To maximize the ROI, you need to draw the attention of many visitors to your company on a trade show floor. For this, you must stand out from the crowd and offer something different than your competitors. Creating a theme based exhibit booth is a great way to make a lasting impression on your potential customers.
Here are four beginner-friendly tips to design themed trade show exhibits.
- Choose a Theme that Allows a Compelling Story
People love good stories. No advertising is successful without a compelling story. Check out popular ads like ‘Field Trip To Mars’ or ‘Evan’ to find what effective storytelling can achieve. Incorporate the tactics of storytelling when designing your booth to create your own unique brand story that’s engaging and interesting. However, make sure that the theme is relevant to your business and supports your business goals. For example, if your business is based on irrigation systems, you’d benefit by focusing on a garden or farm theme rather than a space theme.
- Incorporate Story Based Booth Elements
After you create your story, it’s time to build the displays and graphics of your exhibit. Include only the key products and services that best convey your brand history, theme and message. Also, consider including theme-based scenic elements into your exhibit. For example, if you’re a food and catering business, you can opt for a restaurant/cafeteria theme with small round tables, umbrellas and prepackaged delicacies with your logo on the label.
- Include Opportunities to Engage with Your Theme
When creating a theme based trade show booth, make sure to offer your attendees some hands-on opportunities to experience your services first-hand. It should be a celebratory environment where they can sit, and enjoy demonstrations and samples of your products. This tactic will help generate brand advocates among your attendees.
For example, if you’re a travel company promoting camping and hiking, you can design your exhibit as a trail map. Put up a tented area in a specific location where you want to hold private business meetings with interested attendees. Have an artificial campfire area set for demonstrations and presentations, etc.
- Hire Efficient Booth Staff
One of the key factors of trade show success is customer engagement. The booth staff plays a major role here. The more informed, enthusiastic and tactful your booth staff, the better the chances of generating a large number of leads. Select eligible employees and hire professional booth staff and models who can take your theme based exhibit to the next level. Plan theme-specific roles for each booth member to make your booth more interactive and interesting for attendees.
For example, if you’re a packaging and distribution software business, you can choose a movie theme and make your booth appear like a theatre. You can have your booth members dressed like specific actors in the movie and reinforce your business message in a fun and engaging way.
A themed trade show booth is an excellent way to spread your brand message. Invest time in figuring out the details that can reinforce your theme and reiterate your message. Add more props if necessary and relevant. Also, make sure to include theme-based elements in all your marketing and communication materials before, during and after the event.
