For a business that’s just starting to advertise and make connections, setting up your first trade show display is a big deal. Building custom trade show booths can help a new business network and grow their brand if done right. However, too many newbies make the mistake of designing their first booth poorly or over-socializing at trade shows. Even if you’re an experienced showman, chances are there are many ways your trade show game can improve. If you’re nervous about an upcoming show and looking for a few design tips that will put you in a class above the rest, you’ve come to the right place. From creating a buzzed-about booth to making your display pop, here are some ways to make your business stand out.
Visually Define Your Brand
Before you start designing your own logo, think about the most successful global companies. Take a minute to understand what these brands have in common visually, and how their branding applies to what they’re actually selling. For instance, in tech, having a lot of empty space, a ton of sleek lines signals, organization and control to buyers. For certain dating apps, bold colors and large lettering can signify ease and accessibility. Whatever you’re selling, your visual branding needs to be able to make it clear without any translation. Don’t stop until you have a brand logo and style that you’re happy with and that you feel confident will speak for what you’re selling.
Use Color
When you’re building your booth, it’s not just your visual branding that’s important. Your booth itself has to look clean, professional, and organized. It also has to look you’re showing off something interesting and fun, especially when you’re surrounded by competition. Whatever you’re trying to sell, don’t make the mistake of going too big in order to get noticed. Try more subtle plays for attention, like adding bright, fun pops of color where you can.
Don’t Look Intimidating
If you or your staff is sitting behind your display looking bored out of their minds or crossing their arms and sighing, you’re not going to get a lot of foot traffic. If you want people to ask you what your business is all about, you have to project a kind of helpful friendliness that will let potential clients know that you’re open to hearing whatever they have to say. A few easy ways to do this are giving out handouts, asking people to connect via social media, and greeting passers-by in a friendly, non-pushy manner.
Create a Conversation
More than anything else, you want people to leave the trade show wanting to know more about what you do and what you’re capable of. To do that, you have to get people talking. You can have the most visually-stunning, well-branded company in the world, but if people aren’t interested in what’s behind it, you won’t be able to get much momentum. If you want to get people asking questions, start by asking them a question. What’s the main problem your business is trying to solve? Find a way to ask a question about this, and get people talking about how your business proposes to be the solution.
