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Trade shows are fun events that put your brand in front of many people, but showing up with regular signage isn’t good enough. The goal is to stand out and rock the crowd, just like how bands stand out more than audience members at concert festivals.

Your graphics need to be as visible as billboards on the side of freeways, according to trade show experts. If you pay attention to subtle details your display can stay in people’s memories just like hit songs. 

Memorable Displays

One of the most important aspects of running a display booth at a trade show is focusing on a short list of products. If you give people too much to think about, they might not remember any of it, but if you only give them a few things to focus on, they may remember all items. Keep in mind, that trade show attendees will also be bombarded with hundreds or even thousands of other messages. By limiting the number of large photos of products you will likely make a more memorable impression. Bold and bright colors are also important for the images to be seen from far away.

Your large graphics should be accompanied by a brief easy to read phrase that summarizes your business. After visiting your booth, people should leave with the understanding of who you are, what you do and how they can benefit from your products or services. The most important goal when using signage is to make your company name stand out. You can avoid blending in with the crowd by creating unique signage, which can be done by avoiding generic ideas and simply brainstorming with artistic minds. Your sign needs to have a custom look and definitely not a cookie-cutter look.

Positioning

Another key to rocking your trade show display is to choose the right location. Usually the vendors who sign up the earliest get the best locations, which are near food, restrooms, entrances and exits. Just like how the best seats at a concert are in the front row, the closer you get to the front of the venue, the better. That way people see your booth twice: once when they enter then again when they leave. If your booth is in the back, many people will never get that far to see it.

One of the best ways to be seen from various angles of the convention center is to use hanging banners. They can be mounted to the ceiling, which gives the signage much more visibility. The more your sign can be seen at all times, the greater the chance it will make a memorable impact. It’s just like how the more you see an album cover, the less it seems like an advertisement for a commercial product and becomes embedded in pop culture.

Marketing

While your signage needs to contrast with competing signs, you also need to execute a degree of repetition so that the logo and the images become familiar. One way to do that is to hand out marketing materials such as flyers and business cards that present the same images as your booth. Try to keep messages simple.

Finally, create a lead sheet that documents your booth visitors. In music, lead sheets help musicians map out songs. With trade shows, lead sheets tell business owners about feedback from attendees. Make sure you have a staff member collect the lead sheets of attendees they meet and rate each attendee based on how close they are to becoming eventual customers. Ultimately, lead sheets can form the basis of marketing lists.