Designing an inline trade show booth can be both exciting and challenging. You want it to be affordable and represent your brand. Most of all, you want it to be attractive and functional so that it will draw in attendees.
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Here are 10 steps that will help you better design inline trade show booths.
1. Set a Goal
Before you begin designing, determine how you want the booth to function. Do you want to have meetings in the booth, show demos, showcase products, or something else? Knowing the function of the booth will help you figure out what items you need (e.g., tabletop with bar-height chairs, two-sided partition with TV monitors, sofa, etc.). Additionally, knowing the function of the booth will help you better present your messaging. You don’t want your messaging to get lost behind a table or a lot of trade show staff.
2. Choose a Layout
Once you determine what show you will be attending, you will have an option of various booth layouts: perimeter, island, split island, linear or inline, and peninsula. This article focuses on inline booths, meaning it is set in a line alongside other booths in an aisle and has one side open to the aisle. Exhibitors typically want to be as close to the main entrance as possible. These spaces are highly coveted because of their high visibility and traffic flow.
3. Plan Your Space
Once you have secured your booth location and had a booth number assigned, you can start ordering for your show. Renting items such as exhibit booths, furnishing, and flooring is usually the most cost-effective and easiest, especially if you have a small team attending. Renting items ensures your booth will be set up when you arrive, and usually, shipping and labor costs for the items rented are included in the price. If you already have an exhibit booth from another show or choose to purchase one, you will need to make sure you have time to ship all of your exhibit items together so they have time to arrive and can be delivered to your booth space together. You can also rent furnishings and flooring to complement your owned exhibit booth. View some of our recent inline booths to gather new ideas.
4. Consider A Theme
Choose a theme for your booth. It should align with your company’s brand and messaging, but it can also align with the theme of the event. Choosing a theme will also help you tie in your graphics, giveaways, and other events (meetings/events outside of the event venue) you host.
5. Accentuate with Lighting
You might want to consider adding lighting to highlight elements of your booth to attract attendees. The use of spotlights and backlighting can make your display pop. New exhibit displays incorporate backlighting into their design. Don’t forget, you must order electrical from the venue’s official services provider to ensure all safety regulations are met.
6. Use Eye-Catching Graphics
Vibrant graphics are a great way to draw traffic into your booth. There are many compact, budget-friendly, and beautiful fabric or hard surface display options that will help your booth stand out from the competition. When customizing your booth, use high-quality, high-resolution images and bold, unfrilly text for your graphics. Remember to not place text on displays below waist level. The messaging will get hidden by furniture and people.
7. Incorporate Technology
Incorporating technology into your trade show booth can create a more engaging and immersive experience for your visitors. Here are some examples of technologies you can add to your booth.
- Digital Signage - use high-resolution images, videos, and interactive content to highlight your products/solutions.
- Mobile Apps - create a custom app that attendees can download to watch demos, view marketing literature, schedule meetings with sales executives, take advantage of special offers, etc.
- Virtual and/or Augmented Reality - demonstrate your products in an innovative way!
- Interactive Displays - use interactive kiosks and displays to capture your visitors’ data and to highlight your products/solutions.
- Social Media - promote your presence at an event, engage attendees, and share photos, and other information.
8. Plan Staffing
Discuss the goals of the event with the company staff who are managing the booth. Ensure they have what they need to be successful at the event. When everyone returns to the office, review the trade event. What was successful? What goals were met? What needs to be improved before the next trade show?
9. Promotional Giveaways
The right giveaways will help you not only create brand awareness, but attract attendees to the booth, increase engagement in the booth, build customer loyalty - especially if you offer exclusive gifts or experiences, and generate leads (don’t forget to add your logo and contact information to your giveaways).
10. Test Your Design
Once the booth is complete, set it up in a space large enough to accommodate it or test it at a smaller event. Can you easily navigate it? Are all the pieces functioning? Do you need to add/remove something? Was it properly stored in containers? A test ensures there aren’t any surprises before you reveal it at an event.
Here in this article, we will touch on theory a bit, but the primary purpose is to prepare you for things you do have control over. We hope it is a useful resource for you!
Choosing the Best Location
Let’s start by talking about the psychology of traffic patterns. Many of the theories for the best booth locations are based on natural human behavior. As humans, we tend to do the same things over and over. When shopping at a grocery store, we tend to enter the store and then turn right.
We proceed to shop the perimeter of the store or start on the right and go up and down each aisle as we make our way to the other side of the store. Attendees at trade shows tend to do the same thing: enter the show floor and make a right. This leads to our first tip:
Tip #1: Consider choosing a booth that favors the center or right side of the show floor
This is assuming traffic will flow the way it is expected to. It might not. Perhaps attendees flood in from a side door that is close to a shuttle drop off. It is quite possible that the designated main entryway is not the one that will have the most traffic.
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If this is the case, your front and center booth location might not be a good choice. In other words, traffic patterns will likely vary from show to show. This leads to our second tip:
Tip #2: Know all the hall entrances and exits. Consider traveling to a show and studying traffic patterns and hotspots for yourself.
Most trade shows will have “anchor exhibits,” which will likely attract a ton of traffic. If possible, position yourself close to one in hopes some of that traffic will also stop by your booth. This leads us to our third tip:
Choosing the Best Booth Type
Tip #3: Consider choosing a booth near specific landmarks like anchor booths.
The act of selecting the best booth location is just an attempt to maximize your booth’s visibility. Its all about visibility. Getting the location you want is not necessarily under your control.
What you do have control over is the type and size of your booth. Regardless of your booth’s location, you might be able to amplify the traffic to your booth by merely having a highly visible, open, and welcoming booth. This leads to our fourth tip:
Tip #4: Select a peninsula exhibit at the end of an aisle. Or even better: an island exhibit.
Island exhibits give you excellent visibility because they usually allow for maximum signage height. They are also the most “open” style of all exhibits, giving you aisles on all sides. People are naturally more comfortable in an open environment.
They also tend to be grouped in favorable locations on the show floor. If an island exhibit is out of your budget, look at peninsula booths. They typically let you raise signage 12-16 feet tall. To compare, standard “in-line” spaces limit you to 8 feet.
Another option is to split the cost of say a 20×20 island with another brand. You both get a 10×20 space with maximum visibility and open space. Simply put up a double-sided banner. Please note that you will have to work this out with the show organizer, but it shouldn’t be a problem.
The Booth Sign Up Process
Now that you have an idea of which locations and booth types are best, you have a game plan for when you visit the sales area to put pen on paper. Many show organizers will have a sales area set up on the show floor, usually next to the exhibitor lounge.
Remember, each show is different and will have a unique floor plan. When you visit the sales area, make sure you ask questions before signing up.
Some questions to consider asking:
- What is the assumed traffic flow and hotspots?
- Which doors will be open and closed during the show?
- Where are food service locations?
- Where are special feature locations?
- Where are my competitors located, and what are their traffic-generating activities
Besides these questions, pay special attention to the show floor’s legend. Know what the symbols represent, so you don’t choose a booth with obstacles. The next step would be to read the show kit so you do not miss any details that might affect your booth space choice.
Common things to look out for:
- Columns inside your booth
- Ceiling height changes
- Rules that disallow hanging signs
- Hanging sign height limits
- Catering restrictions
- Overhead electrical issues
- Booth locations that require late setup and early dismantle
It is common for a show organizer to give you a set time to visit the sales area to choose your booth for the next year. These times are primarily based on a complicated point system. This point system considers things like seniority, level of membership, and how much money you have spent with the organizer.
Since this is primarily out of your control, make sure you are as prepared as possible with the things you do have control over that were discussed earlier in this article.
Final Word
Best booth location is a contested subject with a wide variety of theories. What has your experience been with different locations and booth types on the show floors?
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