Whether attending your annual trade show or one in a series of shows in your exhibition program, it’s important that you know how to best maximize your trade show booth space. If you’re like 90% of exhibitors, you’re renting a trade show exhibit. That means that as your booth space requirements change- whether year to year or show to show, you’ve got to plan out how you maximize your trade show booth space. Already wondering about the best approach? Try the following ideas to help you obtain the best ROI from your trade show booth space:
Picture Your Trade Show Booth Space Layout Before You Design
So you’ve opted for a 20×20 trade show space or maybe you’ve got a 50×50 or 100×100 trade show booth space. How will you fill that space? How do you want people to maneuver around the space and engage with your products, services, or team? It’s helpful to picture your trade show booth space layout upfront in order to settle on how you’ll fill the space. Industries in construction, machinery, or building may want to feature large machines. Taking that into account, you’ll know that you really only need to fill a portion of the space. Picturing the layout can go a long way towards not only designing the perfect space, but how you’ll maximize the use of that space.
Decide What You Want People to Feel Inside Your Trade Show Booth Space
The old saying is that we don’t remember what people said, but we remember how they made us feel. The same can be true with your trade show display. Feelings are subjective so it’s helpful to think through how your brand is going to inspire certain moods or feelings within your trade show booth space. Will this be by using certain colors? Will you be using props? Is there a theme? What about an immersive space? How will people be engaged? By deciding what your brand wants people to feel upfront you’ll be better able to decide how to design and maximize the use of your trade show booth space.
Know the Goals of Your Trade Show Booth Space
No two businesses seem to have the same goals for their trade show booth space. Dependent upon their industry, their products or services, each exhibitor may want something different. For example, exhibitors who feature small products or food may want to ensure the trade show booth space prominently features their products to lead prospects towards purchasing behavior. Will these products be in bins? Are shelves or platforms something on your mind? What if your brand is service-based? What goals does your brand have as a result of showing off your services? Do you want people to log on and sign up for something? How will you lead them through the journey of discovering your brand? Knowing the goals of your booth space can help you to decide the best way to maximize your space.
Think About Trade Show Trends You May Want to Adopt
In February, we gave you a preliminary guide to the latest 2020 trade show exhibit trends. It’s very helpful to know what’s going on across the industry because it can help shape your approach to designing your trade show booth space. Trends can come and go, but some endure. Knowing what’s out there and popular right now can give you ideas for meeting spaces, lounges, graphics, materials, and more. These can help guide your earlier thoughts about your booth layout and how your brand wants people to feel or what they should do as a result of coming into your trade show booth space.
As you begin the process of designing your next trade show display, it’s helpful to keep these ideas in mind. Being able to answer these initial questions can help you to maximize the use of your trade show booth space. This means you’ll know whether you want a double-decker versus a single-story layout, an open floor plan versus a guided floor plan, and the elements in between. For more great ideas, consult with your exhibit house partner. Their decades of experience across hundreds of trade shows per year can help guide you in the right direction.
