6 Tips for Making the Most of Your Trade Show Season

Trade shows are a tried-and-true tac­tic for show­cas­ing what your busi­ness can do. There’s also just no sub­sti­tute for meet­ing with prospects in per­son, chat­ting about their goals, your ser­vices, and forg­ing strong con­nec­tions. You may even be book­ing appoint­ments right on the spot!

With all that in mind, and all the noise hum­ming around you, you have to cap­ture people’s atten­tion and make your­self mem­o­rable. Dis­play­ing your booth in the most effec­tive and attrac­tive way is key, attract­ing cus­tomers like a fly to a zap­per, minus the zapping… 

Here are some key tips from The Print Guru himself!

#1: Booth Size and Location

Def­i­nite­ly check out the lay­outs for every show you par­tic­i­pate in. There’s pre­mi­um spots that will give you the best foot traf­fic in front of your booth area, like entrances, major dis­plays, and yes… even bath­rooms! For the size of the booth, make sure it’s a com­fort­able size for peo­ple to come in and inter­act with your display. 

#2: Back­drop

There are SO many styles of back­drops available. 

From dif­fer­ent dimen­sions to inter­est­ing shapes, there’s def­i­nite­ly a back­drop out there for your booth. Our rec­om­men­da­tion is some­thing light­weight, easy to trans­port, and sim­ple to set up. The EuroFit, for exam­ple, is an excep­tion­al line that we carry. 

#3: Table Dressings

A long time ago, the only real option you had for a table throw was a one-col­or cloth with a one or two col­or appli­ca­tion on the front for your logo. With today’s tech­nol­o­gy, a full col­or, full wrap table cov­er is both beau­ti­ful and afford­able. And the best part is you can design it to com­ple­ment your back­drop design.

#4: Pop-Up Banners

Next to back­drops, pop-up ban­ners are the next biggest com­mu­ni­ca­tion tool in your toolk­it. Nor­mal­ly you place 1 – 2 pop-up ban­ners in front of the booth with a catchy phrase or a small list of ser­vices. Again, pop-ups should be designed to fit the over­all style and aes­thet­ic of your booth. 

#5: Light­ing

Light­ing is one thing that most peo­ple for­get, yet it’s an essen­tial part of suc­cess­ful­ly show­cas­ing your booth items. If you do cab­i­net refin­ish­ing, for exam­ple, and are dis­play­ing dif­fer­ent stains, a spot­light on a dis­play will empha­size that area. 

#6: Hand­outs and Pro­mo Items

No booth is com­plete with­out pro­mo­tion­al items and hand­outs. Think big­ger than pens with unique, indus­try-spe­cif­ic items — some­thing that will stick around with your poten­tial cus­tomer for a while. Flash­lights, busi­ness-card-sized tools, chip clips, etc…

Bonus Tip:

Tech­nol­o­gy can be a great addi­tion too! A tv with time lapse videos of your prod­uct or ser­vice instal­la­tions can be awe­some. Keep­ing a tablet handy with book­ing soft­ware is essen­tial too. Don’t just write down con­tact info — book appoint­ments ON THE SPOT with pro­grams like You­Can­BookMe.

Make trade shows work for you! The right tools and strat­e­gy can make all the difference.