Software marketer Passive Secrets recently released findings showing that trade shows tend to increase respondents’ lead generation and brand awareness by 70% annually. When considering such a powerful tool, effective exhibition booth design can make all the difference, taking you from being an overlooked and rarely-mentioned display to the location on everybody’s lips at that show.
Though, how do you get started with choosing between all the options? How do you know what is best between:
- Layouts
- Materials
- Branding
- Lighting
- Staffing
The following guide will help you by equipping you with proven strategies to align your booth design with best practices, measure your success clearly, and iterate on it long into the future.
Track your wins, stay ahead of trade show design trends, and get started transforming your booth design into a lead-generating powerhouse today.
Plan Your Exhibition Booth Design With Goals in Mind
Before you get out a single napkin and start planning your next booth, take into account your business objectives. While the broad goal of promotion is applaudable, you need to set SMART goals that clearly define whether you have succeeded at that event.
The main reason for doing this is that you can use the data from the event to pivot your booth design moving forward. Find the single place where you failed the most to hit your targets, and then change how you approach it with the goal of hitting the target next time. Then, when the event is over, plan for the next, continually improving in order to hit the targets that will get you the results you need as a business.
Linking Objectives to Design Elements
When you start planning the booth, make every decision in such a way as to support the larger goals you have. For example:
Layouts should match your goals: To boost brand awareness, use open-floor plans that allow people to move through your space and take in what you offer. Alternatively, if you need to hold product demos or have small consultations, leverage segmented booth-style areas instead.
Use appropriate signage and aesthetics: Ensure every design element is visually appealing.
Before you even go to the trade show, try your imagery on third parties and see if they appreciate the aesthetic and would want to know more, saving you money before you even visit the location.
Highlight your highest-value products: Even if not new, position your most impactful products or services at eye level and in high-traffic zones. Doing this either reinforces your unique selling point or introduces it to others.
Prioritize Metrics Over Beauty
As mentioned above, while a good-looking booth may be beneficial, it won’t help if it doesn’t help you sell your products. As such, try to track where individuals go during the event. Whether this means using a people counter in each location, measuring the number of new leads, or both, it is crucial to have a clear understanding of what specific areas of your booth succeed and why.
You can then re-invest staff into high-performing areas, often at the same event, and reduce the effort on the low-impact ones. Then, plan to permanently update them after the show, before the next event.
Boost Brand Presence with a Custom Booth Design
If you want a strong presence but are unfamiliar with the details of high-quality booth design, you may want to consult an expert. They can assess your objectives and tailor a space specifically for your brand and goals.
The best booth designers will also understand your long-term goals. As such, they can help you build scalable spaces that can grow based on your business’ needs, including preparing for more zones and varied offerings for those moving through the booth. At the same time, they can look at any feedback you’ve received or measured from other events and give you insightful advice to ensure you make the most of any data you gather.
Use Data-Driven Design for Creative Booth Ideas
The list of datasets you can gather from a trade show is almost limitless. Look to your technical and logistical capabilities to see what information you can gather, and then compare any data you can gather using it to past events to identify areas where you need to improve. Whether you have recurring issues with specific elements of your booths or simply want to ensure you hit your trade show KPIs, you will need to find where the parts that would benefit from updates.
Examples of information you may benefit from gathering include:
- Foot traffic via people counters
- Heatmap sensors to help you learn where people linger
- Average duration visited
- Where overutilized and underutilized entrances and exits exist
- How solo visitors and groups move differently
- When peak hours are to help you maximize staffing
You can also use post-event surveys and direct feedback to understand attendees’ experiences. Sometimes, qualitative insights can help you understand the quantitative numbers you are seeing.
A/B Test Exhibit Designs
With all things being equal, try out different booth arrangements at separate events to work out the most effective design. However, only do so when you have a clear hypothesis you want to test. You can experiment with every part of your booth that you can adjust without breaking it, from the trade shop backdrop to staff training, to understand how each element affects numbers.
Even if you learn something doesn’t work well with your new design, you can change it the next time. However, be careful to consider the simple fact that your booth is new in terms of staff training and visitor intrigue.
Transform Your Trade Show Success With Infinity Exhibits
Leveraging tailored exhibition booth design strategies can help you achieve better results at future events. With local expertise from trend-followers in the world of trade shows, you can learn the best plan for your next show and quickly follow it. Here at Infinity Exhibits, we know how to track every element of what goes into a great booth.
So, start measuring key metrics, learn where to improve, and turn them into actionable changes with Infinity Exhibits. Contact us to learn how we can elevate your brand and ensure your trade show ROI is higher than ever.
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