5 Ideas for Trade Show Booth Design

Designing the perfect trade show booth is difficult. You want to stand out from other displays while attracting qualified prospects. This process can get very expensive very quickly. And, if you’re not careful, it’s very easy to stray away from designs that would attract the perfect lead and just try to attract everyone. Fortunately, we have created this list of 5 unique ideas for trade show display design that will be both attractive and generate leads for your company. Before we go over the booth design ideas, let’s go over why creating the perfect trade show booth design is so important.

Why are Trade Show Booth Designs so Important?

Trade show booth design can make or break the success of your trade show marketing. If your display is not eye-catching, fun, or unique, it will be forgettable. That’s the last thing you want after putting in so much time, money, and energy into the show. On the other hand, you want your display to attract attendees that could actually be interested in what your company has to offer. By combining enticing design elements while keeping your ideal attendee in mind, your trade show booth should drive a lot of qualified leads. Before you start designing your trade show display, you’ll want to answer the following questions to ensure your display will drive qualified leads.

Important Considerations

The following questions are important for you and your team to consider prior to planning and investing time into your trade show booth. There’s nothing worse than spending time creating the perfect display and then you come to find out that something is not allowed because of the show’s regulations. 

What Show Are You Attending?

The trade show that you and your team attend will be a deciding factor when it comes to your display. If you’re thinking about events in other countries, ensure you do research on that country’s culture. Just because something is appropriate where you live doesn’t mean it will translate the same way elsewhere. On the other hand, if you’re attending a small, local show, then that will greatly influence your design and budget. If you’re unsure of what trade show to attend, take a look at this list of the 10 best marketing trade shows.

What is Your Budget?

Attending a trade show is very, very expensive. Aside from booth costs, you need to pay your salespeople. You’ll put them up in a hotel, pay for food, and other expenses for your team. Before you start planning you need to set your budget, and stick to it. It can help to talk to trade show outsourcing companies or other companies that you know attend trade shows regularly. This will help you to get a good understanding of how much you can expect to spend. You also need to think a lot about your return on investment. As you’ll need to earn back your investment from new customers. Your ROI may take a while to see, but trade shows can often lead to a great return. Keep in mind that on average trade shows result in a cost per lead of $811.

What Will Others Do?

You will want your display to stand out from the crowd. However, you want to ensure you stand out in a good way, not like a sore thumb. That’s why it’s crucial to do a lot of research about past shows and past vendor displays. If you know that one of your competitors will also have a display, you should research what their previous displays have looked like. Try to give yourself a competitive advantage. Even if a company is not a direct competitor, you still want to have a competitive edge to your display so that the attendees remember your display over others.

Does the Trade Show Have Any Rules or Regulations?

If your team comes up with an idea to pass out branded treats or gift bags to attendees, but the trade show doesn’t allow unapproved food into the show, your company can get in a lot of trouble and even get kicked out of the event. This would be a worst-case scenario, but similar situations do happen. That’s why it’s crucial that you and your team read through all of the fine print on your agreements. Ask any questions you may have prior to planning your booth. Avoid the headache before it happens by being proactive.

What is the Demographic of Attendees?

The demographic of the trade show attendees is one of the most important factors that go into choosing the perfect booth design. Just like any other form of marketing, you want to create the most enticing and attractive content possible in order to drive conversions. If the trade show’s attendees are made up of marketing managers over the age of 40, your display and communication style will be very different than if the attendees were entrepreneurs in their 20s.

How Are You Going to Generate Leads?

Generating leads is one of the main goals for companies that run a booth at a trade show. You’ll want to ensure that your display is designed with lead generation in mind. Include CTAs, business cards, discounts, resources, and more to try and entice your audience to become paying customers. Every time a salesperson talks to an attendee, they should provide them with their contact information where they can reach out with any questions. Generating trade show leads is a combination of your display and those hosting the display. If one falls short, then the other will need to work harder to make up for it. Now that we’ve gone over important questions that your team needs to consider, let’s dive into 5 unique ideas for trade show booth design.

1. Embrace Sustainability

While some generations may not appreciate the sustainability movement as much as others, this is a great idea to improve your company’s reputation. There are a number of ways that you can ensure your display is on the eco-friendly side. This could include having QR codes instead of handing out pamphlets. Or using biodegradable products when building your display, and not using single-use items. It also helps if your salespeople are knowledgeable on why your company decided to go this route. Embracing sustainability is a great way to get some positive PR outside of the tradeshow as well. 

2. Create a Living Wall

Living walls are becoming a huge trend for companies to use in their trade show booth. A living wall is essentially a wall of greenery that provides a natural focal point. Below is a great example of how Slack integrated a living wall into its display. It’s a great change of pace compared to all of the bright lights and over-the-top metal or plastic displays that other companies use. This idea can be very memorable and can easily be paired with a sustainable booth. Pairing the first two ideas together would be very attractive to a younger audience in locations like LA. Where attendees are probably more eco-conscious than other demographics.

3. Trade Show Games

Trade show games are always a big hit. And, there are tons of different games you can play depending on the demographics of the attendees. Jeopardy, trivia, and scavenger hunts are just a few ways that you can bring entertainment to your booth. The type of game that you play will change the design elements that you include, just ensure all of your props are branded to your company with your logo and color scheme so they remember it’s from your booth. Easily entice your audience to play with prizes. You should brand your prizes and include promotions to purchase your product for less. Trade show games are a pretty broad topic, so check out this article on the best trade show games to increase leads for more information.

4. Virtual Reality

Over the past few years, companies have started to explore virtual reality, or VR, in their marketing initiatives. VR is best for tech companies or companies that can directly relate the experience to what their company has to offer. Keep in mind that any VR experience that you put together should strongly relate to your company. If not, the user will remember the VR experience and not your company. It can get expensive to rent or buy equipment, and you’ll have to have someone onsite who can troubleshoot if something goes wrong with the technology. 

5. Giant Objects

Using giant objects in your display will be sure to attract leads. There are a ton of different ways that you can play on giant objects, including using your mascot, which can often be a big hit. As you can see in the picture below, it would be hard to resist checking out a giant iPhone. If your team is talking about your company’s new app, a massive phone is much more interesting than a regular-sized phone. You can continuously use these objects for other shows, marketing campaigns, and more. Plus, it’s easier for your audience to read and see all of the information. Now that we have gone over a few trade show booth designs that will drive conversions, what’s next? 

What’s Next?

Once the trade show is over, the hard work isn’t quite over yet! Now that you’ve gotten your company in front of a new audience, you’re going to have to follow up with them and try to convert them into paying customers. Hopefully, your sales team received a few business cards, and they can handle following up with them and answering any of their questions. You’re probably also going to see an increase in your website traffic, which would be great if you could see who was visiting your website.

What if I told you that you could see the companies visiting your website? With Visitor Queue, you can. Visitor Queue is a B2B lead generation software that can identify the companies on your website. We are also able to identify the key decision-makers at those companies, including email addresses, phone numbers, and LinkedIn channels in case you didn’t get their information at the tradeshow. In addition, you can see what pages they visit, how long they spend on those pages, and how they were acquired to better frame your pitch. Start your 14-day free trial of Visitor Queue today and don’t lose any of those trade show leads. If you need help following up with your new tradeshow leads, here is a great article that will help.

Final Words

Trade shows are exciting for both companies and attendees. Often trade shows only last for a weekend, and then companies focus on selling to their new leads. Encourage your audience to share their fun on social media and keep the momentum going. Your company can create and use a hashtag to encourage the conversation. This can be done in a few ways, including running a contest for the best post to really encourage people to post. This way even those that didn’t attend the show can still learn more about your company and maybe you’ll even get a few new leads. I hope you were able to get a few ideas of new elements to bring to your trade show booth. As always if you have any questions about how Visitor Queue can help you generate 10-20% more revenue, let us know.