Trade Show Booth Promotion Ideas

You booked the show. You’re getting ready. You’ve crossed almost everything off your to-do list. Then boom – it hits you. How will your booth stand out from the rest? One way to help your booth make a pop among the sea of others includes introducing a booth promotion to your display. Depending on your product, brand and company, promotions are a great way to help boost your trade show presence and entice customers to want to visit your booth.

[tweetmeme]A few ideas to help keep your booth from blending in with the rest include:

1. A prize wheel.You may not be Vanna White, but you can still add just as much fun to your booth display with a wheel of prizes. Customers can spin the wheel for a chance to win a variety of prizes that include giveaways (pens, frisbees, etc.), product samples or even a percentage off any orders written at the show. Be creative as to what you can offer in your prize assortment – just make sure the prizes are something the customers will actually care about.

2. Scratch off cards. Who doesn’t like the idea of revealing a prize with  the simple scratch of a  penny? This is a fun way to engage customers while also giving them a takeaway card that had your company details included on it. What you scratch off (a picture of your logo?) and what they can win is up to!

3. A treasure chest of goodies. Coupons? Sure. Candies wrapped to look like gold? Why not. Fill this chest up with whatever you dream of. Just make sure those dreams include ways to get your customers more interested in your product and company! Mix it up to add some fun to the experience, such as having coupons and candy offered in your chest together.

4. Interactive games.Whether video games or board games, anything that keeps your customers smiling and having fun is a great way to create some buzz. Don’t forget to include prizes for the winners. Then again, you may want to offer the losers something, also! Afterall, the goal is to bring you sales. And when you can do that in a combined effort, all the better! As the say – the more the merrier!

5. Toss to win. Bozo style buckets or bean bag games are a great way to get pairs of people involved in a game. A friendly game between a sales rep and a customer can even be fun!

By introducing promotional games, giveaways and other incentives to your booth display, you offer potential customers the chance to comfortably say hi without expecting a quick sales pitch in return. While you may be in one booth all day, they go from one to the next to the next – so it’s up to you to decide how you can stand out in their memory from the hundred, or possibly thousands, that they may see during the their trade show visit.

Tips For Trade Show Booth Displays

Whether it’s your first trade or your tenth, a national show or a regional one, there are many things to do to prepare for your show. Among the long list of tasks to get ready is to prepare for your booth display. A few helpful tips include the following:

1. Find out your booth space size and if you will be provided a table and chairs. Then decide if you want to use the tablecloth provided by the show, or if you would prefer to bring your own to complement your brand, color scheme and merchandising plans. Some shows don’t have tablecloths at all, so make sure you have one in this scenario, as well. Your table is essentially your “store”, so make sure to take the time to prepare for how you will layer it in your merchandising plans, beginning with the tablecloth. If you need additional chairs ordered based on what they provide, do this in advance, as well.

2. Arrange the display on your table top in levels so that there is depth to your merchandising. The depth will bring attention to your booth and allow for a more creative, more visually appealing display to draw in customers. You can use simple cardboard boxes to add height, but make sure to use fabric or tablecloths to disguise the boxes. Consider using jewelry stands, cake stands and other items that add height and width to your display to help showcase the items in your displays. You don’t have to spend a lot of money here to be effective. In addition, make sure to display the larger items in the back and the smaller items up front so that nothing is missed within the display.

3. Use a power point presentation or other computer aided presentation to help support your product and brand. Make sure there is an electrical outlet close enough to your booth, though, before counting on this. You may also want to bring an extension cord just in case. Don’t lean on this as your only source of excitement for your booth, though. Some people respond to this type of presentation more than others… The catch is you want to reach out to everyone.

4. If your budget allows and the trade show allows it, as well, provide giveaways for the show attendees. Whether you are giving away a pen with your brand details on it or a product sample, most people will love the “free” appeal. The better the giveaway, the better the response, of course. Attendees of trade shows are quick to tell their friends what booths are worth checking out, and sometimes it simply takes a great giveaway to draw a crowd. You can turn them on to your product from there.

5. Have visitors to your booth provide you with their contact information through a raffle. You gain their contact information for follow up opportunities while they gain the chance to win something great. That’s the catch, though… You want to make sure the raffle is worth signing up for. Make your raffle exciting so that attendees will get excited about their chance to win!

6. If the trade show you are attending is for more than one day, it’s a good idea to have more than just yourself in attendance.This will allow much needed assistance in manning the booth for bathroom breaks, lunch breaks and the maintenance of taking care of the display and dealing with attendees over the course of the show. While it’s common for other trade show booth attendees to help each other the best they can, you can’t count on your booth neighbor to be the friendly attendee you may be.

7. Have take away details about your product available. If you are selling to buyers of retail stores, have professional Buyer’s Packets available for them to take away from your booth so that they can review the details later. You should make sure your cost details (wholesale and retail) are available per item, color choices are clear, order details are easy to understand and all other terms you have set up specific to your business are included in these take away details. And of course, make sure your contact details are accessible.

8. If you have wall space available, use it. Don’t waste any space that you may have! Use this to identify any press you may have received, highlight your must have products in a larger scale, display your marketing campaign or  more. Be creative. Just don’t waste the space by leaving it empty.

9. Use lighting to help maximize your booth space. If you have tabletop lighting that can spotlight your key products, brand or image, you will be more effective in communicating your message. Floor lamps can also add depth to your table when used effectively. Make sure you have access to an electrical outlet and it’s always a good idea to have an extension cord packed just in case.

10. Smile, be friendly and say hello to everyone. You never know who may be your next customer. And as for reputations… depending on your retail sector, everyone somehow seems to know everyone at one point or another, so you never want to give a bad impression.

Finally – have fun! To make this happen, it helps to plan in advance. So be prepared and check with your trade show organizing team well before you arrive to avoid surprises, secure your booth space and get any questions you may have answered.