Trade Show Displays: Plan for Success

Depending on your position and responsibilities, you may not be able to be at every trade show in person. Hopefully, you have employees or representatives who will act professionally and present your business well  – but that may not be the case for everyone, and it doesn’t happen by accident.

Here are a couple more hints for designing your trade show displays and training your staff so you can have keep improving your trade show marketing results.

Choose Personable Staffers and Separate Them

Okay, I don’t mean put them in “Time Out,” so get rid of that visual. I simply mean that you want your staffers to be fun, energetic and outgoing but you want to direct that energy to the attendants, not toward the fellow staffers.

One of the best trade show displays I’ve seen for this was laid out in a funnel shape so that the displays came closer together in the center without encouraging traffic on the outsides of the funnel. There were two staffers, each on the outside, which placed the attendees directly in between them. This layout controlled the traffic flow and naturally brought the attendants in toward the center where there was a video presentation and some marketing material to pick up. There was also a senior staffer at this point, able to pull aside and focus on the prime leads, which had been already screened and identified by the preceding team members.

Bottom line? The final shape of your trade show booth layout certainly doesn’t need to be a funnel – for exhibitors with the minimal 10×10 space, that isn’t even possible. However, even in a small space with few choices, take the time to plan what sales or screening functions will happen in each area of the booth. If you’ve got a larger space, then you have lots of choices and strategies, and you certainly need to plan the flow of traffic and maximize the opportunity.

Provide Plenty of Support

Don’t be afraid to invest some training in your recurring booth staff. There are plenty of good sources for learning more about trade show marketing techniques, and plenty of good trainers that can help you greatly increase your trade show ROI.
No matter how good your staffers are, they are not you, nor are they as technically trained as your product design team. This is especially important if the sales pitch is complex and highly-involved. Don’t be afraid to make pamphlets that have in-depth information on them and tell the staffers it’s okay if they need to reference the pamphlets. Also, arm them with business cards so they can direct any questions they can’t answer to you.

However, be sure to place these materials and brochures on the inside of the display, not near the passers-by in the aisles. You still want to use that outside display area to excite the visitors and pull them in where they will be engaged by the staffers. Only then should they encounter the “meat and potatoes” material you have prepared.

A Process, not an Event!

As we’ve pointed out quite a few times, trade shows seem like, but are not events! They are actually part of lengthy marketing processes, with lots of interlocking steps. Using the layout and material for trade show displays and managing your staffers is a lot to think about, but done correctly, the net result can be spectacular! At the least, by properly managing each step, you will be assured that the message you want delivered actually makes it to the prospects in a comprehensible manner.

For more, check out how to set goals or where to go with your displays.