Creative Trade Show Marketing Tips

As an exhibitor at a trade show, you want everyone in attendance to pay attention to your booth. As an attendee, every booth starts to look the same pretty darn quickly. This is why it is so important that you go above and beyond when marketing your booth at any event. The more creative you get with your approach to getting people interested in your booth, the better your success will be at the trade show. Here are a few of our creative trade show marketing tips to help you when preparing for your next trade show.

Create a visually stunning trade show display

If your booth stops people in its tracks then they are going to notice you. Chances are they might even remember you. Do what you can to make your trade show display stand out from the crowd. Some ideas for building a display or media backdrop that will get attention include:

• Take ideas from the art world instead of the world of advertising. Everyone at the trade show is advertising what they have to offer. They’re taking their cues from the advertising and marketing gurus. Be different and look at ways to show off your stuff that are inspired by art galleries and interior design magazines.
• Be bold with your colors. Go for the fancy graphics done in unusual color combinations when designing your trade show displays. These will certainly attract attention.
• Make use of video, lights and audio where allowed. Not all venues will let you distract trade show attendees this way but those that will are offering you a chance to demand attention.

Go high-tech to get trade show attention

In today’s world, the quickest way to get attention from your potential customers is to use today’s technology. This is true at trade shows. Some high-tech ideas for marketing at trade shows include:

• Use interactive multimedia presentations when doing demos at your trade show booth. Set up a few laptops at your booth and offer people a way to use them to better understand your brand.
• Use real-time technology to update people who are not at the event about what’s going on there. Live blogging and video streaming of your demos will market your trade show activities to a broader audience.
• Make use of mobile technology. Use mobile apps to connect with trade show attendees and drive them to your trade show display. You can use various apps to advertise your brand, announce drawings happening at your table and just remind people to come check out what you have to offer.

Remember the value of the face-to-face connection

Despite the value of being high-tech, you don’t want to forget person-to-person marketing. Hire some cute, friendly folks to hand out fliers and direct attendees to your booth. Host an after-show event with free cocktails and do some major networking with trade show attendees. And present yourself in an upbeat but not excessively enthusiastic way to everyone who comes to the table. A good personality makes a regular trade show display memorable.

Have experience creating a visually stimulating and interesting display? What did you do, and how successful was it?

About the Author:
Dennis Nixon is the Sales Manager at Smash Hit Displays, a trade show display company for vendors throughout the United States.

Vexillology

I'll bet that you've never heard that word before - "Vexillology". So what does it mean and why is it here on a pulll up banner blog?

Well vexillology is the study of flags. So I am taking the liberty to extend that to the study of flags and banners and by that means, this is a blog dedicated to vexillology and by reading it you are now an individual who has, at least to some degree, an interest in vexillology. Aren't you a clever so and so?

So what should you be doing to keep up your new found status? Well, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, "vexillologists undertake scholarly investigations of flags, producing papers with titles such as A Review of the Changing Proportions of Rectangular Flags since Medieval Times, and Some Suggestions for the Future."

Sounds rivetting! Now get to work!

Media Backdrop Banners

Have you ever dreamed of  a really large pull up banner but just assumed that they simply don't exist? Well, they do! Pull up banners as large as 2.4 x 2 meters are available and are often refered to as Media Backdrops due to the fact that they are often used as a backdrop to press conferences or in television interviews with sports stars or other personalities.

Large banner stands like these are often also used as backdrops for exhibitions or trade shows. They are great for this purpose as they are easily transported - the banner simply retracts back into the base of the unit which then packs away into the carry bag for transport.

Do don't dream, it's a reality. Media backdrop banners are the new big banner on the block and they're here to stay!

Big-Ass Banner Stands

One of the less common form of pull up banner that are available from some suppliers are oversized banner stands. Standard banner displays are about 850 x 2000mm - and that's a great size for many banner applications, but sometimes you just need to live large!

A banner like this is sure to get  you noticed at exhibitions or trade shows. Likewise, it has great impact as a central focus of a shop window display. But when even a banner like this seems a little lacking, it's time to pull out the big guns. This huge style of pull up banner is also referred to as a media backdrop or exhibition backdrop due to the fact that it creates a kind of, banner stand wall that is suitable as a backdrop for press conferences or trade shows:

Simply pull up the banner at your exhibition or press conference and you are 99% of your way to a professional presentation thanks to the huge 2400 x 2000mm surface area of this backdrop banner!

So next time you're thinking pull up banners, maybe you should think big!

L-Banners Do It Better!

I just want to put this out there...

I think L-Banners are a better portable banner display system than pull up or pop up banners! Controversial I know. Particularly coming from a guy writing a blog about pull up banners, but hear me out while I state my case.

L-Banners: They are simply good!

Have you ever viewed a good quality L-Banner in the flesh? They have a simplicity and quality about them that many pull ups lack. These displays typically have a solid steel foot with a chrome finish that provides a good weighty base for the banner and adds a real feel of quality. This style of base is also very minimal in terms of its appearance. There are no awkward feet protruding out the front of the display, as there is with pull up and pop up banners and the banner itself is presented to the viewer with a little more angle which adds an element of visual stability.

It's true that there is a little more work in erecting and packing down the banner, but really we are talking only about a difference of no more than a minute, so unless you are putting the banner up and down multiple times each day, it is not really an issue. And when they are packed down, L-Banner Stands are smaller and easier to transport than pull up banners.

So there you go, the wonders of the humble L-Banner

The Undeniable Wonders of Outdoor Banner Stands - Strap Yourself In Kids!

I admit, I have been struggling to successfully complete my mission of creating the most informative information hub known to man on the topic of banner stands and pull up banners. Part of the problem is the fact that there is only so much you can say about how fantastically wonderous they really are!

But we endeavour to keep the ball rolling here at the Pull Up Banner Display Blog and to do the seemingly impossible – That is to write a blog on this topic that actually is continually updated, rather than discarded and left neglected like so many of the valiant and brave banner blogs that have gone before us.

So today I will investigate that ever growing niche that is outdoor banner stands. Strap yourself in kids, this is about to get wild!

Standing close to outdoor banners makes you feel sexy, powerful and in control. You should try it.

If you’re a frequent trade show and fair visitor in the course of your promotional campaign, most probably you’re already aware of the mind-blowing advantages of having a banner display. Shit’s wild! Hold on, I just need to compose myself…

With that in mind you don’t want to limit yourself to the great indoors. Besides, to take part in a seasonal fair under the open sky, in the soft comforting breeze of capitalism can be one of life’s simple pleasures (is that going overboard? I told you I was struggling for topics). Maybe you just want to display your banner at the roadside and sell stuff – can you relate to that then?

Either way you are going to need an outdoor banner stand.

Indoor trade shows are full of losers, don't go there.

Outdoor pull up banners are different from the stands you normally use indoors you know. Like… they’re for outdoors. You’ll only make the mistake once, and let me do you the favour of preventing you from making it at all by telling you straight up – conventional banner stands don’t work outside! They will tear and crumple and along with them your dreams of being an outdoor tradeshow superstar on the road to commercial divinity!

 Get the winning feeling with an outdoor banner - you're worth it!

You see, they are not at all wind or rain resistant, whereas outdoor banners are! That’s why they’re called outdoor banners! Are you with me? For example, these banners usually have a weighted base - it prevents your stand from being toppled by a breeze. Just imagine how irritating it would be if your banner stand just continually blew over - firstly, your print would be trashed and that’d be expensive. And secondly it can prove dangerous for people close by. Statistics show that 95% of injuries at outdoor trade shows and fairs are caused by inappropriately used banner stands cartwheeling through the air at the slightest gust on wind. Fact.

The Monsoon: If this baby were to go flying it could take out a whole village! Luckily it's an outdoor banner. Ha ha!

Perhaps you think that a heavy base will cost the outdoor banner stands their portability? No! You are wrong! The banner stand’s base can be hollow, and during an exhibition you can simply fill it with sand or water. Ha, ha, ha, ha…

But wind is but a walk in the park when compared to the unspeakably tragic effects of rain on a conventional pull up banner stand. Even if your stand has laminated graphics – this is not protection enough, and it will surely meet it’s fatal downfall: water will penetrate under the lamination and spoil the prints.

Therefore you should go for a waterproof banner material like PVS (polyvinyl chloride), which is top notch outdoor stuff. It will ensure the durability of your graphics, so you will not be bankrupt by your bone-headed efforts to continually use conventional banner materials outside. And, the PVS covering will also protect the outdoor banner stands from destructive effect of the sunlight. Remember, the outdoors can be a very, very dangerous place for banners.


Some quick outdoor banner stand tips for the dim-witted:

1. Remember! An outdoor banner stand should be not only eye catching, but also aesthetically designed and neatly manufactured. Yeah!

2. The outdoor banner stands are in general slightly more expensive than conventional ones. Don’t be afraid. In the long run this extra money will save you millions, maybe billions, in print cost and bring you everlasting joy as you use it over and over again, while exposing in the great outdoors to anyone who cares, at every trade show even vaguely related to your field.

3. And when I’m not using my suite of outdoor banner stands at trade shows, I set them up in my backyard, complete with realistic prints of tropical islands and other exotic locations. I place my deck chair bang in the middle of this digitally printed fantasy, fix myself a pina-colada (double rum) and drift off to my happy place where the drudgery of this blog no longer plagues me. Banner-tastic!

Good night and good luck!

To Green or Not to Green: Banner Stands is the Issue

It seems like just about everybody is somewhat of a "greenie" these days. Individuals and companies are all looking for ways to reduce their environmental footprint - or at least to appear that they are. But enough of the cynicism...

The good ol' banner stand is now also becoming available in various environmentally friendly versions. A while back I posted up some info and images of some bamboo pull up banners and banner stands and now, in my wide ranging quest to bring you the latest in cutting edge banner display technology, I have stumbled across a fully recyclable banner stand, that may just be the latest thing:

The Eco Banner Stand is eco-tastic! And look it's levitating in front of a waterfall. I almost can't think of anything greener - maybe if it was smoking a joint or something.

But seriously, this baby is fully recyclable. The structure is from certified Finish pine and the banner itself is printed on Tyvek, which is a polypropylene material made from recycled plastic and, in turn, is also recyclable. Not bad at all, and if I could just put my 2 cents in, I would say it has a nicer appearance than your typical aluminium banner stand. Here's a closer look at the Eco Banner Stand's details:

Not the best photos every, but you can blame these guys for that. After all, I haven't actually seen one of these things - I'm a theorist and photo pincher.

It seems that they are a little dearer than your average stand, but here's hoping that at least a few banner stand users out there are willing to pay the premium to do their part in lowering our industry's environmental impact.