#displaysystems

Whenever we are helping a client with their tradeshow marketing strategy, we inquire as to what products they intend to show. Inevitably, the response includes any number of products and services, so our next questions are, 

“What is the most important to you?  What is the most important to your customer?” 

Rarely is that answer on the tip of his or her tongue. Many trade show participants want to seize the opportunity to show off ALL of their products to get the biggest bang for their buck. Doing this can confuse visitors and be detrimental to their overall display.

Information Overload

This is a big mistake and we’ve seen it time and again. So many tradeshow booths are overloaded with variety, and in an overall state of chaos. They can be so chaotic that a visitor isn’t interested to spend the time and energy to figure out if the presenter has anything worthwhile to offer.

Studies have shown that when the brain is presented with too many choices, it becomes confused, fatigued, and begins to shut down. Faced with too many choices and feeling the fatigue set in, the brain will look for the easy way out and choose to move away from the confusion – the offending booth or display.

Target YOUR Target Audience

There are a number of reasons an exhibitor might take the route of overloading their booths, whether inadvertently or not. Maybe they simply haven’t taken the time to prepare or are unaware that an overstocked booth can be a turnoff to visitors. Perhaps they have been indecisive about determining one specific product or message to focus on, so they throw them all out there in hopes of appealing to a larger audience.

Companies who are consistently successful at tradeshows know that identifying their target audience is job number one when it comes to a solid trade show marketing plan. Not knowing who your target audience is and which of your products will appeal to their specific needs can lead to a confusing trade show display and lower visitor interest.

Attract Visitors With An Inviting And Organized Booth

Visitors are at the tradeshow to seek out a solution. They want to see what is new in their industry and how your product can help them achieve greater success. They also want to move through a show somewhat quickly, so it’s important for your booth to be both inviting and organized.

Every part of your booth should contribute to your main goal: attracting prospective clients to your booth so that you can engage them and present the products and services you have to offer. Advertising specialties are a great way to engage visitors. Be sure that they are representative not only of your brand, but also of your featured product or service. Advertising specialties promote your company long after the tradeshow is over especially if they are practical or valuable items that visitors tend to hang on to. They can also highlight a new product, service, special achievement or event. T-shirts, mugs, pens and key chains are popular examples, and many companies are opting for unique items like recycled totes, USB drives, and hand sanitizers (a great item for tradeshows!)

Create an inviting, uncluttered atmosphere in and around your booth. You want your customers to comfortably explore your displays and activities. You also want your representatives to be on their toes, engaging and interacting. Do not provide chairs, and set up tables at the sides and the back of the booth to encourage interaction and avoid creating a barrier at the front.

So you’ve picked out the display hardware you want to use for your show, now what about the graphics? Your trade show graphics are one of the most important elements to have done right for your show. The question remains, how will my display be memorable and make an impact at the show?

Too many times we have seen big dollars be spent on a display with huge potential, but designed in such a way that it becomes confusing to the target audience. Most have heard the five-second rule, but it is true, you have five seconds to turn a head or that potential lead will vanish.Trade Shows can be overwhelming for the attendee to begin with, let alone having to contend with booth graphics that are hard to understand. We have compiled 10 rules to follow to avoid a ghost town around your booth space.

1. “So what is it you do?” You may have heard this question at a show, it’s not a bad question because it evokes conversation, but the attendee cannot be left completely in the dark. Your display should have your company name and logo in a predominant location with a catchy slogan that summarizes your company in five words or less. It is important that this information is at eye-level or higher on your display since it is the first piece of information your viewer will read.

2. TMI (Too Much Information) It's tempting to try to cram as much information onto your display as possible; after all you have a large space to fill right? This is not the case. You want your display to clearly communicate a general idea of your business. You can use a brochure to communicate your comprehensive list of products and services that your sales person can use to discuss with the attendee. After all, your viewer will be taking home the brochure to look over, not your display.

3. Branding Your display should communicate your brand and company culture. You will have better results if your display is coherent with your brochures, your website and your other branding initiatives. 

4. Bigger is Better Photography plays a large role in the success of your message. For example, when someone is describing a chair to you, it is an image that will appear in your mind about the chair, not the word. In the same sense, you can reduce the amount of text needed by using photography to describe your products and service or evoke an emotional response. Remember that using photography on a large scale will create more impact that using 20 small photographs.

4. Waist Level Remember how your viewer will be reading the information on your display. Using text, aside from a URL, below waist level becomes difficult. Nobody will want to read small text located by their feet.

5. Type Size Matters When selecting your type size and style, keep in mind that it needs to be simple and easy to read. Using paragraphs are out of the question, bullet points are much more effective and can be used at a size that can be read 10-20 feet away.

6. Do I need my glasses, or is that photo blurry? Sometimes the only way to showcase your product is through a photograph, many photos taken by your own digital camera or especially with your will not translate when used in a larger format. Dynamic photos at a good resolution is key, stock photo sites may give you alternatives for your display photos, but hiring a photographer may be a valuable component to your display design.

7. Memorable & Timeliness Your display graphics are a worthwhile investment; one of the most important questions to ask yourself is how these graphics fit into your long-term marketing initiative.  By ensuring your graphics are generalized enough to engage viewers through multiple shows long-term while communicating enough information is important. Avoid using statements and dates such as “All New for 2012”. The cost for reprinting the update might not be worthwhile. There are other display alternatives for show specific or industry specific graphics.

8. Is that really my logo colour? It is important that the colours you have chosen for your brand are communicated to the printer. You do not want your blue logo looking purple on your display or your red looking orange. Sending in Pantone information to your printer or supplying a brochure for matching is definitely a good idea. Remember, you can always ask to see test prints to ensure the quality and colour meet your standards.

9. Harmony When selecting your colour palette for your display, ensure that the colours work well to bring a dynamic edge to your display. When overlaying text, you need to be careful. Sometimes overlaying text on top of a photo can make the text hard to read, in which case your viewer won’t even try to read it. Overlaying text on top of another colour is just as important. For example yellow text on white does not show up very well from afar and red text on a green background is also hard for the eye to adjust to.  

10. Sales Tools At the end of the day, your sales team needs to use this display as a tool to help them promote the products and sell to your audience. Having too many sales tools, such as a multitude of graphics and diagrams does not make for a dynamic display. You want to ensure that these tools can be used within the display space, but have secondary information on hand such as literature for their sales presentation or a video to help them sell effectively while keeping your graphics as simple as possible.

You can have a fantastic looking display, but remember, if your sales team is not motivated to sell, it is all for nothing. Your display’s job is to create interest, turn a head, encourage people to check out your display, once you have their attention, that is your opening to start conversation.  All your display should do for you is create a question or trigger a conversation in order to start building a relationship. Don’t be afraid to be assertive and also work your aisle way as well as your booth, your booth visitor will tell you if they are interested or not, the least they will do is take a brochure. 

Complete Trade Show Marketing Solutions from Start to Finish