General

Every year marketers introduce new ideas during trade shows—some of these hit the bullseye while others are quickly forgotten. As we are already in the middle of 2019, some of the biggest trade shows like CES are already behind us. During these events, we saw a few new ideas that are already becoming hot trends in the trade show industry. Below is information on trends that can be used to upgrade a trade show booth.

Multi-Sensory Stimulations

To grab the attention of attendees and ensure that brand image has made both a positive and lasting impact, booth operators are now using multi-sensory technology. Combinations of multi-sensory stimulations—like sense of touch, smell, taste, sight, and sound—are being used to connect with people. Design a booth that offers an experience for visitors, and encourage them to enter by highlighting your multi-sensory technology near the entrance of your booth. Incorporating such technology boosts brand value.

Strategic Lighting

Lighting has been a basic necessity at trade show booths for decades. Use items like backlit pop-up displays, light panels, and recessed lighting to transform a booth space. Be creative when using recessed or hidden lights to illuminate special sections of the booth structure. Lighting can also be used to present products in unique and attractive ways that engage trade show attendees.

Advanced Technology

Many trade show booth designers have still not learned how to use new technology like virtual reality, 360-degree videos, holographic walls, and 3D projections—all of these pieces of technology can be used collectively to create visually-stimulating exhibits. At present, creative technology is being utilized by companies to give virtual reality demonstrations of products and services. Also, holographic pictures and video clips that are used on fabric trade show displays are now including company brand names, and these are currently popular in the travel and tourism industries.

Innovative Use of LED

Booth designers are now aiming for visual appeal in their trade show booths, and such is why many are using LED screens to create textured backgrounds in their booths to stand out from competitors. LED lights can be used to creatively highlight trade show displays and other elements that are part of the exhibit.

The trends mentioned above are innovative developments in the trade show industry and they’ve captured the interest of exhibitors everywhere. If you decide to experiment with new trends, you should not lose focus on following up with potential customers—nurturing every lead is still priority number one.

Banners are great for grabbing customer attention. They are inexpensive, easy-to-use, and they can be customized to fit your needs. But did you know trade show displays aren’t only great for trade shows and exhibitions? They can even be used by small business owners to advertise products and services!

Choosing the right banner is important; you want to make a positive impact, after all. At Trade Show Display Pros, we’ve been educating our customers on the different banner stand types for years. If you’re a small- or medium-sized business looking for promotion ideas, read on!

X Banner Stands:

X banner stands are very useful for advertising products and services at restaurants and retail stores. An X banner stand’s unique design makes them lightweight and inexpensive, making these banner stands great for grabbing attention on a budget. X banner stands are especially useful if you need stands in multiple locations for a product launch or for business with multiple sales people who need to use the displays in different locations at the same time. They are easy to set up and take down, and when maintained well they last for a very long time.

Retractable Banner Stands:

A retractable banner stand is called so because the banner graphic is stored in the stand base after every use. Unlike an X banner stand, a retractable banner stand will not be knocked down easily. These banners are also easy to set up and carry. Use retractable banner stands to advertise giveaways or promotions, and they’re also great for highlighting a product you recently introduced. You can make your banner message attractive by playing with colors and appealing texts.

Outdoor Banner Stands:

If you want a display that can be used in any environment outdoor banner stands are your best bet. They are great for improving branding and they’ll get your messages across to large audiences at outdoor events, concerts, fairs, sporting events and exhibitions. They come in a wide range of sizes up to 10' wide so there's sure to be a model to fit any need.

Pop-up Fabric Banners:

Pop-up fabric banners are great! Assembling them and taking them down is easy too—all you have to do is expand the stand up and you’re ready to go because the fabric graphic stays attached. These stands are also extremely durable, making them great for transport. You don’t need a lot of space to use a pop-up fabric banner because they come in a wide range of sizes to fit whatever space you have available. In short, pop-up fabric banners can be used to hold great visuals and draw customers to your store.

If you need help choosing banner stands, call us now for more information.

Planning a successful trade show or exhibition begins with assembling the right trade show displays. But how do you decide which banner stands are right for your booth? How much should you spend? How does one banner stand differ from another? There are so many questions!

At Trade Show Display Pros, we help our customers understand the world of trade show displays so they can select products that are right for them. Below are answers to three common questions individuals usually ask about banner stands.

#1 – Are banner stands only ideal for trade shows and exhibitions?

Of course not! Banner stands are perfect for advertising and they can be used anywhere! For example, you can use them at crowded places to guide traffic towards different areas. They can also be placed outside busy restaurants to display menus or any offers. You can place them on highways or at drive-throughs to promote giveaways or offers. You can also place them outside conference halls to welcome visitors and display information. Retractable banners are used at airports, shopping malls, sporting events, and other heavy-traffic areas to grab attention.

#2 – Are retractable banner stands better than non-retractable banner stands?

A retractable banner stand is called so because it retracts into a stand base after each use. On these stands, the banner graphics are wound around rollers so they stay protected during storage. Retractable banner stands are perfect for trade shows and exhibitions, because they are so quick and easy to set up and take down. They're great for uses other than conferences, trade shows, and events, but there are other options as well when the stand doesn't need to be set up and taken down frequently.

Non-retractable banner stands are the models without retraction mechanisms, so banner graphics have to be attached and removed every time you use these stands. Portable banner stands are lightweight and transportable and have very few, to no, moving parts, so they tend to be very reliable. They are also inexpensive and great for large scale deployments of advertising to multiple locations such as store, showrooms and company lobbies.

#3 – What’s the difference between indoor banner stands and outdoor banner stands?

As their name suggests, indoor banner stands are meant for indoor use; in other words, they’re not designed to withstand the elements. Banner stands that are for indoor use can easily break or blow over if used outdoors, and the banner options for indoor use will typically be different than outdoor options, which would require greater tear strength to hold up in windy conditions. An outdoor banner stand is designed to hold up in wind, usually with some kind of weighted base, and some have springs that allow the graphic to flex in the wind. The banners for these stands are often more resilient than the materials used for indoor banners, so they don't tear easily in the wind. Be sure to check the wind rating for an outdoor stand to make sure it will hold in the environment where you plan to use it, and always take the banner down if winds exceed the rating for the display to prevent damage.

Are you having trouble choosing the right banner stand? Call us now to discuss your requirements—we’ll suggest a banner stand that’s right for you!

Branding is an essential aspect of marketing, and trade shows are an ideal place to establish your brand name. The challenge lies in looking for ways to establish positive connotations within the target market in a simple but memorable manner. Here are some tips on creating a buzz around your business that can lead to more customers.

Making Brand Awareness an Essential Part of the Exhibit

Exhibitions can be a powerful extension of a firm’s advertising and public relations as well as enhance brand awareness. Ensure your marketing and promotional materials around the booth, like retractable banners, are consistent and have the same logo, typeface, colors, and characters. People’s perception of a brand is subjective to personal experience, and this can be established by consistently emphasizing its qualities through several exhibits of different types.

3-Dimensional Exhibits

Create an impactful message on all sides of your booth especially for exhibits located in a central area that can be viewed from all sides. Having a 3-D display allows you to get the maximum traffic and impact for your brand. You can then convey the product’s personality and the company’s logo to everyone who passes by. Exhibits that keep changing shape or colors and are visible from a long distance are most likely to grab viewers’ attention.

Bring Brand Ambassadors

Get your most vocal employees to exhibit your brand and discuss its features with potential customers. Employees that talk about products and services in an engaging manner through Q & A sessions and games act as brand experts and have the ability to create a positive and lasting impression on the visitors.

Trade shows are a great way to reach out to key audiences outside your immediate local area specifically if the product is for a competitive industry or for a new vertical that is outside your comfort zone. They can help to connect with a new group of potential buyers and expand the market, making your business more successful.

Trade shows provide a perfect opportunity for companies looking to connect with customers directly and create a positive impact on them. With the right touches to your booth design and displays, you can enhance the overall appearance of the booth and also emphasize the power of your brand. There are many ways to customize trade show displays with appropriate colors, designs, and content, but sometimes a lack of focus or excess enthusiasm in trying to push the brand leads to errors that may destroy changes of getting new customers. Here are some common errors with displays to avoid when attending trade shows.

Too Much Content

Banners and posters are commonly used for displaying the brand and connecting with customers. To create an impact with these displays, the text has to be easily readable and should convey the message within seconds. However, sometimes the temptation to explain products and their qualities is so acute that marketers fill every inch of the display with descriptions. This can make the displays hard to read and overwhelming, making them less effective than a simpler design.

Missing Social Media Details

Every firm in the market today has social media handles to connect directly with customers online. Display these details using fabric trade show displays around the stall or in different locations around the exhibition to promote the brand’s social media handles. This allows customers and potential customers the ability to stay in touch and see promotional material. These different modes of communication help firms to show their commitment towards the quality of their products and services, so never avoid miss out showing your social media side.

Going Overboard with Creativity

Enthusiasm and creativity are great, but sometimes the saying “less is more” holds true for trade show displays. Keeping the display region free of excessive and lengthy content is just as important as keeping it free of unnecessary artwork. Make the designs attractive, attention-grabbing, and smart so it conveys brand image succinctly. Outshine your competitors with bold colors and readable typeface from a short distance to get the most from a trade show.

Use trade show display items like retractable banners and popup banners effectively by avoiding the above errors.

Live marketing events, conferences, and trade shows are gatherings which offer significant benefits for companies looking to promote their products and services. Trade shows are events where businesses in a specific industry exhibit and demonstrate their new products and services. Those who take trade shows seriously use fabric trade show displays and retractable banners to convey their marketing messages. Trade shows bring industry professionals, vendors, competitors, and customers all together in one location. Therefore, trade shows provide great opportunities for your brand to garner exposure and forimpacts to be made. If you’re new to trade show marketing, below explains why trade show participation is beneficial for your business.

Trade Shows Matter Even in the Digital Age

Events filled with boring booths, desperate sales associates, folding tables, decrepit chairs, and cheap promotions are a thing of the past. Today, there are innovative marketing strategies, like virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and never-before-seen exhibition spectacles. Keynote speakers, multimedia exhibits, magician performances, and celebrity appearances are also trade show staples. Trade shows have transformed from traditional networking events into immersive experiences, meaning you can excite anyone, even techies, if you grab their attention immediately. Nowadays glitz and glamour dominate the trade show industry, which means the energy and excitement you’ll find looks a lot like a Hollywood movie premiere. Does this all sound fun?

Brands Large and Small Can Participate

Whether you’re representing a small business or a multimillion-dollar corporation, attending a trade show as an exhibitor helps you and your business get feet in the right doors. Trade show attendance provides other benefits as well, such as increased brand awareness, qualified-lead generation, improved relationships, higher conversion rates, direct sales opportunities, cost-effective advertising, and reliable brand establishment. One of the main strategies used for growing a company is to market the products and services before a large group of prospective customers. Unlike other marketing strategies, like social media promotions or TV commercials, trade shows provide you with face-to-face opportunities to sell your products. Therefore, it’s necessary to have a compelling exhibition booth if you want to attract visitors, and such is why you should always use trade show displays.

Trade Shows Help You Go a Step Beyond Customer Service

Almost 80 percent of businesses think they provide excellent customer service, but only eight percent of customers agree. Exhibiting at trade shows can create connections between you and your buyers, connections which are based on empathy. Encourage your booth staff to develop connections on personal levels by listening to visitors’ responses. Before wrapping up conversations, make sure to continue connections with an action step, like offering giveaways, taking photographs and posting them to your social media accounts, or exchanging business cards. With empathy comes trust, and trust is what influences booth visitors the most when they’re deciding whether or not to purchase your products.

If you’d like to exhibit your products or services, the STARWEST Expo, OilComm, the Global Gaming Expo, GSMAMWC, AES, the IoT Tech Expo North America, ISC East, the SC Conference,the Live Design International Technology Show, and the Automation Fair are some of the top technology trade shows happening in the U.S. in late 2019. Make sure you stand out from the crowd with our retractable banner stands.

Participating in trade shows helps you exhibit your products, gain competitive insights, meet important contacts, stay on top of the latest industry trends, and attract prospective customers. Because trade shows serve as a platform for enhancing brand visibility, you need to adopt some of the latest trade show strategies if generating lots of leads and driving incremental sales are what you’re after. If you plan to participate in an annual industry event, major international trade exhibition, or local trade fair, make use of these tips to ensure a successful trade show experience.

Convey Your Message Without Speaking

A bold cutout that stands on your booth not only promotes your brand to the large audience but also serves as a nice attraction people may want to take photos with. Make use of fabric trade show displays and retractable banner stands if you want to display a clear and concise message to your customers. Remember that consistency is important when it comes to booth design. Display your messages using bright and bold colors and use large font sizes as well. Remember to use the least amount of text possible. Use lighting to illuminate your message and produce a brighter appearance. By doing these things, you can effectively convey your marketing message to booth attendees before your salesperson begins their pitch.

Use Printable Flooring to Attract Trade Show Attendees

Flooring plays a major role at any trade show. Make use of printable flooring to provide an appealing aesthetic to your trade show booth. Print your logo and use your brand’s official color on the floor to create the ultimate promotional floor. You can also have a full-length, brand-related image printed on the floor. A creative floor design can boost advertising and help you stand out from any competition at the trade show. Because special flooring offers a different look to entrances and walkways, your visitors are likely to be impressed by the plush, luxurious feel the floor creates. You can also go one step further and use interactive flooring to capture the attention of customers.

Keep Your Booth Visitors Longer with Awesome Ambience

People may judge your brand based on how your booth looks from the outside. And since making a good first impression is essential to driving up sales, you want to ensure the exterior of your booth is impeccable. Improve booth ambiance with furniture, attractive décor, gentle music, an appealing color scheme, attractive flooring, good lighting, and curated artwork and photography. Having great ambiance will encourage trade show attendees to visit your booth, and they’ll stay for a long time while they engage with your products. Long story short: effective booth ambiance helps potential customers enjoy what you have to offer. You can also include a space for serving cocktails and mocktails, in branded souvenir cups, to set your booth apart from competitors.

Use Illusions to Make Your Audience Look Twice

In a hectic trade show atmosphere, it’s difficult to set apart your booth from those being run by your competitors. Rather than use photos to display your products, create a visual environment. Use an intelligent combination of optical illusions and magic tricks to capture the imaginations of trade show attendees. When you display a 3D object in the middle of your booth, it creates an eye-catching structure, one that can be used to highlight your brand. These structures are great for delighting and intriguing prospective customers.

Business deals worth billions of dollars are made at marketing events and trade shows every year. Success at a trade show depends on your goals. Proper planning is required; after all, you invest a huge amount of time, effort, and money to exhibit at the trade show. If not executed well, your participation could be a huge flop. Focus on implementing these tactics to your marketing strategies and ensure a successful trade show.

Utilize Tech to Attract Tech-Savvy Visitors

Technology is an important element of trade show marketing. Use technology to your advantage by utilizing interactive display screens with pre-programmed content about your products and services. Design a digital lounge with comfortable chairs and café tables; include built-in chargers as well. Replace traditional printed signage with digital signage, like a large video wall, so that your messages can be seen from any location in the trade show hall. Also use bright and attractive fabric banner stands made from aluminum—these are great for displaying your marketing message. Incorporate virtual and augmented reality to share your company’s information and demonstrate products in a more engaging and interactive way. Use videos to amplify your brand with booth visitors. Make use of mobile technology and engage with your attendees through social media.

Get Your People Ready

Regardless of how cool your booth is or how fancy your giveaways are, a dynamic booth staff can easily engage the crowd in minutes. Recruit the right people and train them thoroughly; explain about your goals and the stakes involved. Bring your best team to the trade show as they are the biggest representation of your brand. Give them targets that when completed will earn them incentives. Run a quick training session so that they are well informed about your products and company details. Train them to handle difficult situations and pain points, and manage customer leads either by writing notes or entering informationinto a database system.

Reach out on Social Media

Social media is a popular way to engage your customers at events, conferences, and trade shows. Direct and inspire social media discussion if you want your customers to last beyond the show. Email marketing, Facebook marketing, and Twitter feeds can help you show off your trade show presence online, thereby driving traffic and building brand awareness. You can also participate in Twitter chats, create LinkedIn groups, and communicate directly using Google+ Hangouts for lead generation. Use LinkedIn InMail to send an alert message about your event to any LinkedIn user. Create a separate landing page on your official website to create a trade show hub. These help online users find more information about your exhibits and the location of the convention center. Write a blog post about the exhibition and the conversations that you had with your trade show booth visitors.

Are you ready to rock the floor at an upcoming event? With clear goals and the right strategies, you can easily convert aisle-walkers into potential customers while maximizing your return on investment.

Trade shows are platforms where you can discover new clients for your products and services. Are you looking for ways to increase your trade show performance? While exhibiting at a trade show, mistakes can happen, regardless of whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a newbie. Learning from the failures of past exhibitions is one of the best ways to improve your marketing strategies. Having been in the business of selling trade show displays for so many years, we have formulated a list of common mistakes you should avoid:

Poor Trade Show Displays

Underselling your company with bad graphics is the number one mistake. Bad graphics do nothing to encourage visitors, which means potential clients won’t want to know more about your products and services. Exhibiting your products and conveying your marketing message through attractive fabric trade show displays is essential. A great exhibit can tell booth visitors about your business and brand image. Buy from our range of trade show displays to create a long-lasting impression with your customers.

Wrong People in the Booth

Inadequately trained booth staff can be a huge disappointment. Staff hiding in a corner all the time, or staff focusing on their smartphones, don’t help attract aisle-walkers to your booth. Poor staff can negatively affect your ROI and leave a bad impression with your customers. Instead, you should bring the best team to engage every passerby—you want to draw attention to your brand and services. It is vital to train staff if you want to generate a positive experience for attendees and bolster your brand.

Ignoring Social Media Marketing

It's 2019. If you aren’t advertising your business on social media and interacting with potential clients, you’re in big trouble. Be active on social media pages before, during, and after the event. Use social media tools to generate buzz for the event. Make images, videos, and posts about what’s happening at your trade show event. Come up with a hashtag that’s specifically used for hosting contests. Create a gallery of your exhibition’s imagesonInstagramor Pinterest to improve your online presence. Encourage people walking by to stop at your booth so they can take photographs with your branding logo. Post statuses and updates on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+, and be active on a variety of other social media outlets.

Focusing on Quantity over Quality

You may be tempted to focus on the quantity of leads rather than the quality of the leads. Qualified leads are not excited by the opportunity to win a prize or receive giveaways—they are the ones who may have spoken with you for long enough to know about your products and services. Four or five qualified leads are better than collecting hundreds of business cards from people you don't know anything about. A quality lead is the one that results in a sale. Ask open-ended questions while engaging with prospects to understand their mindset.

These are some of the common trade show pitfalls you need to avoid. Learning from these mistakes is a key to success. Have you made any mistakes that negatively impacted your ROI? Share with us in the comment box below.

Have you ever hosted an event to exhibit your products and failed to meet your marketing goals? Driving customers to your exhibition stand is not an easy task; it’s a task that requires you be creative; it’s a task that requires you communicate smartly and be aware of the latest technology for trade show marketing. If your return on investment for trade show exhibitions is going down, it’s time to create a better experience, engage with your attendees, and deliver value by adopting the right marketing strategy. Fill in the gaps with the help of our successful trade show tips and ensure the highest ROI possible.

Have a Functional Booth That’s Also Visually Appealing

A booth that is eye-catching is sure to win the hearts of customers. Use the most popular booth design with attractive trade show banners and fabric trade show displays to showcase your products and services. Secure the best booth location to solidify your presence for potential engagement among ideal customers. Research the general layout of the trade show floor to identify the major traffic areas. Reserve your trade show exhibit space and set up your booth in the prime location where the most people will pass through.

Depending on your exhibition goals, display needs, and budget, choose any one type of exhibit space: peninsula booths, end-cap booths, inline aisle booths, and island booths. Add creative and engaging exhibition designs to attract visitors to your brand. Use a smart blend of brand colors on your trade show banners to ensure all eyes are on them at the show. Black and blue colors are associated with lifestyle and fashion brands, whereas orange, yellow, and red are associated with the food and beverage industry. Choose colors that help your audience associate with your booth design and your products. Highlight your brand name by using designer logos on all the displays at the trade show booth; doing this can subtly imprint on customers’ minds.

Find Your Audience Online

With over 200 million U.S. users on Twitter and Facebook, social media plays a major role in improving the relationship between customers and prospects. Integrate social media marketing strategies to create anticipation before and during an event. Stay active on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram while exhibiting your products at the trade show to garner attention for your booth. Use Twitter hashtags, YouTube videos, and Facebook events to promote your products online. Post videos and images of your exhibits and broadcast live on social media to share interesting things happening at your booth. Event hashtags and booth numbers act as a quick reference for offline audiences. You can encourage your followers to share something about your brand on social media and reward them accordingly, preferably with a gift that’s related to your brand. Use platforms to announce online contests, voting polls, and special appearances, and giveaways to create excitement, draw in customer attention, and improve communication.

Include Technological Elements

Wearable technology, virtual reality, social media walls, gesture control, and digital swag bags enable real time responses from the public. Adapt to these technologies andengage with your trade show attendees. Emerging wearables such as Google Glass and Apple smartwatches can help send GPS locations, make e-transactions, conduct audience polls, and receive live responses. Investing in virtual reality offers a multi-sensory experience to drive foot traffic. Instead of passive consumption of video, a virtual reality demo can offer a better representation of your products and services. A beautiful, live social display wall helps maximize audience integration and generates a buzz on the trade show floor; these help to project your favorite posts using hashtags on big screens. Gesture recognition technology piques the interest of the crowd—it helps control your presentations from any distance without the use of a mouse or other device. The touch-free interactivity can reinforce a high-tech brand image among your competitors. Instead of age-old goodie bags, give your audience a digital take away, such as online gift tokens or coupons.

Next time make use of these tips while organizing your trade show booth, for these are sure to boost brand awareness, drive customer engagement, and amplify ROI.