Leading Trade Show Exhibit Trends Create A Profound Experience for Attendees

By: Mat Kelley

Trade shows have traditionally served as an opportunity for industry leaders to showcase their latest products and innovations. Competing companies have always clamored for the attention of potential customers by sticking to the benefits sales model, showcasing how their product can solve a common problem.

But current trends are creating a different climate at trade shows these days. With competition for the customer’s attention stronger than ever, exhibitors are no longer fixated on separating themselves from their competitors by focusing on a particular product and simply talking about solutions and benefits. Which leads us to the first, and probably most profound, trend in trade show exhibiting.

Experiential Exhibits:
Product pitches and demos are “out” – at least they are no longer the centerpiece of a trade show exhibit. Instead of the literal, one-on-one, “we’re better because . . .” spiel, the challenge has become creating an experience for the potential customer that leaves them in awe, or at least makes a strong enough impression that they forget about the competition. While the trade show booth is a temporary fixture, the idea is to create a space that has a feeling of permanence and keeps the customer engaged. So engaged, in fact, that the customer has a memorable experience, and associates that experience with your product – eliminating the need for the hard sell, and creating a smooth landing for the soft sell.

Each element of these “experiential exhibits” is crucial and must be carefully selected to effectively execute a cutting-edge, yet warm and inviting, space. Any sort of “edutainment” feature anchored in technology, such as interactive computer games that test knowledge or popular television game shows as a template for a game featuring facts and information about your company or industry, are a must-have. Making this part of your trade show booth space gives you an opportunity to make your booth more of an interactive space.

Materials:
There are many different types of materials that can be used and are used to make trade show displays. But because of it’s versatility and low cost in comparison to other materials, fabric is one of the trendiest materials to use for your booth. Metal and wood are used less frequently because of their weight, bulkiness and inflexibility.

You can use fabric in a subtle way, almost like a canvas, to create a backdrop for the theme of your space. And often, the light, airy nature of the fabrics used for today’s exhibits create a light, airy feeling for your trade show display. But more often, you will find fabric being used for the banner stands, such as the Allure tensioned fabric banner displays that have recently hit the market. These high-quality banners are quickly set up (about two minutes with no tools needed) and easy to put together, convenient to travel with (even on an airplane,) economical to ship, and, shelves can be added to the banners for a more sophisticated look. These advantages, along with the long life and durability of the Allure banners, makes them slightly more expensive than typical banner stands. But the extra money is worth it - these banners create such a strong presence that they can be used by themselves or combined with a pop-up or custom booth to really make your space “pop.”

Lighting:
Whether you are going for a more traditional trade show booth or the cutting-edge experiential, lighting is crucial in creating the mood for your space. Because of this, custom lighting is becoming more mainstream.

Using filtered or wash lights creates a mood that drastically contrasts with a trade show display that uses spotlights. But ambience is not the only reason custom lighting has become more popular. You can also use lighting – however dramatic or subdued – to bring attention to featured products.

The Final Touches
Today’s trade show visitors are limited on time and bombarded with a flurry of sales and marketing gimmicks. To “stand out in the crowd,” here are some additional trends that have emerged in recent years.

Booth Details – Once you have gotten a visitor’s attention and they have entered your space, you must give them a good reason to stick around for more than a couple of seconds. This is the time for you to immerse the customer with your brand. Visitors want to see how your product or service will benefit them – so show them. Testimonials are an easy way to achieve this, in addition to marketing materials featuring people using your product, as well as the standard product demonstration. And because presentation is everything, additional pieces in your booth, such as literature racks, are a good way to keep your space organized while attractively displaying your marketing materials without overwhelming prospects with too much information.

Time is of the Essence – With the demands of today’s busy work schedules, most visitors do not have an entire day to spend at a trade show. Their time at the event is valuable, so you must be able to get their attention and quickly and easily explain what your company offers. Some of these visitors will come to the trade show as a team, and the team will include decision-makers who evaluate you, in comparison with the competition.

Get the Word Out – This is a trend that has been around for awhile, but one that is often overlooked. Prior to the event, let your clients and potential customers know that you are participating in a trade show – use every promotional opportunity to mention it, use direct mail, email and other traditional marketing avenues to drive more traffic to your exhibit.

Implement these marketing strategies and your trade show exhibit will create a buzz about your company and deliver a memorable experience for clients and potential customers that will make your follow-up sales success inevitable.

About the Author
Mat Kelly is the president of ExhibitDEAL, the Original Exhibit Wholesaler specializing in trade show exhibits from large custom displays to portable trade show displays - on the web at http://www.exhibitdeal.com/

Trade Show Sins

Some good advice I came across on the bad habits and lack of prep that can lead to a wasted trade show experience.

The Seven Deadly Sins of Tradeshows

Do you know the Seven Deadly Sins? I’m not talking about pride, envy, lust, and all the rest that you may be familiar with. While those are important, chances are they won’t crop up at the average tradeshow. Instead, there’s another set of sins – seven deadly sins – associated with exhibiting. If you commit one or more of these, you can count on a dreaded result: exhibiting that is ineffective, counter-productive, and a monumental waste of time and money!

Are you guilty? Is your exhibiting in mortal peril? Check the list and see:

Sin #1: Neglect

Failing to set exhibiting goals is one of the most deadly tradeshow sins. Having goals delineates your purpose for exhibiting. This is the essence of the whole exhibit. Knowing what you want to accomplish at a show will help plan every other aspect – your theme, the booth layout and display, graphics, and more. Exhibiting goals should complement your corporate marketing objectives and help in accomplishing them.

Sin #2: Illiteracy

You may be able to read the exhibitor manual – but are you? The exhibitor manual is your complete reference guide to every aspect of the show and your key to saving money. Everything you need to know about the show is in those pages: show schedules, contractor information, registration, service order forms, electrical service, floor plans and exhibit specifications, shipping and freight services, housing information, advertising and promotion. Remember that the floor price for show services is normally 10-20% higher so signing up early will always give you a significant savings.

Sin #3: Pride

It’s good to be proud of your staff. After all, you’ve taken a tremendous amount of time recruiting, interviewing, and hiring good people to work for your organization. But at tradeshows, more often than not, those valued employees are sent to work unprepared. Enormous time, energy and money are put into organizing show participation. However, the people chosen to represent the entire image of the organization are often left to fend for themselves. They are just told to show up. That’s both arrogant and unwise. Your people are your ambassadors and should be briefed beforehand – why you are exhibiting; what you are exhibiting and what you expect from them. Exhibit staff training is essential for a unified and professional image.

Sin #4:Being Inhospitable

Attendees at a tradeshow are your guests. Even if it’s just for a few minutes, the attendees are visiting your company. They are in your trade show booth, talking to your staff. It is your job to be a gracious host. To do this, you must focus on the attendee’s needs. Do this by asking open-ended, probing questions, designed to elicit information about the attendee’s real needs and interests. Avoid missing qualifying information and potential valuable leads.

Sin #5: Busywork

Idle hands may be the devil’s playground, but being busy to no effect is hardly a good idea. Staff members, who are unsure of what to do in the booth environment or feel uncomfortable talking to strangers, end up handing out literature or giveaway items just to keep occupied. Literature acts as a barrier to conversation. It is vital that people chosen to represent the organization enjoy interacting with strangers and know what is expected of them in the booth environment.

Sin #6: Ignorance

Being unfamiliar with demonstrations is tantamount to shooting yourself in the foot. What’s the point of hauling your snazzy new piece of equipment across the country to a tradeshow if no one knows how to operate it? This often happens when the sales staff is sent along to represent a high-tech or complex piece of machinery. Communicate with your team members before the show and ensure that demonstrators know what is being presented, are familiar with the equipment and how to conduct the assigned demonstrations.

Sin #7: Laziness

The work doesn’t stop when the show is over. Ignoring lead follow-up and post-show evaluation are deadly sins that happen after the show. Sadly, show leads often take second place to other management activities that occur after being out of the office for several days. The longer leads are left unattended, the colder they become. Prior to the show, establish how leads will be handled, set timelines for follow-up and make sales representatives accountable for leads given to them. Post show evaluation allows you to improve future performances. Investing the time with your staff immediately after each show isn’t a luxury – it’s an imperative!