Whether your business is involved in automotives, the tech industry or even livestock; there are few quicker paths to raising brand awareness than a successfully run trade show booth. These events bring together a wide range of potential customers already interested in the types of products and services you offer; providing your business with an unmissable opportunity for lead generation, as well as live market testing.

There are also a lot of associated costs however, from travel to registration fees, as well as the expense of producing distributable literature and samples; to raise the stakes even higher, these events usually only come around a couple of times every year. For small businesses especially, it’s vital to make the most of their investment by garnering a sizeable following at these industry trade show.

One of the effective ways to maximize your impact is to invest in some custom design services that can create booth designs that are tailored for your needs. These services can help you create a visually striking booth at your next trade show that not only attracts customers but can also communicate your brand’s unique identity. Moreover, adding interactive elements such as touchscreen displays or live demonstrations, can also help engage visitors and provide a memorable experience, to stand out from the crowd.

Let’s take a detailed look at some of the ways how businesses can build a buzz at the trade show:

Let People Know You’re Coming

That’s right, even promotional opportunities need to be properly advertised. As soon as you’ve received notice that your place at the trade event is secured, your team should start cranking up their social marketing machine to let visitors know your business will be displaying.

Get in touch with attendees who express an interest in your offerings and make sure to set up pre-show meetings to create some guaranteed leads. Talk to the event organizers and get a list of future and past attendees, filter that list down to prospective clients, then start shooting off E-mails asking them to stop by your booth; when they come.

Stand Out

In a sea of similar stalls, the booth that has something unique going on will attract the most visitors. Your marketing team should start designing their booth far before the event, compiling a list of materials and major brand elements to display on the stall itself. They may also want to get in touch with someone like D’Andrea Visual Communications to help make the booth visually enticing for attendees so that they stop by to see what you’re all about.

The average trade show visitor spends 9.5 hours viewing exhibits at trade shows, so if you’re able to capture their attention and hold a place in their memories then you’re occupying valuable mental real estate. Try to make your booth as interactive as possible so that clients have a reason to stop and stay engaged. Games are a great way to do this, anything from putting bottles to knocking bottles off of a shelf, can attract attention; it doesn’t need to be sophisticated, it just needs to be loud and fun!

By the same token, try and figure out a consistent wardrobe for your booth attendant that calls back to your brand image, while still differentiating you from the pack.

Freebies!

If there’s one thing trade show attendees love it’s swag. From customized t-shirts to promotional and branded pens, there are a ton of cost-effective giveaways that you can invest in to bring visitors streaming in. Try to link your giveaways to some sort of contact information, so that you can trace the impact your promotional strategy is making. Visit Custom Gear for additional information.

If your product or service can be demonstrated, or you can hand out some promotional items that link back to your offerings then these will further help cement your company in the minds of attendees.