Tradeshows are an investment – the booth space, shipping equipment, travel expenses, the team’s time away from their day-to-day responsibilities. Once you’ve accounted for those costs, booth design often takes the hit if you have limited budget.
But consider this: Will you maximize ROI if it’s easy to overlook you for a more engaging display?
The good news is that even if you need to watch every penny, there are still ways to maximize your display visuals and presence. IRONCLAD’s Art Director Sarah Roberts and Director of Digital Marketing Mitch Dahl-Wagner provide their top tips for looking sharp and professional regardless your budget.
Less is more
Visual and spatial clutter is the No. 1 mistake Roberts and Dahl-Wagner see, especially in smaller booths. They often see congested spaces with no room for visitors.
The other issue is graphics that have too many words, images or ideas. “Everyone overestimates what can fit in a booth or on a graphic,” Dahl-Wagner says. “You don’t need to cover every square inch.”
To follow the “less is more” principle, they recommend:
- Pick a key message or benefit as a focus for graphics. The idea is to pique your target audience’s attention. Then when they show interest, you have the opportunity to bring up other selling points and go into further detail.
- Demonstrate the benefits of your equipment through video when live demos are not an option. Video is a high-impact alternative that reduces the amount of equipment you need to display. Go for a video wall – the size and motion will attract attention. And be sure to allow room for viewers to gather. “Nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd,” Dahl-Wagner says.
- Less stuff in your booth means more room for visitors to come in and talk. Planning for an open perimeter or many entry points is critical for inviting prospects in. “Your booth should be a playground, not a castle with the drawbridge up,” Roberts says.
- Go for a clean, branded backwall, especially if you have a small booth. “The smaller your space, the more important simple design is,” Roberts says. “An 8-foot backwall with your brand color and logo will be highly effective among your visually busy neighbors – and often much more cost-effective”
Light it up
Tradeshow venues tend to be dim, and lighting is a powerful visual tool. Incorporating additional lighting can help draw a visitor’s eye to your booth and equipment. Some of Roberts’ favorite options include:
- Backlit graphic walls and columns
- Spotlights on equipment
- Inexpensive LED light strips in your brand color
Make a scene
Equipment is made for action, so don’t just park it! If the venue doesn’t allow for demonstrations, consider how to simulate a benefit through design.
One option is to create a scene with props. Say you want to show that your dumper can empty from a greater height than your competitor. You could create a backwall with a typical application scene and position the equipment with it extended to maximum height. Maybe a realistic receptacle is too unattractive or cumbersome for your display. You could simulate that with a lightweight model to which you add branded decals with messaging. It then doubles as signage.
Sometimes you can create graphics to show actual size of a piece of equipment. Our client Aquajet, for example, has a 20-foot backwall that shows the real-life height and width of their high-pressure pump system. The graphic option is still a conversation starter without the cost and logistics of shipping and placing the equipment. Another client sold machine attachments but constantly ran into the issue of attendees thinking they sold the carrier. We designed a display wall with a brand-neutral skid steer to scale that allowed their attachment to shine and reduced cost and coordination for transport of unnecessary equipment.
If all else fails, adding special decals or magnets to your equipment can be a cost-effective way to highlight machine features or a theme for the show.
Keep it tidy
Just like at home, a booth will get messy with people coming and going. But it doesn’t cost anything to be good housekeepers.
- Make sure the carpet is vacuumed
- Stow jackets and bags out of sight
- Don’t leave coffee cups, food wrappers and half-eaten lunch laying around
- Straighten literature and other promotional items
- Hide or disguise necessary but unsightly items, such as sandbags or frames
Invest in booth design and layout
Finally if design isn’t your forte, reach out to a professional. Whether you’re looking for a full booth redesign or a simple budget-conscious plan for placing equipment and maximizing the effect of existing graphics and assets, professional agencies can work with you to accomplish your goals in the most efficient way possible.