How To make Your Convention Display Look Like a Million Bucks

When you think of a trade show, think competition. That’s right, your company is in competition for attention, so making your booth display top notch needs to be part of your strategy for getting that attention.

So just how do you “make your convention display look like a million bucks?”

Be Brief Bold and Relevant

The goal of your trade show booth is to attract visitors. But not just any visitors. You want to attract the right visitors. The best way to do that, especially if you are a younger, relatively unknown brand, is to make a brief, bold, graphic statement.

Make that statement the one main thing that you want show attendees to remember about your booth once they step away. This often changes from show to show, but each show should have one main promotion point.

Display your choice on the back wall in clear, eye-catching copy. Back walls are good for small to mid-size booths while larger booths may have extra points of reference and several back walls. Whatever the size of your booth, this message needs to be strategically placed in a top position.

Keep the message honest, straightforward and around six words so that it can be understood within three seconds. By stating clearly and succinctly what your brand is about you get many more visitors to your booth who are actually interested in what you have on offer.

Use Digital Graphics

Digital graphics interspersed with traditional printed graphics and a great color and lighting scheme go a long way to attracting attention. Further, by rotating images of your logo with videos of your product or service in action, booth visitors get a lot of information in short spurts. Screen image variety is a powerful tool without being overwhelming. Stay focused on sending one strong, clear message about your brand.

Upgrade Print Images with QC Codes

By including QR codes on any traditional print graphics you encourage your visitors to scan the bar codes with their smartphones. The code is programmed to bring up a web browser to whatever you want the visitor to see. It can be your website, a product description, a YouTube video or something that gives the visitor an interactive experience.

This is a powerful way to guide visitors towards high-impact images and information you want them to have without cluttering your booth with too much information. Always go for quality of experience and remember, a well designed booth gives people something to remember long after they leave it.

Keep It Simple – Respect Empty Space

Don’t clutter your booth with extraneous information. It is so tempting to think that more information, and more visual elements, make for a better booth. They don’t. Less is more when it comes to organizing the content of your booth to improve visitors’ experiences.

Your booth should be balanced between information and white space if you want to keep your visitors’ attention. Booths that are frenetically busy overwhelm visitors who tend to leave quickly. Whereas well-designed booths offer access to more information with QC codes and well placed digital graphics without overwhelming visitors with too much initially.

The Power of Color and Lighting

Choosing an inviting color scheme and lighting it effectively brings people into your booth. Lighting is a powerful tool for focusing attention. LED lights and spots are especially effective when placed around the edge of graphics to provide subtle yet consistent back lighting that does not diminish the overall presentation. A spot on your main message on the back wall can also be very effective.

Provide Extras for Booth Visitors

Providing your visitors with a way to charge their phones and access free WiFi is a sure way to bring visitors to your booth. Providing this convenience is becoming easier and easier as wireless phone charging becomes more popular.

While people are waiting for their phones to charge, they have ample time to check out what you are offering and provide their contact details for future reference.

It is also smart to offer a bite to eat or something to drink. It does not have to be fancy to be effective.

Another good idea is to have a semi-private area, or small lounge that can be used for impromptu meetings with interested parties as well as by visitors stopping by to charge their smartphones or have a snack.

Go Horizontal and Vertical

Think of your booth as a stage set that will wow visitors and get them to stop. How do you do that? You’ve made your brief, bold, relevant statement and showcased it high above the crowd so people know what you’re selling. Now it’s time to showcase everything else using the right combination of hanging racks, glass cases, floor stands and tabletop stands to display the products you want to showcase. Keep in mind that less is more and focus on the theme of your show.

Use digital displays to showcase more products by rotating through a series of products visually. Display items vertically and on different levels for variety and ease of viewing. Avoid laying anything flat as items laying flat are difficult to see. If you are selling from your trade show booth be sure to be transparent about your prices by putting product tags on individually priced items.  Use posted sheets if you have category and/or volume pricing.

The Team in the Booth

 Your booth is going to be the best one on the floor, you just know it. As important as that booth that looks like a million dollars is, the people you choose to staff it are just as important. A fabulous booth needs a winning trade show team if it is to succeed. So look for team players who are great as sales representatives and marketers and work well in group settings.

You want the people working in your booth to enjoy meeting new people face to face. They should also be knowledgeable people who can listen well to visitors and answer questions easily when asked. Be sure that one person in the booth is getting contact information on everyone who walks through.