Trade Show Display Stands: Where is the Best Place to Purchase?
Regardless of the size of the booth space itself, the quality and look of the display stand is of paramount importance to your exhibit. The display stand or exhibit booth will display your organization’s brand, image, and message, putting them out front and center for everyone to see. Clearly, this needs to be done very well, so what is the best type of vendor to use when it comes to designing and purchasing a great looking display stand?
The first step is to decide what type of display stand you’re most interested in, paying close attention to the trade show display budget. If this is your first experience with trade show exhibiting, definitely consider walking the floor at one or more large trade shows to review the different types of display stands and exhibit booths that are available. Once you’ve figured out the type of trade show display stand you want and have identified a budget, you’ll be able to choose either a portable trade show display vendor or a vendor who specializes in custom-built displays.
A portable-display vendor specializes in selling display booths that are easily transportable. Usually, these types of vendors can supply display stands to accommodate any booth size, but they often focus on booths that are either 10’ by 10’ or 10’ by 20’. You’ll find as you shop around that some vendors will carry more styles than others.
A reputable portable-display booth vendor may have a showroom for local clients, but at the very least will have an experienced and knowledgeable staff. They may also often offer extra services like booth repair, graphics design, even booth storage and shipping. They will ask about your objectives and plans for the trade show booth, and will want to know what types of activities the booth needs to accommodate. They will work with your requirements and the budget in order to help you meet your objectives. The vendor should make suggestions to help accomplish your goals – if you find yourself talking to a vendor who isn’t interested in your objectives and seems to care only about your budget, look elsewhere. There are much better vendors out there.
Portable-display vendors are the least expensive choice when it comes to purchasing your display stand. The next step up the ladder is where you find the marketing and advertising companies. These companies help organizations tie many elements together, such as corporate identity and advertising. If your organization could use this kind of help, you might choose one of these companies to accomplish these tasks for you, as well as help you design graphics for your trade show booth that will be cohesive with the rest of your organization’s marketing. Your display stand will cost more this way because the advertising company will purchase the exhibit booth from the vendor and mark it up before charging you for it. Advertising companies who handle a lot of trade shows will have a lower mark-up, so you might want to look for one like that.
If you have a larger budget and intend to exhibit at many trade shows, then you might want to consider purchasing your display from a firm that specializes in custom-designed displays. Their designers will spend time getting to know as much as they can about your organization and its industry, your trade show goals, and your plans for your booth. They will then provide you with several concepts and plans for a custom exhibit booth design. They will work within your budget, but keep in mind, owning a one-of-a-kind custom exhibit display is significantly more expensive.
Regardless of your goals for exhibiting at trade shows and your budget for your display stand, as long as you have those two elements clearly defined, you’ll have no problem finding a trade show display vendor to fit your needs.
If you are going out of the country, check out our article on buying trade show displays internationally.
