You’ve spent time designing a trade show booth that seamlessly integrates AV to make sure your booth stands out from a distance.
You’ve familiarized yourself with the venue and union rules so that there are no costly or time-consuming complications during set up or throughout the length of the show.
You’ve even designed and built a display that will drive people to your booth.
Now that you have their attention… How do you keep it?
Getting attendees to your booth is the first step of a successful trade show, but it’s only half the battle. If your team doesn’t create an enticing, easily navigable experience, all of those people that you spent so much time, energy, and money drawing in, will likely move on just as quickly as they stopped by.
So how can you keep them present, physically and mentally? Keep reading to learn what elements you need to make sure you trade show booth is just as successful at keeping people engaged as it was at drawing them in.
Clear Messaging
If there is one message or idea that you want attendees to walk away from your trade show booth with, what is it?
It’s likely not your mission statement. It’s likely quite a bit more than your brand name. But you’re also not looking to have your visitors remember your entire product line or catalogue.
The first step of creating a clear message is determining what exactly your message is, what you want attendees to remember, and how you want them to interact with your brand after the event is over.
Then turn that idea into a quick blurb that is catchy enough to draw them in and stick in their brains after the event is over.
Consistent Branding.
There may be hundreds of other booths at the trade show, each with their own unique branding, look, and general vibe.
What’s the easiest way to make sure yours gets lost in the crowd? Having a muddy, inconsistent visual experience.
Consistent branding does more than make your branding and comms teams happy. It gives attendees visual cues that make it easy to recognize and remember your brand so that when they look back on the event, they remember clearly who produced that great experience they had.
This doesn’t mean that you need to have your logo plastered on everything. In fact, we’d argue you probably shouldn’t. It just means that everything in your booth, from the backdrop to the hand outs, content on display screens, backgrounds on iPads, table covers, or anything else the attendees see, represents your company, idea, and vision.
Some easy ways to do this are by making sure everything is part of a cohesive color palette and utilizing the same fonts and styles across any and all visual content.
Lighting.
Before attendees enter your booth, the purpose of your lighting is to make you stand out. Now that they’ve entered your experience, your primary focus should be functionality. In short: don’t underestimate the power or importance of consistent, even lighting.
Bad lighting will make it harder for attendees to read your messaging, interact with your products, or easily navigate your booth. Meanwhile, good lighting makes it easy for attendees to see everything they need to see, draws their focus to the right places, and allows them to easily enjoy the experience.
Artistic lighting is great, and this isn’t to say that you can’t utilize any artistic, dramatic, eye-catching lighting within your booth. It just means that your first priority is making sure that your lighting makes a user-friendly booth experience, and the second priority is making it look cool.
Interactive Elements.
Attendees who are given something to look at, but not something to do, will likely move through your booth quickly.
It’s possible that you’ll have a dynamic enough visual experience and strong enough messaging that even a short visit will stick in their heads, but more likely than not, if they don’t spend time interacting with your brand, they won’t remember it.
It’s your job to give them a reason to stick around.
Consider using a VR or AR experience, interactive gamification, live demonstrations, or workshops taking place at scheduled times.
These interactive touch points could also feature prizes, but they don’t need to. Simply having an exciting activity will stick with your attendees much more than reading something on a wall or being talked at will.
Have Plenty of Things to Do.
You have a big, attention drawing element, like an interactive LED game. That’s perfect! People will be drawn to your booth and start lining up to try it out. Now you need to mind the line, because if the attendees have nothing to do while they wait, there’s a good chance they’ll move along.
Many will have the intention of coming back later when the line is, hopefully, shorter. Whether or not they actually do, however, is a big question mark.
The solution? Make sure you have multiple things for attendees to do while they’re at your booth. These activities don’t need to (and arguably, shouldn’t) be as big as your primary draw, but if your attendees have something else they can do while they wait, they’re more likely to stick around.
Instead of having a traditional line, consider using a deli style number system or online registration so that they can explore the rest of the booth while they wait. Maybe there’s a conversation area where various attendees can sit and talk with each other or members of your team. Maybe there are other interactive screens where attendees can interact with your product catalogue. Perhaps it’s as simple as having additional content they can watch.
Giving your visitors something to do other than stand in a slow-moving line makes it more likely that they’ll stay at your booth and spend more time with your brand.
A Well-Designed Layout.
The layout of your booth has a lot of control, as it determines whether attendees will feel invited into or locked out of the experience.
Try to avoid:
- Blocking entry and exit points that make it difficult for people to come into or leave the booth.
- Putting all interactive elements in one area that will lead the entire crowd to gather in one spot
- Having a confusing layout that makes attendees unsure of where they’re supposed to go
- Having counters or walls that block an area that attendees will need to use.
Instead:
- Have clear entry points that are open and inviting
- Have visuals that draw people away from the entry points so they don’t stand in the way
- Have separate exits so people aren’t fighting into or out of your booth.
- Have a clear path that people can use to move through the experience. They may not follow it, but it’ll help to keep traffic moving in the same direction.
- Tip: try putting a demo screen or interactive experience towards the back of the booth so that it draws people to it.
A well-designed layout also includes making sure that anything you want people to see is at eye-level. Consider what the attendees will be doing when they’re interacting with specific products or messaging. If they’re likely to be standing, make sure it’s a little higher up. If they are likely to be seated, keep it a little lower.
A Way to Easily Gather Information.
You’re probably looking to build relationships or gain customers through your trade show booth. You need a way to easily get information from the people you’re interacting with so you can communicate with them after the event.
People probably aren’t going to wait around to share their contact information, so make sure you have multiple places and ways to gather their information without a line forming.
Most importantly, keep it easy and quick. Don’t ask for so much information from your attendees that they’ll need to stand with you for five minutes as they type in each field. Instead, focus on keeping it simple, efficient, and user-friendly.
Great People.
The best commodity for your trade show booth isn’t something you can buy or design. It’s the people you staff it with.
The people working at your trade show booth become the face of your brand, and they have the power to make or break the experience through their interactions. Make sure the people you have present are inviting, energetic, friendly, and seem happy to be meeting and sharing this experience with the attendees.
Are you looking to build a fun, exciting, and dynamic trade show booth? Our team can help you design an experience that draws people in, gives them a reason to stick around, and is incredibly memorable. Contact our team to learn more!