In the age of digital lead generation, more and more companies are finding success in more traditional offline channels. Chief among them is a channel that never goes out of style: Trade shows.

Depending on your niche, a trade show might be the ultimate opportunity to reach your target demographic. To best maximize your exposure, it’s important to take the time and optimize your booth – ultimately, first impressions count, and nothing ruins a trade show more than a forgettable setup. At 1338Tryon, our company helps you develop merchandise for your brand – including for trade shows. Here’s our guide to creating a trade show booth that will grab the attention of your intended audience.

 

Need to put together a trade show booth? Find everything you need for your display at 1338Tryon.

 

Best Trade Show Booth Ideas for 2021

Market Fest Total Show Package

In order to attract people to your booth at a trade show, you first need to know your target audience well. When you know who your audience is and why they’re there, you also know what’s needed to attract them. Then, you’ll be able to put your strategies together in a better way.

Here are some great trade show booth ideas to apply for 2021:

 

1.Start Before the Trade Show

Start promoting your trade show booth days before the event. Use social media and post about the event on all your social media channels, such as Facebook, Instagram, etc. You can also choose to put up polls so that your audience can vote regarding what kind of giveaway prizes would they like. Reveal a little about the elements you’re planning to include in the show, but also don’t disclose everything, in order to keep some of the mystery alive.

Make sure your email list knows that you have an awesome trade show booth. Send out a great email sequence to get existing customers enticed into coming out to visit. Sending out early emails can also be a great way to gain new customers by chatting up those already huge fans.

 

2. Make People Feel Comfortable and Welcome

If you have a large area for your trade show booth, utilize it to your benefit. Place chairs around so that people can sit and relax for a bit. Trade shows don’t normally have seating around. So, it will be a good change of pace for people, and it will also make them feel excited to see what you have to offer.

If you can’t arrange for chairs, padded mats on the floor will work, too. Since trade shows are usually held in places that have hard, concrete floors, padded mats will be comfortable for the audience. This will also give you a chance to introduce yourself and interact with them and perhaps even present a small presentation about your brand. Offering candy or ink pens are a great way to draw people in if you don’t have a place to sit.

Use an eye-catching sign so that people want to get to know your company. At 1338Tryon, our line of display materials includes retractor banners and complete display packages, including counter kits.

 

Related: The Importance of Tangible Marketing

 

3. Be Sure to Make it Visually Appealing

In order to stand out among the crowd, you need to make sure your booth is visually appealing. Your colors, graphics, and brands should attract people to your booth. Have something distinctive that tells people it’s your booth. Be sure to have your brand front and center. People who stop by might not remember you, but they will remember your brand.

For example, your employees could wear matching uniforms that instantly indicate it’s your brand. Also, make sure your workers look clean-cut and professional. They should know everything about your products, and also about your services, sales pitches, lead generation scripts, etc. Choosing your most friendly, knowledgeable staff can be the key to a lasting impression at your trade show booth.

 

Related: Corporate Identity vs. Brand Identity 

 

4. Provide Interactive Content and Sessions

Making your booth interactive will ensure you have more visitors coming along. Let your interaction sessions be related to your products. Contests offer visitors a chance to become fully engulfed by what your company represents.

For instance, if you sell massage chairs, you could provide a demo of it at your booth; if you’re a makeup brand, you could provide a free makeover, and so on. In case your demo sessions are time-consuming, you can also divide them among different slots so that they don’t take up the whole day.

You can also provide interactive tablets and offer interactive demos, videos, surveys, and so on. These serve as a great way to generate leads, and people find them fun and interesting.

 

Put together an interactive trade show booth by browsing 1338Tryon’s giveaway collection.

 

5. Higher-end Giveaways

Moleskine® Leather Ruled Large Notebook Black

The swag that you offer at your trade show booth is bound to get more people talking about your company. The possibilities of this are endless. While it’s common practice to give away less expensive products like cheap pens, you can show that you value your clients/customers and invest in quality based on what you have at your booth.

The things you offer in a giveaway can be useful, fun, entertaining, or all of the above. Make sure it’s related to your brand and also audience-appropriate. It’s these giveaways that will get everyone to talk about your brand and create the much-needed buzz.

Moleskines are a great giveaway item because they are luxurious notebooks anyone would like to use. They show that you’re willing to go that extra step and provide something to passersby with value. You can even engrave your brand or company’s name on the cover. Here are some of our other best products at 1338Tryon for giveaways.

 

Related: The 4 Keys to Building brand loyalty with Millennials

 

6. Games, Contests, and Quizzes

20 Oz. YETI® DuraCoat® Black Tumbler

Appealing to one’s competitive side helps create interaction, encouraging people to come to your booth and truly be engaged. You can do this through games, contests, and quizzes. For all of these, you can offer exclusive prizes, like this durable tumbler. This will encourage people to participate and engage.

The prizes could be company products or even new products that you haven’t launched yet. You can also choose to throw in some coupon codes and gift vouchers that the customers can use later when purchasing from your website or so.

The games can be in any form, be it jumbo board games, casino-style games, a roulette wheel, a slot machine, trivia, etc. You can also arrange for contests such as caption photo contests or anything related to quirky captions associated with your company, and so on. Even having a scavenger hunt that brings them back to your booth for a prize can be a great way to lure them back. The quizzes, in addition to being fun, can also help your current and potential customers get to learn more about you and a great way to give out a small number of high-quality items.

See to it that the games, contests, or quizzes you hold aren’t just related to your brand, but also ones that encourage others to participate. It should have a general sort of vibe so that even people who don’t know much about your products and services want to participate. At 1338Tryon, our tradeshow collection includes awards you can give out as prizes, ranging from a crystal translucent design to colorful swirls. You can also use our Spin ‘N Wheel Prize Kit to give out prizes.

 

7. Create Media that highlights your brand.

As the world has become more digital than ever, having different media that highlights your brand is key to keeping your name relevant to clients. Trade shows are very people orientated, but you most likely won’t have time to talk to everyone. Having an e video is a great way to let everyone see what your brand is all about.

Offering booth visitors a unique piece of media to take home to review is a great way to be remembered. Pair a digital brochure on a custom USB drive and a power bank with your logo on it can be a great way to make an impression.

 

8. Virtual Take Homes

Similar to having media to take home, having virtual goodies for digital trade shows. Even having printed materials that can be sent out to interested parties is a great idea. While people normally enjoy tangible take-home gifts, having something for clients to reference later on is always a smart idea.

 

Final Note

Sublimated Long Sleeve Crew neck T-Shirt

As you can tell, one of the biggest motivators to bring in viewers to your trade booth is giving out merchandise. Whether it’s a giveaway, game prize, a bowl of branded pens for anyone to grab, or a T-shirt like this, providing something for visitors to take home will remind them of your brand even once the trade show is over. Start browsing our collection of branded merch at 1338Tryon to start prepping for your trade show.

 

Find out how 1338Tryon can help you develop the perfect trade show booth.