Your trade show exhibition stand or display has a small window of opportunity to attract an audience. Each factor of your display stand or exhibition booth must communicate your company’s message, highlight your products or services, and encourage your audience to investigate further.

Below, are 6 tips for designing an effective trade show display stand. Most exhibitors do not follow these and then question why they have poor exhibition results. Use the following tips to gain a competitive advantage.

1 – Grab Attention

Nothing happens until people visit your display stand. The challenge is that you only have a few seconds during which to grab their attention as they’re walking by. Your trade show exhibition display must make an immediate impact upon attendees. An attractive, uncluttered design that incorporates motion and creative lighting can stand apart from the crowd.

2 – Limit The Message

As attendees walk throughout the exhibition, they’re confronted with a barrage of colours and messages. While they can easily absorb the sights and sounds they encounter during their first hour, such message input quickly becomes overwhelming. At a certain point, their brains become desensitized; their memories, less acute.

Limit your trade show marketing message to its most powerful elements. Rather than communicating a dozen features, focus upon three or four key benefits. By listing those which speak directly to your audience’s needs, your trade show display will make an immediate impact.

3 – Create an Experience

If possible, include demonstrations within your trade show booth that allow your visitors to actively participate. For example, if your company sells business software, let attendees experience it firsthand. You can hire promotional staff to aid in this area.

4 – Clear The Path

Amid the clutter and tumult of the convention center, clean-looking exhibtion displays can seem like a welcome change. Try to clear the path to encourage attendees to visit. Keep literature and marketing collateral organized and tidy. Ask employees who are not actively working in your exhibit to avoid lingering. The more tidy your booth is, the more welcoming it will seem to your audience.

5 – Engage the Senses

Trade show displays should be attractive on several levels. If you can simultaneously reach your audience through sight and sound, you will make a greater impact upon them. Your trade show graphics and other display elements will already create a visual connection. Consider using music to appeal to their ears and food to appeal to their sense of smell. Use of LCD or PLASMA screens or monitors are an excellent idea also.

6 – Brand Effectively

Your trade show area should represent a visual extension of your company’s brand. By communicating the same powerful message in your display booth graphics, staff apparel, marketing collateral, and promotional giveaways, you maintain consistency. Over time, that consistency creates familiarity in your audience, bridging the gap between you and your prospects more quickly.

Attracting your target audience to your display stand doesn’t happen by accident. It requires careful planning and execution of proven strategies. Feel free to contact us to discuss ideas that may help you this year.