How To Attract More Visitors To Your Exhibition Stand

There’s a very big difference between a display stand that looks great and a display stand that actually gets people to come over to you and pay attention to your brand. What’s interesting however is that it is in fact the former of the two that tends to be the primary focus of those looking to get into the trade show scene for the very first time. The reason of course being that they reach the assumption that if the stand looks good and the posters are top notch, the expo as a whole will turn out to be a successful endeavour.

Wrong.

It’s a painful reality to face when on the receiving end of the lesson, but just because the idea for a trade show stand looks good on paper and has been worked on tirelessly does not in any way guarantee its success. The reason being that there are certain tricks, tips and design elements to bear in mind that never fail to work above and beyond all the flashy visuals in the world.

And here’s an overview of a select sample to get you started:

1 – Avoid Brand Clashes

For example, if your brand has a logo, a certain colour scheme or any general theme that’s followed in all you do, you need to make sure this carries over to your display stand. If, for example, your brand generally centres on neutral tones and gentle hues, you’re not going to give the right impression to newcomers with a bright stand covered in strong lights. It needs to be a true and accurate representation of who you really are and what you really do, in order to be taken seriously.

2 – Size Matters

Something else that’s important to understand is that size really isn’t everything, but at the same time it does indeed matter. In this instance, a trade show stand that’s far too small to pack all the necessary information will come across as cluttered and chaotic. By contrast, if there’s not a great deal to say and yet a massive stand is opted for, it may look sparse, barren and generally quite depressing. Determine the exact size needed in accordance with your brand and stick with it.

3 – Dress Rehearsal

In most instances, when a business sets up its stand at a trade show this will be the first time the banners, posters, stands and general hardware have ever seen the light of day. This is frankly a terrible way of doing things as without something of a dress rehearsal prior to the big day, you have no way of knowing if everything’s in working order or if anything might be missing. And what’s more, a trial run allows you to see just how effective or otherwise the stand as a whole is.

4 – Try a Little Technology

These days, it really doesn’t cost the Earth to bolster your efforts with a little added technology. This could take the form of nothing more than a video screen or a few tablet PCs laid out for the punters to play with – pretty much anything that adds a little movement and ideally a little interactivity to the proceedings.

5 – Pick Your People Prudently

If you hire a couple of teenagers to work for one day only at the trade show just to tick the box and make a saving at the same time, you can’t expect them to represent your brand at its best.