Fun Games for Trade Show Booths

Benefits of Having a Trade Show Game

After your business decides to attend a trade show, you will need to develop a plan for attracting people to your booth. Not all attendees are as willing to strike up a conversation with your sales team.

Offering fun things to do at a trade show booth will help you reach attendees you may not have otherwise. Here are additional benefits to hosting a game at your booth.

Keep Attendees at Your Booth Longer

Whether attendees are waiting in line for their chance to play or are engaged in a more involved game, your sales team will have the time to start a conversation. The longer potential clients are at your booth, the more you can establish a connection with them. Building relationships is essential in sales and will help you to create long-term clients.

Help Your Sales Team Break the Ice

Some trade show attendees are wary of being pounced on by a booth staffer and will stick to pacing the aisles. Providing an enticing game will draw out shy attendees and help break the ice. Offering fun games for trade show booths can also draw potential customers who may have been attending to visit other businesses or breakaway sessions.

Educate Potential Customers about Your Products and Services

Consider hosting a trivia game that teaches attendees about the products and services you offer. Be sure to frame the game in a way that highlights their benefits. Attendees will play for the chance to win a small prize or some bragging rights, and you will establish a foundation for a conversation that you can continue with them later on or as a follow-up.

Include Analytics to Prove Successes

Some games offer built-in analytics so you can have an on-the-spot analysis of how well that game performed at drawing traffic to your booth. Strong analytics provide examples of your return on investment that you can present to management.

If you are using less advanced games at your booth, consider making your own analysis from the information you have to present to team leads and managers. Be sure to track all of your daily leads and log meaningful discussions.

Which Games Have the Largest Impact?

Trade show events are busy. There are a lot of businesses competing for attention on top of the other networking opportunities organizers host. When thinking of fun things to do at a trade show booth, you should consider how involved the activity is and what you stand to get out of the exchange.

The best games to play at trade show booths require no significant participation to enter, like drawings where contestants drop their business card into a bowl to win a prize. This simple game draws potential customers to your booth and allows you to follow up once you have their business card information.

Fun Games for Trade Show Booths

Make your booth more approachable and engaging. While some of these games to play at trade show booths are long-standing staples, others are newer and relate to a younger audience.

Prize Wheels

Prize wheels have become a staple at any trade show because they are inexpensive and effective. Attendees enjoy spinning the wheel for a chance to win a prize and will gladly hand over their business card for an opportunity to play.

Almost anyone can run a prize wheel, so there is not much staff training that you need to do before your trade show event. This can save on staff time better spent on something else.

Hashtag Contest

Create a hashtag for your business ahead of your next trade show event. Let attendees know that they need to follow you on the social media channel of your choosing and use your hashtag during the event to win a prize. Many businesses utilize Twitter or Instagram for this game, which can also help with tracking analytics.

Since social media is relatively new, you may need to choose someone with more experience in this area to control this game.

Roaming Games

Send someone who is staffing your booth out on the floor to ask attendees trivia questions. If someone answers correctly, they receive a ticket to redeem a prize at your booth.

Trade shows are often in large convention centers, so sending someone from your team out helps you reach attendees who may not have otherwise made it to your booth.

Multimedia Games

If your company has a budget for more innovative games, consider a gaming station. You can purchase an iPad kiosk with preloaded games like trivia games, puzzles, or action games. There are options for visitors to participate in a solo game or challenge a friend.

These games tend to last longer and keep people at your booth, so be sure your staff is making the most of the opportunity. Take the extra time to teach attendees about your business and the products that you offer.

Scratch-Off Cards

A scratch-off card is an easy way to keep thing interesting for each booth visitor at your next trade show. However, you will need to make sure to factor in the costs for the cards and this game idea when you come up with your trade show budget. 

The attendee will find this game interesting and it will draw in more booth traffic. It is a great opportunity to highlight your brand. So, make sure each card has your brand's particulars including the logo and the colors. 

Virtual Reality

If you want to make your trade show display even more interactive for a potential client, then you may want to consider how much fun they can have with virtual reality. You can let your booth visitors experience the day in the life of your business, for example. 

Simply have them put on the headset and let them see for themselves. Virtual reality is a great and more modern way of interacting with a potential client and creating a much more memorable experience.

Arcade Game

An arcade game is a good way to attract people from a variety of different age brackets. A classic arcade game, for example, may attract older adults while the more recent games may attract the younger audience. 

For even more attention, make sure to create a leaderboard where you can post all the high scores for the day. More people will visit the booth wanting to beat the leading high score on the arcade game.

Photo Booth

Having a photo booth and hosting a photo contest is another genius way of driving traffic to your booth. People always take photos at trade shows, so why not take advantage? You can put up a photo booth, have them take pictures, and then upload those pictures to a portable printer. 

Choose a few fun backdrops and customize them using your company logo or colors. They will carry their brand with them along with the photos they took at your booth.

The Bottom Line

Once you establish goals for your trade booth, it is vital to look for tools to help you reach those goals. Hosting interactive, fun games for trade show booths will help attract attendees that you may not have otherwise reached. They also give returning clients a reason to have a continuing conversation with your sales team.

Today, there are trade show games to match any budget. Try a few games and determine which one works best for your business. Once you have what works best for you, you will have added a valuable tool to your trade show inventory.