With more in-person events happening, businesses are being reintroduced to the world of trade shows. 95% of marketers agree that live events provide a valuable opportunity to form genuine face-to-face connections in an increasingly digital world. In fact, according to the same report, a large portion of marketers (31%) believe that event marketing is the single most effective marketing channel. With in-person brand representation making so much impact on a consumer, one should not look over the details of a successful trade show booth.
TalkingTree Creative put together a guide to help your business make the best out of your booth in your upcoming trade show. We also offer content creation and other branding media services to help your company stand out from the neighboring businesses. In this article, we will discuss how to attract prospects and keep them at your booth to become a customer.
1. Recognize Your Goals
Your booth is a means to your trade show marketing goals, so making sure your goals are properly outlined is a key step in designing your trade show booth. Before starting your booth design, consider why you are interested in the trade show in the first place. Here are a few common examples of trade show marketing goals:
- Generate leads and sales
- Increase brand awareness
- Promote products and services
- Attract new customers
Once you have settled on your primary intent for your booth, you can now move on to the more technical details of your trade show booth.
2. Know Your Boundaries
Budgeting for a trade show can be difficult for some businesses because trade show booths are a major expense, making up 10% of the average trade show budget. Unfortunately, this does not even include the exhibit space itself, which can typically be 30% of your overall budget.
Therefore, you must align and prioritize the elements of your booth with your marketing goals for the trade show. This will allocate your budget to the most effective factors to attaining your objectives. Our team at TalkingTree Creative can help highlight and optimize your goals throughout the elements of your trade show booth. We specialize in producing creative visual media and experiential marketing that accurately represents any business’s brand and values.
3. Research Design Components
Before meeting with an exhibit partner, it’s best to know what you want design-wise. Try and recall your experiences at trade shows. Which booths stood out to you in the crowd? How was the space used? What garnered a crowded booth?
However, if you aren’t sure how to approach the design or experience of the booth, that’s where experts like our team can help. We know how to develop the most engaging experience for your attendees.
If you’d like to get prepared before meeting with your event partner, research custom trade show booths to inspire your design and list the key components you want to include. We have put together and defined different types of graphics and other visual mediums often used in trade show booths. This can help you decide specifically what booth elements will help you reach your marketing goals.
Table and Surface Graphics: Table runners are a popular option for trade show exhibits since they can dress up your space. They are visually appealing and offer more explicit branding.
Floor Graphics: As well as branding your space, floor graphics can direct guests to your booth. Visitors can get overwhelmed with the number of booths and different companies vying for their attention. Therefore, a carefully placed floor graphic can act as a mental anchor which gets them to notice your booth.
Booth Backdrops: They are central and, to many, essential to any exhibit display. Backdrops set the background of your display, giving your booth more depth while also branding the exhibit. Using custom imagery and designs can help set the theme of your booth and help promote your brand.
Interactive Elements: The best way to engage your audience is to allow booth visitors to actually experience the brand. Use interactive installations at your booth to give visitors something to do and stimulate all of their senses. An interactive installation such as touchscreens, televisions, and kiosks gives a personal, immersive experience that keeps people at your exhibit longer, allowing more time to make a positive impression and garner brand loyalty. With so many different ways we can showcase a brand and enhance customer experience, our experts’ creativity and production skills truly shine here.
At TalkingTree Creative, our team has been working with video production and other interactive digital media for years. We can take your booth to the next level. Here are a few examples of interactive elements we produce that can make any guest at your booth a loyal customer:
- Touchscreens
- Hands-on games
- Virtual reality experiences
- Live streaming with real-time digital effects
- Immersive 360 video
- Interactive signage
- QR codes that send users to branded landed pages
4. Find the Right Exhibit Partner
Now that you have more of a fully formed plan for your exhibit, you need to find the right exhibit partner who can help actualize your plan. Here are some helpful tips to ensure your company receives the proper service and care.
Research early: Finding the right exhibit partner takes time. More specifically, it can take months to design and build an exhibit. Begin your search early to find the right one while spacing out enough time to properly manage and create the design.
Seek out experienced partners: Experience is a huge factor when it comes to selecting the right partner. Accomplished veteran exhibit partners have teams of designers and builders who have worked for years as a collaborative unit that minimizes miscommunication for an overall easier design and building process.
Check references: Ask for references from each potential partner. It is important to know how well an exhibit partner can follow a budget, direction, and the level of customer service they provide. This minimizes any problems that can occur in the future.
5. Plan Pre-event Marketing
Once you have your partner, you two can also discuss how to market your trade show booth. By getting a crowd ready before the event even begins, you can organically build a following at the trade show. This saves more time and resources since you don’t have to spend as much budget on individuals to promote your booth the day of.
Here are some pre-event marketing strategies brands use to garner a crowd early in the show:
Email outreach: Email generates an astounding 4,200% ROI. This is an effective way, specifically for B2B, to let customers or partners know that you are attending the trade show. It gives people the opportunity to look for the brand’s booth when they enter. Make sure to give a description or picture of the booth/booth design so they know how to find you!
Social media promotion: This can be done before and during the event. Notify your followers on your social media channels when the trade show is, where you will be located, and what they can expect with their visit in order to create interest. TalkingTree offers content creation for this type of event marketing and you can partner with us for a custom campaign that can be used to build excitement for the event. You can also upload photos or live streams of the day’s highlights to concurrently promote the booth while the event is happening. Don’t forget to use the conference hashtag!
Promotional content: Educate followers on what fun, interactive features will be available at your company’s booth to make sure they want to stop by during the event. This can be done through sneak peeks of the booth design, games, or giveaways you plan to have present at the event. The goal is to engage visitors before they even step foot into the conference location so they make it a priority to attend!
Partner with TalkingTree Creative
TalkingTree can offer a trade show booth that can give new and returning consumers the branded experience you envisioned. Our team prides itself on providing outstanding service to our clients and making sure their brand feels valued and seen. We offer custom creative productions so any client’s vision can be effectively realized. Contact us for a consultation for your next trade booth!
