to 20’ * 40’ and beyond.
Improve Interactivity by Trade Show Games
Another trick implemented by trade show expo companies is the interactive trade show games. These are implemented to do one thing, keep the visitors coming and engaged with your products. Several games can be implemented within your setup, these include;
- Scratch off cards; This is an easy way to make the next trade show more fun and interactive. However, don’t forget to factor in the expense of the cards. If done correctly, the additional expense would be well worth it in terms of attracting people to your booth. The fact that it is built on a well-known lottery concept is what makes this game so appealing.
- Virtual reality; Let visitors put on the headset and walk right through the various doors of your business. Make the most of the opportunity to promote the most outstandingly positive aspects of your business.
- Flying disc; It’s a straightforward task: stick the disc in a slot or on a specified surface. If the players make it in, give them a prize that will entice them to continue doing business with your company.
- Photo contest; You may enter the visitors into a contest by displaying their photos on a display. However, don’t leave your guests hanging around while they wait for their turn.
- Trivia challenges; Set questions on a display for participants to respond on their own. Just make sure these issues are relevant to your company or business. Also, have them leave their names and contact info before trying out.
- Social media cutouts challenge; have a cut out at your booth, allowing visitors to win a prize.
Interactive trade show games bring in more visitors to your booth and can be used to educate them more on your products. These games apply to all sizes of booths, however, larger booths offer more space for interactivity.
Set Playful Displays
When it comes to your booth, think beyond the box. A table, a few comfy seats, and charging stations are uninteresting. They’re also likely to be available at any other booth. Instead, use your imagination. Interactive shows, such as those where visitors to the booth can adjust the lighting and try out sample items.
Industry trade shows can be monotonous and even dull at times. There are some aspects to put into consideration while making your exhibition stall design and fabrication attractive. Some of these include;
Incorporating trade show kiosk displays into a booth space will help draw prospects by breaking up the monotony. A kiosk display is very useful on crowded exhibition floors because it serves as an introduction to your brand and allows you to interact directly with the audience.
Implementing trade show tabletop displays or small booths is a perfect way to test the waters. Additionally, get fresh eyes on your goods or services whether you’re a small business or just starting with a minimal budget.
Blocks; All you need is a Jenga set (regular or Jumbo works), a table for visitors to play on, and some words and phrases to compose on the blocks themselves for this idea to work. Try adding words and phrases that are associated with the theme on your blocks.
These methods can be tricky to balance out while sticking to your core business, however, they do help with keeping visitors within your booth.
The creativity you implement afterward is totally up to you. Implementing playful trade show graphic ideas such as trade show kiosks can be expensive. However, the budget does depend on your choices. For instance, renting trade show kiosk displays for seasonal shows may offer financial efficiency. However, if you regularly attend these shows, buying might just be easier.
Playful designs are suitable for both smaller booth designs(games like building blocks), all the way to larger booths that can hold multiple kiosk displays at once.
More than the Booth Design – Employ a Passionate Team
You can invest in a team of people who can produce better, clearer leads on the day and goes a long way toward ensuring your brand has a serious impact on the industry by recruiting the right trade show booth workers who are experienced in their respective fields.
Having internal employees staff your trade show booth would save money for your business. When it comes to attracting new customers, passionate employees have a propensity to serve the organization well and create relations.
With the right experience, trade show booth workers will easily create interest in new and new items. They not only present the product in the best possible light, but they also collaborate with the organization to obtain as much expertise and information as possible to address all questions that attendees might have.
Since the people who run your booth account for about 20% of your event marketing budget, keep an eye on your staffing costs.
- Grooming standard training fees; Make sure that everyone on your staff is aware of the value of maintaining a professional appearance.
- Approachability and friendliness training fees; They should be able to project a polite, humid, and professional attitude.
- Product training costs; All your booth staff members should be knowledgeable on the goods and services you intend to promote at the show.
- Sales skills training attendance; Create time for your team to practice your sales pitch before the show, and make sure it aligns with your overall marketing message.
- People skill education costs; Having a group of booth staffers who can understand, relate to, and connect with a variety of people would ultimately benefit your brand at an event.
Also, ensure your personnel is well trained on navigating and fixing the booth installations. Staff are suitable for larger booth designs and are expected to have a huge range of visitors. For smaller displays, try to minimize staffing costs by hiring the service of one or two personnel. Or you could do it yourself!
Don’t just create a booth that looks great; create a design that reflects your business. The booth should not be designed to divert attention away from your items, but rather to draw them in.
Conclusion
Consider the aforementioned design elements if you’re looking for a nice way to spice up your trade show exhibit design. The more you can attract attention to your trade show booth, the more leads and prospects You’ll be able to entice to come in and talk about your products and services. From tradeshow lighting to banner and backdrop design, visual appeal is what attracts visitors, while people skills keep them.
Aplus Expo has been assisting various exhibitors with trade show booth design, produce, installation, and distribution in the United States since 2008. Aplus company offers customized solutions for custom booths to global clients as a specialist exhibition booth contractor, manufacturer, builder, and expo service company. They act as an extension of your team, with the same goal of the successful brand show and product promotion, and, as a result, a higher return on investment.
