Designing and creating a truly effective and award-winning exhibition booth is a multi-step process that results in a quality display that represents the essence of your brand. But great booth design must go further. It is necessary that your design stand out in a sea of exhibition competitors.

Here are 8 tips for you to succeed at your next exhibition.

1. Avoid Standard, Run-of-the-Mill Packages

Keep in mind that how you present yourself at an exhibition can be indicative as to how visitors think you might treat them in a business relationship. If your booth is nothing special then that is how your entire business might be perceived. However, if you go to the effort of creating an outstanding, professional and visually stunning booth, that puts you and your business in a wonderfully positive light and ahead of the vast majority of your fellow exhibitors. Here’s the good news: The “wow” factor that comes from a professional and superlative exhibition booth designer/builder is often not much more expensive than renting a standard, run-of-mill booth with equipment that is nothing special. That would certainly not be an image I would wish associated with any company of mine. You?

2. Keep the Design Clean

Clutter is never attractive. One of the reasons Apple became such a colossal success was due to its simple and clean, yet elegant design. This approach will always beat out the one that ends up in the form of a booth that is jam-packed with lots of equipment, conveying a confusing and muddy overload of messages. You never want something that is directly representing your philosophy and brand to appear like a packrat’s paradise. Nor do you want to look like you tried too hard to impress and ended up overloading visitors. The fact is visitors are flooded with information during an exhibition and they can only take in a limited amount of visual information. In keeping your booth clean and light while also attaining an innovative and modern feel, you are inviting them to take a relaxing moment away from a busy exhibition day.

3. Have a Mini Hospitality Suite

Even if the overall event organizer offers complimentary food and drink (if not even better), once the visitor enters your stage, invite him or her to indulge in a nice glass of wine or a coffee, and perhaps some finger food. This will certainly set you apart and provide an excellent opportunity for some casual conversation about your business.

4. Keep It Concise & At Eye Level

No one cares about every little detail regarding your business process minutia during the frenetic activity of an exhibition event. You never should have your entire company verbiage printed on boards and your main messaging should be concise and at eye-level so that viewers don’t have to struggle to see it. It is about getting people’s attention. Anything more detailed about you and your company can be personally delivered to those who express an interest. Should you engage an interested party in conversation, this would be the more appropriate time to offer a fabulously well-done brochure for his or her conversion. Your booth is akin to an open house- Would your real estate agent invite interested buyers into your home if it looked as if a tornado had just swept through it? No! You might hang a few nice pieces of art on the walls and stage and clean up everything before you posted a “for sale” sign on the front lawn, right?

5. Logo Towers

We cannot stress enough how effectual a lighted tower with a logo is to entice passersby to stop and look. Make sure it is visible to the entire hall, a beacon for your brand to be seen from all directions!

6. Floor Lighting

With a little ingenuity, you can make your booth appear as if it is almost floating by surrounding it with set lighting at the floor level. The entire stand is highlighted and transformed into a hi-tech yet inviting place for people to visit.

7. The Island Effect

Open up all sides of your booth to create an island where visitors can enter from all sides. With this simple technique you can harvest the full potential of walk-in visitor activity and the efficient use of space.

8. Go VIP!

Create an air of exclusivity with a VIP area to make your visitors feel special and to elicit curiosity from the crowd about your obviously fabulous booth! Here you create the perfect environment in which to engage in business talks with interested visitors. Keep in mind to keep it short- If you successfully implement all these suggestions, there will surely be more interested parties already queuing up to be next!

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About the author:
Dennis Fink is a passionate event professional and exhibition booth strategist. His innovative marketing strategies for exhibition booth design and construction have resulted in numerous awards at trade shows in Europe. He is now bringing his expertise to Singapore to help the finest regional brands in improving their success at exhibitions and events.