Your trade show display offers you the perfect opportunity to communicate with your target audience. With the right design, you can tell people everything they need to know about your brand within the few seconds they spend looking at your exhibit.
However, communicating effectively in this manner requires you to build the right features into your trade show display. A poorly designed exhibit will do little more than confusing attendees and make it harder to attract the crowd you want. Fortunately, there are a few steps you can take to create a trade show display that communicates effectively with your target audience.
Use diverse methods of engagement in your trade show display.
One of the goals of your trade show display is to teach your audience about your brand and the benefits it offers them. And, this is why people come to the exhibit hall: To learn. In fact, 66 percent of attendees come to the trade show to learn more about their industry. They want to learn, and you can teach them if you have the right trade show display.
At the same time, a single approach will not succeed among the diverse people attending the trade show. People learn in different ways (i.e. visually, verbally, etc.), so you need to present your information in a variety of ways. For example, a video presentation, an interactive station, and written literature might all be useful in introducing attendees to your latest products. The more diverse your methods of engagement, the more of your target audience you will be able to reach.
Train your trade show display staff.
Communicating with your target audience includes giving them access to articulate and well-trained trade show display staff. These employees will serve as important resources for visitors as they enter your trade show display and look around. As a result, they need to be able to competently and engagingly educate trade show display visitors.
While some people have an innate talent for the body language and conversational style necessary to succeed in this role, most will need some training to maximize their capabilities within the trade show display. This training should include educating your staff regarding the type of professional yet friendly body language necessary to make visitors feel comfortable. It should also include making sure they understand your brand and the most effective way to discuss that brand with visitors. With the right training, visitors who talk with your staff will leave with a much better idea of how your business can benefit them.
Create a step-by-step layout for your trade show display.
Another method for improving the way in which your trade show display communicates with your target audience is to create a step-by-step layout that walks people through a process, timeline, or story in order to engage your trade show display visitors and educate them about your brand and products. This method is not right for every business. However, for companies that wish to tell visitors a particular story or engage them in a process, it can be an effective teaching tool.
For example, a microbrewery might want to walk visitors through their process of selecting ingredients and brewing their one-of-a-kind beers. A makeup company might walk visitors through a makeover using their products. This kind of step-by-step design can be both educational and engaging for visitors, who feel as if they are getting a close up look at how your brand works and what they can expect from your products.
Move from introductory to detailed information in your trade show display.
Another strategy for creating a trade show display that communicates effectively with your target audience is to provide introductory material first and move visitors toward the more detailed information as they move through the display.
For example, your messaging and graphics on the outside of the trade show display might communicate a single, focused message that convinces people to come to your display. Once there, they encounter literature, presentations, and salespeople who can give them additional information about your brand.
While each level of information should tell people what your brand is and how they can benefit from it, moving people from less detailed to more detailed material makes it easier for you to capture their attention while they are just glancing at your display and then allows you to gradually fill in the gaps in their knowledge as they become more interested in and engaged with your brand.
In addition, this method is an effective way to communicate with your target audience because it allows them to absorb information at their own pace. If all they do is a glance at your trade show display, they still come away with useful information about your brand and products. Yet, if they choose to walk through your display, they will encounter the detailed information they need to decide whether or not to commit to a purchase.
Focus only on features that contribute to your trade show display goals.
Finally, if you want to build a trade show display that communicates effectively with your target audience, focus only on those features that advance your goals. There are many gimmicks out there that might sound cool but do not ultimately provide any useful information to your target audience. Or, they may not fit with your brand personality, or with the preferences of your target audience.
In order to identify the most useful features and strategies for your trade show display, you may want to consult your exhibit company’s design services. They know the industry and your design options. As a result, they can offer you sound guidance regarding which features would be most helpful.
In addition, it is important to enter the design process with a clear idea of what your brand is and what your goals are for the trade show display. Unless you know what you want to accomplish, and who you want to reach, you will have a difficult time identifying the most effective and useful features for your trade show display.
Creating a trade show display that communicates effectively with your target audience requires you to think about and implement a number of features. From including diverse methods of engagement to training your trade show display staff to use a museum exhibit design, to moving from basic to complex information, to focusing only on features that contribute to your trade show display goals, you can create an effective and communicative trade show display.
