3 Tips For Designing Your First Trade Show Booth
A trade show is a terrific way to get your product or service out there into the public eye. If this is your very first trade show, it's natural to be nervous. You will want to make an impression and get your name and brand out there, but you may not be too sure of where to start. There are a lot of possible ways to set up a trade show booth, and you have some important decisions to make. Here are some tips that will help you create a successful booth for your first trade show.
Don't Go Too Big at Your First Show
"Go big or go home" may sound like positive advice, especially when you're excited about showing off your new product. However, for your first trade show, it's better to rent a smaller booth. You're going to learn a lot about what does and doesn't work for you during your show, and you're better off keeping your expenses down and concentrating on learning from the experience instead.
That's not to say that you shouldn't make the most of your booth, however. Make sure to get the dimensions of your booth ahead of time so that you can make plans to get the most use out of the space that you have. Once you have the dimensions, design an open exhibit that people will feel comfortable entering and spending time in – confined exhibits make people feel trapped, and people will bypass your booth if they sense a trap.
Choose Your Colors Carefully
Color schemes aren't just tools for interior decorators and wedding planners. The use of color has a specific purpose in a retail environment, and there's a real psychology to it. Different colors evoke different emotions and even physical responses in consumers, and can therefore prompt different reactions. For example, the color pink can actually relax tense muscles, causing a feeling of relief. So if your product is intended to bring relief, associating it with the color pink may not be a bad idea.
For a trade show booth, it's important not to have too many conflicting colors splashing around. Choose two or three colors that will contribute to your signature look for the show. Use these colors when you choose table coverings, banners, signs, and other display elements. A carefully chosen color scheme can produce the psychological response that you want from visitors to your booth while also creating a professional, pulled together look for your booth overall.
Make it Interactive
To the best of your ability, you should make your booth an interactive experience. Touching things that you're interested in is a natural human instinct. Children touch everything – even things that they shouldn't – in an effort to learn more about the world around them. Adults may be better at impulse control, but the desire to touch and play with something new is still there, because holding and touching items is still a way to learn more about them. If there's any possibility of putting prototypes or sample products into the hands of your visitors, you should go for it.
If your display will promote a service or a less tangible product, you can still make your display interactive with the help of interactive software programs and touchscreen monitors – set up a display that lets your visitors virtually experience what you're selling just by touching or swiping the screen. You should have more than one monitor, and it's a good idea to invest in adjustable trade show monitor stands, so that you can position your monitors at various heights for everyone's convenience. This way, your visitors still get the hands-on experience that they want from your display.
Take some time during the trade show to visit and observe other booths besides your own. You'll most likely come away with a lot of thoughts that can help you improve your booth and display so that the next trade show is even better. But with an open exhibit, a smart color scheme, and an interactive exhibit, you'll have a great start at a successful trade show display.
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