Steps To Plan Your Trade Show Exhibit From Start To Finish

A Trade Show Exhibit can be a game-changer for any business. It can ensure that you build up leads and buzz around your brand or attract people to a new product or service you’re offering. For this to be effective, you need to plan your trade show exhibit the right way.

There are several vital steps that you must take if you want your exhibit to be a fantastic success. This includes planning your goals, getting the right trade show booth design, and setting everything up correctly.

Planning Your Goals

Before you even think about your exhibit design, do make sure that you have your goals in mind. You need to think about what you want to achieve at this trade show. That’s going to be different for every company. For some, it’s going to be about meeting new leads. For others, it will be based on gaining face to face time with existing clients and keeping them interested. You might even be attending to check out what the competition is bringing to the market.

Regardless of what you are hoping to achieve, make sure that you understand this from the beginning. It will help you know what type of trade show exhibit you want to build. This is also the time when you want to start thinking about your budget. Consider how much you are willing and able to spend on your custom trade show displays to ensure that the cost does not begin to balloon.

When you prepare your strategy, you can also make sure that your staff are on board and understand what you want to achieve. You may even want to set a creative director who will take charge and ensure that a cohesive strategy is developed.

Exploring Design Options

The next stage is to think about the design option you want to choose. You know the product or message that you are marketing. You then need to consider the best way to display it and showcase your brand.

There are a massive number of different options to consider when exploring trade show designs. For instance, you can choose whether to invest in a custom trade show display or something prebuilt. The benefit of a custom trade show design is that you know you will get precisely what you want or need down to a tee. You can choose and decide on the smallest possible details.

While custom displays are more expensive, they can typically provide a higher payout. Prebuilt exhibits are cost-effective, but there is always the chance that other businesses have selected the same design as you. This can cause your exhibit to blend into the background.

That said modular trade show exhibits which have already been crafted are cheaper and still available in different shapes and sizes. The parts of a modular display are also interchangeable so that you can end up with something wholly unique and inspired. You can mix and match different pieces to find the perfect unique design that offers that personal touch.

It is at this point where you’ll also decide on whether you want to use any advanced features. More trade show exhibits are now incorporating lighting and technology into the design. This makes for a more immersive and indeed eye-catching exhibit. This is particularly common for museum exhibitions where the aim is to dazzle and create a spectacle.

You’ll also need to decide on what you want the function of the exhibit design to be and how interactive you would like it. You can look at different styles, textures, and even sensory elements. Again, this will depend on what you want to achieve on the trade show floor.

Choosing A Supplier And Designer

Once you have decided on the type of trade show booth design that you want, you can then start exploring different trade show booth designers. There are countless sellers and designers on the market. Some provide award-winning graphic design and services will include everything from the creation to the setup.

Others will offer more basic services and only provide the basic building blocks of a modular exhibit. You will have to arrange everything else. This is again going to be based on the cost and what you want to achieve. You always need to keep that in mind.

Different suppliers will be able to offer you a variety of graphic design services. Some will be able to provide more detailed and exciting design options guaranteed to make your business stand out at the trade show.

Print quality can differ too, and if you want to look successful, high print quality is essential. You should be inquiring about this when selecting a supplier of your trade show exhibit.

Do you need a fast turn around? Make sure that you ask how quickly your exhibit can be designed and delivered to you. Some services are significantly slower than others and won’t be able to help you if the exhibition is weeks away.

The print material a company uses will also impact how durable the exhibit is. If you want to use this exhibit more than once, you need a robust and durable design that will withstand the test of time.

Marketing

While your trade show booth designer builds your exhibit and brings it to life, you need to think about marketing your company. The exhibit itself will be part of the interior design and provide a fantastic level of marketing for clients already in the building and wandering the trade show floor. But what about before people even arrive?

Many businesses will now market their trade show exhibition attendance on social media weeks or even months before. This is a great way to build up a buzz and ensure people do pay attention to your brand. You can also think about renting out a billboard and advertising space at transport links nearby. It ensures that people know to look for your brand when entering the trade show.

The final piece of the puzzle is setting up the trade show on the day in a reasonable amount of time. Make sure that your staff is ready with those set goals in mind.

We hope this helps you prepare for your trade show appearance. If you are interested in a custom trade show display or a modular exhibit, we’ll be happy to help and provide the perfect high-quality booth for you.