Exhibition stand designers Quadrant2Design run down some methods you can use to make yourself stand out at any exhibition.
Exhibiting is an exciting opportunity for your business to generate a large number of sales and leads, with potential clients you can meet face to face.
According to The Centre for Exhibition Industry Research, 83% of exhibition attendees have buying authority and 79% use these events to make big purchase decisions about their business. This means exhibitions or trade shows are an excellent chance for your business to close deals with influential key decision-makers in buying mode.
Although it might be the job of the event organisers to attract a huge number of attendees to the event itself, it is still going to be your task to make sure you get the best prospective clients to visit your stand. Simply waiting for them to stop off randomly at your stand means you will certainly miss out of major business opportunities.
Here are our top five ways to stand out at trade show…
- Invest in an eye-catching exhibition stand
This is the best place to start. The design of your exhibition stand is, without doubt, the most important thing to consider when exhibiting. There is no point in spending most of your budget to stand at an expensive show only to turn up with a stand that everyone will ignore – if anything, this could prove even more detrimental to your brand.
What attention-grabbing design features can you use to gain the attention you want? How will it promote your brand? What’s the best way to utilise the space you have booked in the exhibition hall? When you have a good idea of this, it will help you choose a company that can meet these requirements.
- Use lighting features
One feature that is surprisingly overlooked by exhibitors is lighting. Effective use of lighting, beyond a few display lights on an exhibition stand, can add that show-stopping ‘wow’ factor that draws in the crowd.
And given that several studies have shown that lighting features can increase awareness of your exhibition by 50%, it is remarkable that it seldom gets included in most exhibition packages. By nature, humans are attracted to bright spaces, which means attendees will be drawn to a well-lit exhibition display.
- Have a hook
Before you even start promoting your event on social media or launching an email campaign, you need to work out what your integrated sales message is. This will be the ‘hook’ which you can use for your pre-show marketing to attract the crowd at the exhibition itself.
Be creative with this - professionals are bombarded by similar marketing campaigns all day long. At the same time, keep it simple. Far too often a business exhibiting will come up with a marketing message that tries to convey too many benefits about their products or services. The result is an overwhelming exhibition campaign that lacks focus.
- Demonstrate Your Product
Creating a great product demonstration for your show might take some time to put together, but it’s worth it.
Companies that include a product demo are more likely to attract attention to their stand and see a positive ROI from the event. The time and effort you invest in crafting this will pay for itself with more leads and greater brand visibility. If you can make your product demonstration hands-on, even better – the more involved your audience is, the more they’ll remember your exhibition.
- Take Risks and Have Fun
Most exhibitors will try to attract the attention of attendees by incorporating the latest interactive AR or VR technology innovations into their exhibitions. And although this will work, visitors expect this.
To truly stand out at an exhibition, you need to think outside the box. What can you do that no-one else will have thought of? What does your business do that visitors will be unfamiliar with, but have an interest in? What can you do to create a buzz at your exhibition booth or trade show?
If you can show people you’re the booth having the most fun, they will flock to you in their droves.
Making sure you stand out from the crowd at an exhibition requires a lot of time, planning and investment. But don’t worry too much if you don’t get everything absolutely right. If you follow these five tips you will be on the right road to exhibition success. Good Luck!
