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How to Stand Out at an Exhibition or Trade Show

Exhibitions and trade shows provide a great opportunity to gain exposure for your business and network by enabling you to meet many potential new customers. We understand the importance of giving your brand the attention it deserves to ensure it turns heads; that is why we have put together some key tips and advice for how to stand out at an exhibition or trade show. You can make your stand a showstopper with these useful tips.

Invest in a high-quality display

Having a unique and impressive display is a must for any exhibition or trade show. An exciting and relevant design is sure to have people rushing over to your stand. Make sure to invest in high-quality and well-designed materials, such as presentation walls, eye-catching light boxes and display panels. Consistently branded furniture can also be helpful in clearly displaying your products.

Even if you have a limited budget, you can still have attention-grabbing presentation boards or graphics that tell a story. There are so many ways to be creative and have a clean stand, accurately present the identity of your business and brand, and highlight the products or services you are selling.

At Showplace, we know that our stands stand out when our clients opt for our light boxes, especially those which are suspended in the air as they can be spotted across rooms and vast exhibition halls! Also, our immersive reusable tension graphics not only look amazing but are environmentally friendly too because they can be reused several times throughout different events without any sign of wear.

Have a hook

Before you even begin to promote the event you’re attending, either on social media channels or by launching an email campaign, you need to know what your integrated sales message will be. This will be used as the ‘hook’ for your pre-show marketing to attract a bigger crowd to the exhibition or trade show itself.

You have an opportunity to let your imagination and ideas run wild with this hook. Professionals and event attendees are bombarded with very similar marketing campaigns all day long. However, it is important not to overcomplicate it either. Quite often, exhibiting businesses will come up with a marketing message that tries to present too many benefits of their products or services. The outcome of this is an overwhelming event display that lacks a specific focus and doesn’t stand out to visitors.

Cohesive outfits

It can be beneficial to have your exhibition team wear branded uniforms or coordinated clothes to increase brand recognition and create a professional and unified look for your exhibition. Your clothes can stand out and still be in line with your business identity and brand. You don’t need to wear something outrageous to capture visitors’ attention.

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Create a video presentation about your brand

An engaging video presentation is another way to encourage visitors to your display over the competition. They are also very useful when it comes to presenting your business and letting people know who you are and what your message is. It is difficult to try to have a one-on-one discussion with every single person in attendance at an exhibition or trade show. Videos are an effective way to stand out and present to people your new product or service if you’re preoccupied.

Have food and drinks on hand

Exhibitions and trade shows are very busy and tiring events that are sure to leave many attendees thirsty and hungry. You can help your business and display stand out by offering your visitors some snacks and refreshments. Maybe you have a branded bottle of water to demonstrate, or better yet, if your business is part of the food industry, you could offer samples of your food products. Whilst they are eating or drinking and enjoying the refreshments, you have a chance to start a conversation about your products and services.

Have well-designed promotional materials

Nothing suggests that your business is professional and trustworthy like good promo items. Brochures, business cards, and catalogues are ideal for trade shows. They can grab people’s attention and provide key bits of information about your business to potential customers and will leave a good impression of your brand even after the event has ended.

Giveaways that are memorable and functional

Giveaways are a staple of many exhibitions and trade shows. They are a classic and timeless way to encourage people over to your stand. Since the majority of people will be offering giveaways at your event, it is important to think of fresh ways to stand out.

Most companies will likely give away mugs and pens, but you could do something different. Provide freebies that are unusual, but still useful and relevant to your brand and business. There are many options for corporate giveaways you could use.

Your giveaway could feature as an additional ‘prop’ to the striking stand, which will help to set you apart from the other companies that are providing giveaways at your event.

Offer branded reusable bags

As we have already seen, nearly every business at an exhibition or trade show is going to have some kind of freebie to give away to visitors. This means they could end up with quite a handful of items to carry around with them for the rest of the event. You can hand out large, sturdy, and branded reusable bags that will make things easier for attendees to carry all their free giveaway items.

Not only can this help attract more people to your display, but all those people will then be walking around with a bag that has your logo on it, providing free advertising for your business. Other visitors will see the bags and go looking for them, inevitably ending up at your stand.

Provide exclusive prizes

You can make your display stand out by having a raffle or contest that gives people the chance to win exclusive prizes. This could be done by encouraging them to leave their business cards or complete their details on a raffle ticket. Later on, either at the end of the day or when the event is shortly set to finish, you can announce who the winner is and give them their prize. People always love a game, especially when there is the opportunity to win a prize, so this strategy is sure to earn you a lot of attention at your next exhibition or trade show.

Demonstrate your product if you can

Creating an exciting product demonstration for your show might take some time to put together, but it will be worth it. Businesses that include a product demonstration are more likely to entice visitors to their stand and see a positive return on investment from the event. The time and effort you put into producing the demo will ultimately pay for itself in the form of more leads and greater brand visibility and awareness. If you can make the demo interactive and hands-on for the audience as well, even better! The more participants and involvement there is for visitors, the more likely it will be that they remember your stand and your company.

Take risks and have fun

An innovative way to make yourself stand out at an exhibition or trade show event is by doing something unexpected that other companies would not have thought of, but still ensuring that it is in line with your business. For example, if you are in the industry of art or design, you could have a live painting demonstration for people to watch.

Nowadays, many exhibitors will try to catch the eye of attendees by including the latest interactive AR or VR technology in their displays. While this can be effective, visitors now expect it. To truly stand out from the rest, you need to think outside the box and implement unique ideas and initiatives to your stand.

What does your business do that visitors won’t be familiar with but will grab their interest? What can you do to generate a buzz at your exhibition or trade show? If you can show visitors that you are the stand that is having the most fun, they will rush over and want to get involved.

 

Final words

Making sure you stand out at an exhibition or trade show will take a lot of time, planning, and investment. Don’t worry too much if you don’t get everything right the first time. Our project managers at Showplace can help you plan and design the type of exhibition stand that will make sure you’re a cut above the rest. This is because we offer a bespoke service, meaning your display can be tailor-made and specifically designed to reflect the messages and values of your business to create excitement for your brand no matter which events you are attending.

Contact us today to get started with your journey to create your ideal exhibition stand or display. 

 

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