I’m sorry, but I’ve been going to trade shows for more than 25 years and I gotta tell you. I am so sick of seeing the same old exhibit displays. I mean, a trade show is the most important marketing event for any company. It’s the best place a company can go to get a high concentration of prospects and customers in one place at one time. Why then do most of the booths at trade shows tend to all look the same? And you, as graphics and exhibit display providers, are in the perfect position to make a difference.

Trade show exhibit displays have come a long way in recent years. The use of tension fabrics and aluminum tubing, such as this example from Brand Stand America, has opened the door to some very creative presentations.

 

Curved wall booth, simple roll-up banner stand, a big banner hanging from the pipe and drape—Boring! Come-on people, let’s get it together and sell these clients something different so they stand out at the show. But before I take you through what kinds of exhibit materials work better at shows, I feel it is important to review the trade show rules so you can help your clients be more successful at the shows. And if your company exhibits at trade shows, these are rules to live by.

 

TRADE SHOW RULES

1) Make sure the booth’s offering is very obvious. Whatever goods or services are being presented in the booth must be very clear and easy for attendees to grasp. The message on in-booth signage should be concise and to the point. 

 

2) Lights, Lights, Lights. Nothing makes a booth look better than lights. Make sure the booth is well lit. Tapping power at a trade show can cost about $100, but it’s worth it.

 

3) Rate the people who visit the booth. Rating visitors makes it easier later when you are reviewing the leads because you’ll know which ones are hot, and which are not. I use the following codes on the leads H=Hot, W=Warm, R=Riff-raff. 

 

4) Always wear your badge on the right side of your chest, try to pin it up high so it is easy to read.

 

5) Stand just outside the booth. I believe that by standing outside of the booth and looking at the booth, the booth becomes more welcoming. When someone enters the booth you can approach them from behind and ask them “So what do you think?” This leads to an easy conversation opener. 

 

6) Get to the point quickly. During the conversation, make sure you get to the point as quickly as is needed. You don’t want others who may be waiting to speak with you to walk away because you they think you are too busy.

 

7) Make sure you have business cards with you. Always thank visitors for stopping at your booth, give them a card, and tell them that you look forward to helping to make their business better. Always be positive and confident.

 

8) My Never-Do Rules 

Wrapping the base of a roll-up banner stand with a vinyl graphic provides a way to better promote the message. I saw this example, from Brand Stand America, at a recent trade show I attended.

• Never lean against the equipment

• Never lean against anything in the booth

• Never sit in a chair

• Never eat in the booth

• Never talk on your cell phone in the booth

 

Okay, now let’s take a look at some very cool trade show graphic display systems.

 

POP-UP BANNER STANDS

What can I say about the good-old pop-up banner stand? This is classic mobile display item and it is available in a wide range of sizes. I can’t say anything bad about them—except that I hate carrying them through airport security. And some of them do not ship well in the soft bags they come with. But, if you are going to sell them, I really like the ones that can be wrapped with a vinyl graphic the base. This allows you to better promote your message. The bases for many styles of pop-up banner stands can be wrapped. At a recent trade show I attended, Brand Stand America presented a wrapped base with its display, and I liked it.

 

X-FRAMES

X-frame type displays are such a great product. They are light weight and very easy to ship. You can carry them onto a plane, and they are super easy to make the graphics for the frames. Now when I say “easy to make graphics,” I mean you just print and punch in a grommet in each corner and you don’t have to be perfect on the size or shape, and it just works! 

 

You can make a trapezoid shape, square, rectangle and so many other shapes. As long as you can put in four grommets the frame will hold the graphic. The materials you can use on this system include vinyl banner, fabric, Tyvek, polyester and many more. They are inexpensive, and if you want to get creative you can get one with a swivel and a telescoping version and go crazy. 

 

If I was to put together a booth that rocked the show, I would setup about six of these swivel and telescoping X-frames, and set up a cool light show to emphasize the graphics by changing the color in the lights.

 

This curved booth design is actually a table-top pop-up frame that fits nicely onto an eight-foot table. I saw this Abex product at a recent trade show.

TABLE-TOP POP-UP FRAMES

Many pop up frames are available today, but not many are designed for table tops. I love the table top types. I find that the clients only see from 30 to 80 inches so why then do we purchase a booth that goes to the floor? Well, you need to have the booth stand up on something! What about a foldable table with a table cloth and a table-top pop-up booth? I’ve seen pop-up booths that I really liked because they fit great on an eight-foot table, and looked great because the size was so large.

 

FULL-FRAME BOOTHS 

The most common full frame booth would be made from wood and require a team to assemble. The shipping and union fees for this type of booth is high. Today the new style is made from aluminum tube and assembled in a few minutes. The use of fabric also has reduced the overall weight and made the booths look so much better. 

 

These booths are available in many sizes and configurations, and in many cases you can connect them together to make very large booths. Plus, these booths are strong and offer monitor mounts for flat screens, counter tops for brochure and other items. In many cases, the fabric can be lit from inside, which looks fantastic.

 

TENSION FABRIC

Tension fabric displays are a generic description for fabric graphics that are stretched over a frame—and are often used with full-frame booths. Typically, the frames are made from aluminum tubing and they are bent into the shape. The fabric is generally dye sub printed, and in my opinion, these are the nicest looking graphics at the shows. In most cases you will need to outsource these graphics, the process of making and finishing the graphics, plus the ability to bend the metal is difficult.

 

ROI

The most important part of this whole article is the ROI. After reviewing the costs for the choices above in almost all cases, you can take your cost and double it! Plus, with the X-frames, you can make the graphics so the ROI is huge. When I did the calculations on a typical booth, I figured I would make no less than $500 profit in worst case, and in best case I would make over $1,000. Now that is what I call a great sale!

 

Good luck and be smart with your money. I’ll see you on the show floor!