In our media-saturated modern era, you really need to plan carefully to make your firm’s trade show booth stand out from the rest of your competitors. You can’t just build the same old type of display that’s worked for years. Each year, you need to have something different, something that presents your company in a different light that’s more in tune with the cultural and artistic trends of that year. But, whatever you choose to do, you’ve got to have an integrated approach that’s not simply based on having a cool-looking booth, or some fun activities. You need to combine those two elements with a well-trained staff that will serve to funnel the maximum number of attendees into your booth so that they can be exposed to your company’s message.
Good crowd-gathering can start even before people enter the convention center or trade show venue. You can establish a presence outside with advertising trucks driving around with posters or artwork on them. If you can afford it, put up a huge media backdrop or have large ads on display in the lobby. Try to create a sense of excitement in the people who are just arriving. Having a prime location is another excellent strategy. Be close to the main entrances. You’ll have a harder time attracting good crowds if you’re stuck off in a corner of the exhibit hall.
Music and sound effects are two great adjuncts to whatever visuals your booth designers have created. It should be loud enough to be heard, but not ear-splittingly loud, as that will drive people away. But, however loud you decide to make your soundtrack music, be sure that it’s some kind of high-energy music, techno, fast pop music, rock, or country. Now is not the time to be playing dreamy, contemplative music. You want to get noticed don’t you?
Then, once you have your booth ready, and you’ve chose some compelling music to draw people in, what else do you need to do to make your booth get noticed in a giant exhibition hall where dozens, maybe hundreds of other vendors are all competing for attendees’ attention? Your staff can be your secret weapon for gathering crowds.
In order to generate the kind of crowds you need to make your booth seem really exciting, you need to position some crowd-gatherers by the entrances to direct attendees to your booth. Once the crowds start appearing there, you need presenters and booth ambassadors (pretty girls are always popular for this) to move them inside the booth to experience what it has to offer. You can have product demonstrations, video displays, interactive games, or giveaways.
Having some inexpensive (yet very impressive) premium to give away is a great way to attract crowds. At the beginning of the show, be lavish in the number of items you give away. The beginning of the first day of any trade show is a great way to circulate your company’s name and logo on products like hats, T-shirts, lanyards, flash drives, coffee cups, even products that may not have anything to do with what your company actually does, like Frisbees, stress balls, or foam rubber airplanes. But, if it’s cool and fun, it’ll seem more desirable, and that will generate word of mouth. People see something neat at trade show displays and they’ll ask the other person where they got it, and Boom! You’ve got another person headed in your direction.
You need to have selected your staff very carefully for events like this. It’s best to send out a mixed team of salespeople, charismatic presenters and booth ambassadors, product experts, and perhaps one or two people who are experts in whatever field your company specializes in who can be there to educate the public about why your particular brand of widget or service is so darn special that they just have to have it.
