Trade shows and conventions provide the ideal setting to get your brand out there and make new fans. The catch is getting noticed in the first place. Conventions and trade shows are also the perfect storm of advertising, freebies, and signs. How do you stand out? Start by identifying your booth’s end goal. This may change from show to show. Are you there to sell a particular product or service? Are you there to get noticed? Do you want people to come and take a business card, enter a draw, try out a product, or watch a demo? In choosing 1 focus you give your booth a better chance at being noticed by passersby struggling with information overload.
Once you’ve nailed down your reason to attend you can plan your décor and signage. Get your scrap paper out and start sketching. What are the limitations of your booth size and convention rules? Where can your banners and signs be? How far into the aisle? From where will attendees approach your booth? People will be standing or walking in front of your booth all day long so literally aim high, and go big.
You’ve got about 7 seconds to grab someone’s attention and even less at a trade show. Do a test. How many words can you read in 7 seconds? How much of an image do you remember in 7 seconds? Give your marketing team –the one you have on staff or the one you’re hiring to help you design this critical setup – space to be creative. Single words or just 3 or 4 are enough. You may want to put your logo on a separate banner altogether rather than with your “Hey, look at us!” banners. If the name of your company and logo don’t make it clear what it is that you do, make another sign. Grand River Sign Design is pretty obvious, but we would also consider advertising that we do “CUSTOM WALLPAPER” and that we are “VEHICLE WRAP PROFESSIONALS”.
While you should aim to make your logo prominent, your company colours don’t have to be the main colours of your booth. Don’t get hung up on colour psychology, in the grand scheme of things individuals are attracted to different colours for personal reasons. Instead, think about complementary colours – complementary to each other and complementary to what you’re offering. Consider what colours you’re likely to see at a trade show and don’t use them! Or don’t just use them. Is your main logo colour blue? Maybe your booth is purple. Or Orange. Or features beautiful, customized graphics.
At least 2 weeks before your convention, set up your booth and test it out. Find out now what works and what doesn’t while there’s still time to make changes. While you’re at the show pay attention to how many people stop by so that you can make adjustments in the future.
Grand River Sign Design can set you up with durable, quality trade show and convention booth marketing materials from banners and stands to flyers and more. Stop by our showroom at 25 Struck Court, Unit 5 in Cambridge or call us to talk book a consultation to learn more (519) 740-7272.
