Use accessories to emphasize your brand
Consistency is essential when it comes to your trade show accessories. When thinking about the appearance of any accessory, your ultimate goal is for it to be immediately recognizable as belonging in your display.
In reality, your trade show booth is not there to highlight your products and services. That is secondary – important, but secondary. The primary function of your display is to reinforce your brand. That’s why every element you add to the exhibit must accentuate your brand.
For example:
- When developing product displays, incorporate your logo, brand colors, and specific language to connect your products with your brand.
- Large elements, such as retractable banner stands, hanging banners, tension displays, etc., should include your logo and additional brand elements.
- Small tabletop elements, such as literature racks, cardholders, sanitizer dispensers, etc., may not provide an opportunity to incorporate your logo, but you can still utilize brand colors.
- Tabletops, such as reception counters, display tables, raffle sign-ups, demo areas, etc., are ideal branding opportunities, easily accomplished with a branded table throw.
- Booth carpeting used to be another excellent branding opportunity. However, due to health and safety protocols prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, many venues do not allow exhibits to have carpeting. Once venues lift these restrictions, take advantage of the opportunity and include some branded exhibit booth carpet.
Manage the display’s flow
When used correctly, trade display accessories provide your booth with added flair and information. However, be careful not to overdo it. While the right amount of banner stands, table covers, lighting, etc., provide your visitors with an enlightening and engaging experience, too many add-ons can clutter your exhibit and overwhelm attendees.
However, there is no template to follow that tells you when you’ve crossed “just right” and hit “too much.” Every exhibit is different. While one display may benefit from a collage formed from 10 banner stands, in another, that presentation could completely overpower the display. After setting up your trade show accessories, take a step back and examine the exhibit from an attendee’s point of view. You want a booth that feels welcoming and encourages people to visit, browse, and speak with your staff. When a display is overcrowded, it typically has the opposite effect.
Position some accessories around the perimeter of your display
Since you never know where the eyes of a passerby will glance as they zip by your booth (although, if you put money on “their phone,” you’d probably win that bet 35% of the time), it helps to have signage at varying points around your display. So, you want to arrange your trade show accessories where they grab the most attention.
While some accessories work best toward the back of your display and others look great near the center, always remember to utilize the perimeter when organizing your exhibit.
Many exhibitors overlook the perimeter of the booth layout. By using this part of your area, not only are you taking advantage of your entire space, but you are also gaining an advantage over the competition.
Use display tables to place main products front and center
When you have a lot of products to display, it is impossible to highlight every one of them. It may seem like it’s in your best interest to present the entire range of what you have to offer. However, if you have too many products on display, your booth can appear disorderly. Visitors may become overwhelmed by the sheer volume and quickly move to a more visually pleasing and organized vendor.
This is essentially the same principle for placing trade show accessories. You want table displays to feel welcoming and inviting to attract visitors.
Your most popular – and most profitable – products should always be front and center. For example, if you have a display table with multiple shelves, place these products on the top rack or toward the front of every shelf. By creating an open display with room to breathe, you’re guiding your visitors through your products. So, if something doesn’t catch their eye immediately, your layout gently nudges them to products further along the display.
Keep displays in proportion with the product
When designing a display table, it’s not just the number of products; proportion also matters. For example, a display table featuring three smallish products may look great, but it becomes overwhelmed with three large items.
Depending on the size of your display table, large products often look best presented alone or grouped with smaller accessories. Sometimes, you may decide to place substantial items on the ground. Use a banner stand or small tension fabric display to highlight the product and explain its features in these instances.
Use a variety of trade show exhibit lighting
What impression do you want visitors to take away from your booth? Is your brand warm and comforting? Modern and sleek? Creative and artsy? Proper lighting can set the mood through color and movement.
For example, incandescent lights tend to produce a yellow hue, which softens details and can alter colors. That’s why most exhibitors avoid incandescent lights and use LEDs instead, with a wide range of color temperatures.
Light boxes are another effective way to showcase your brand’s messaging. Light boxes are clearer from a longer distance than externally lit signs in a busy trade show environment.
There are several options of trade show lighting that, when used creatively, can draw a visitor’s eye where you want, such as:
- Spotlights, which illuminate specific messaging and give an area a gallery-like atmosphere.
- LED rope lighting to create lighted “frames” around images and a welcoming vibe when used under countertops.
- Shelf lights to highlight specific products and messaging.
- Arm lights, which shine a wide swath of light across a display wall to ensure that your exhibit is never in the shadows.
The Trade Group is a full-service trade show and event marketing company. We will work with you to create an exhibit or an event that brings in leads and helps you achieve your business goals. Contact us here or give us a call at (800) 343-2005.
