10 Tactics to Drive More Attendees to Exhibition Booths at Trade Shows

According to a report, 48% of the exhibitors agree that an eye-catching booth is the most effective method for attracting attendees.

And while attracting visitors is the first step, the exhibition booth should also play a role in helping the staff engage with people and boosting brand awareness.

In short, your booth has a lot to do with whether you succeed with your trade show appearance or it turns out to be yet another dull and dismal affair.

If you’re looking for exhibition booth ideas that can make your stand a mecca for face-to-face engagement, here are 10 ideas that can help-

1. Start with Branding

Any marketing strategy is incomplete without strong branding. It allows you to communicate with the audience and let them know what makes you unique. So, why leave it behind when designing the trade show booth?

And with branding, I’m not talking about just the colors and logos. While they’re important too, the focus should be on using the booth to create an environment that truly represents your brand.   

[READ: Avoid these 5 common trade show mistakes to make your booths more awesome]

2. Make People Feel Welcome and Comfortable

Your exhibit booth should always have a welcoming vibe. You can use the booth space, graphics, lighting, and, most importantly, your booth staff to create this appeal.

Also, for me, one of the biggest inconveniences at most trade shows is the lack of sitting space. Statistics suggest that attendees spend 5.5 hours at live events. All the walking and standing becomes tiring after a point.

If you have a bigger booth, add some chairs where people can relax for a few minutes. This will also give your staff an opportunity to engage with them. And don’t forget to stock up on some refreshments. 

3. Give Them What They Need...Product Demos

A large number of people visit trade shows to see new products, especially B2B products they’re not comfortable purchasing online. Strategize your product demo in a way that you highlight the major advantages over competing products. If possible, you can also let the attendees try your products themselves. In case you have a small product, you can use large displays for impactful video demos.

4. How About a Photo Op?

In our selfie-crazed world, a photo booth can be one of the best exhibition booth design ideas to stop the attendees and make them spend a few minutes at your booth. By offering something unique and fun, a photo booth can help break the ice, allowing your staff to initiate a conversation. You can use a logoed backdrop, branded props, social media post frames, and hashtags to market your brand, product, or service creatively.

5. Make the Booth Noticeable

CES 2022 Las Vegas was attended by more than 2,200 companies. That’s a lot of booths for the attendees to visit and remember. To attract more traffic, your exhibition booth stand should, excuse the pun...stand out.

For instance, if you have the space available above the booth, create an extra-tall stand to use the available space. This will let the attendees see your booth even from far away. You can also use overhead displays or even lay some graphics on the floor close to your booth to invite people.

6. Integrate Social Media

You can also use leading social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube in several other ways to attract more people to your exhibition booth.

Here are some tips for using social media for booth traffic-

• Pre-show marketing
• Sharing photo booth pictures during the event
• Using hashtags to make your posts discoverable
• Sharing live feed through Facebook Live or YouTube Live
• Using platforms like Snapchat if targeting a younger audience
• Adding official brand account details on banners and brochures

7. Use AR/VR to Be That Cool Kid on the Block

Reports suggest that 62% of respondents agree they’d feel engaged with a brand that offers a VR experience. Both Artificial Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are great tools to help visualize and demonstrate your product. The technologies personalize the attendee experience and can also be used to maximize the booth area virtually. If you’re looking for exhibit booth ideas that can help you tell a story, AR/VR can definitely help.

8. Be More Hospitable

Do you know that experiencing physical warmth promotes interpersonal warmth? According to a study, participants who briefly held a cup of hot coffee judged a target person as having a “warmer” personality. And a warm and inviting vibe is what you’re aiming for at the trade shows.

While being more hospitable is always well received, handing out warm drinks and maybe even finger food and treats (not messy ones) can also attract more traffic to your booth. It’ll not only provide your exhibit stand the attention you’re looking for but also enable your staff to converse with the attendees.

9. The Freebies

Who doesn’t like free stuff? After the eye-catching designs, it is the giveaways (34%) that attract most people to the booth. If you’re into the landscape or gardening business, think personalized seed packets or small planters. If you belong to the auto industry, you can consider bumper stickers, car air fresheners, or sunglasses. Tech companies can install a charging station to make people stay at their booth longer and learn more about your brand.

10. Engage Attendees with Gamification

You don’t just want people to visit your booth. You want them to engage with your brand and, hopefully, remember you even after the event is over. Trade show games can be very helpful in this regard. Games like custom trivia created around your brand, product, or service educate the audience and provide you with that distinctive appeal that boosts retention.

The UltimateTrade show game guide ebook

In this comprehensive e-book,learn-

• 

  How can gamers help you engage better with your audience.
• 

  How to choose the right interactive activity for your event?
• 

  Types of Trade show games
• 

  Trade show trivia Vs. other types of games
• 

  How to Market your Trade show?
• 

  How to select giveaways?
• 

  How to train your booth staff?
• 

  And More...

Thank you! Your submission has been received!

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Free Ebook

Time to Start Planning Your Trade Show Booth

Now that you have plenty of great booth ideas, it is time to start planning your booth to make it a staggering success. There are several tactics to choose from- select ones that best match your brand, budget, trade show objectives, and target audience.

Contact us for a product demo if you’d like to know more about how our custom trade show booth games can drive more traffic, engage attendees, and generate leads.