6 Easy Steps to Creating a Successful Expo Display
If you’re attending a trade show or event, having an expo display is a must. An expo display is a booth, structure, or panel that highlights who you are and what you offer to your target audience. Essentially, it’s how you make your first impression, engage with prospects, and grow brand awareness.
Although expo displays can result in more prospects and even new sales, you won’t see ideal results with a poorly designed display. This is because having an effective, well-designed display is key to trade show success.
If you have a trade show lined up soon and need to build a display, follow these six important steps.
1. Consider the Trade Show You’re Attending
The first step in creating a successful expo display is researching your trade show venue. You’ll need to ask two specific questions when designing your display:
- Where are you located at the venue?
- How much space do you have?
Spots fill up quickly at trade shows, so there may be times when your location isn’t ideal. An ideal spot at the trade show is typically near the entrance or in other high-traffic areas. If you’re not in a location like this—don’t worry. This means you must spend more time creating a banner that stands out among the rest.
Additionally, be sure to look at which exhibitors will be near you. Are any of them direct competitors? If so, you may also consider marketing your presence at the trade show beforehand via email or social media. You’ll also want to bring swag to give away to ensure prospects remember your name—not your competitor’s.
Lastly, when designing your display, you want to be sure it fits well into your allotted space. You want to be sure that your team, as well as any prospects at the trade show, have room to walk around in the display without feeling confined.
2. Include Banners & Graphics With Your Branding
As we mentioned earlier, you want your expo display to stand out. You will be competing for attention, so think about ways to make your design stand out. How are you different from your competitors? What problems are you solving that they aren’t?
Your banner and graphics should ideally be more image-focused, but you can include some text. The coloring should reflect branding, and you want to ensure that your logo is on all elements of your display. When it comes to text, keep it simple and focus on one problem your target audience has that your products or services help solve.
3. Work With a Design Consultant
If all of this seems overwhelming to you, you’re not alone. Creating a unique design can be extremely challenging, but working with a professional design consultant can take some of the stress away from this process. If you decide to go this route, be sure you work with a consultant who a) has experience designing expo displays and b) has experience designing expo displays for your particular industry. You need to be sure you’re working with someone who understands your target audience and their expectations.
A design consultant will also be able to guide you on what the theme of your display should be, the types of graphics needed, and how to add interactive elements to your display to increase audience engagement.
4. Add Interactive Elements
People attending trade shows expect an experience, not a standard sales pitch. Think about how you can make your display interactive. Could you have your catalog available so that customers could look through it? Do you have the staffing available to provide free demonstrations of a new product? If you offer custom products, could you bring a kiosk that customers could use to design their custom products?
Essentially, you want to give the audience a reason to speak to your team. If you offer interactive elements in your display, there’s a good chance that prospects will remember who you are and how you can help them.
Additionally, if you used social media or email marketing to promote your attendance at the trade show, you may want to plan a giveaway. This is a good way to reward people who came to see you and build new relationships with prospects.
5. Make Navigation Simple
Once you’ve built your display, you’ll need to consider how your audience will navigate it. Is it accessible and intuitive? Complicated and overcrowded?
If the latter, you need to fix any navigation problems before the day of your event. The goal is to have an expo display that is accessible and interactive. Remove obstacles that prevent your audience from getting into your booth or interacting with the elements inside of your booth. And make sure to have portable spaces that can be moved and adjusted to accommodate traffic.
6. Modify Your Expo Display When Necessary
Lastly, trade shows can be tricky. You should be prepared to adjust your display when necessary, as every trade show is different. The next time you attend a trade show, your location will be different, you will be working with either a smaller or bigger space, and the target audience may be slightly different.
When planning for each trade show, start early and have a contingency plan in place just in case some of your display pieces must be altered or removed. If you don’t attend trade shows often but have one or two that you’ll be attending, consider whether a rental would be the most cost-effective option. Whether you rent or invest in a new one, either option can be modified based on the trade show you’re attending.
Other Best Display Practices
- Make your key messages highly visible and brief.
- Make good use of white space. You don’t need to overcrowd banners with images and text. Plan on having at least 40% of white space.
- Use the best resolution for your images. Ensure they are correctly formatted and aren’t blurry or pixelated.
- Remain consistent with your branding and message.
Create a Successful Expo Display With Help From GraphiColor
Creating your design is easy when you have our award-winning team at GraphiColor by your side. Founded in 1984, we’re one of the leading expo display design companies in the United States. We can help you design portable displays, pop-up displays, booths, banners, and so much more. All designs are fully customizable based on the trade show you’re attending, your target audience, your industry, and your brand. We even provide shipping and set-up services to make your experience as hassle-free as possible.
If you want to make a successful trade show appearance, contact us today to set up a free design consultation.
