Tips for Your Next Conference Exhibit

Time to refresh—or overhaul—your conference exhibit? Let’s review a few ideas for quick fixes and best practices for an entirely new tradeshow presence.

If you’re investing valuable financial and time and staff resources to exhibit at a conference or tradeshow, we’re going to assume that the conference aligns with your marketing goals and that you know for a fact your target audience will be there. (Right?)

With these foundational elements a given, we’ll assume you attend the same tradeshows annually. If this is the case, as with anything done regularly, you need to refresh your overall approach every so often.

For tradeshows, you may not need to completely overhaul your entire booth or exhibit every year, though you should change a few elements annually to ensure that you have a fresh approach that captures attendee attention. After all, if you attend every year, a lot of the attendees will, too. You need to give them something new to view.

Annual Conference Exhibit Refreshes

Each year, your marketing goals will evolve, as will your products and services. Ensure your conference exhibit has a few elements to highlight your new features and functionalities and serve your updated marketing goals.

Here are a few ideas:

• Consider swapping out your conference video or looping slideshow with a new version that highlights your latest and greatest.
• Ensure your displays most prominently feature the newest products or services—or the ones that are most critical to your team meeting its latest goals.
• Redecorate: Move the tables and banners to different places in the exhibit space. Simply moving around the furniture can give your exhibit an entirely new look.
• If you use cloths over the tables, select a new color than the usual choice (just ensure it aligns with your brand standards). Or, if you always choose the same carpet color from the conference planners, select another option that matches your brand guide.

If you look through photos of your exhibit from last year, we bet you’ll discover small things that you can change to make a big difference.

Overhauling Your Conference Exhibit

Although you can get away with a simple refresh for a while, you should completely revisit your exhibit presence every five to seven years at the least, provided that your company hasn’t had any major branding or product overhauls. (If it has, you’d better get your conference exhibit redesigned post haste!)

The best booth or conference exhibit for your company depends on your product or service offering; your brand look, feel, and tone; and your overall marketing goals. These factors will vary considerably between industries and even between companies within industries, as they should.

However, there are a few overarching conference-exhibit design considerations that all companies should consider when assessing a new tradeshow exhibit:

• Minimalism triumphs over maximalism. Conference exhibit spaces are visually busy spaces, with people and booths all competing for attention. Clean, straightforward designs, bold or refreshing colors—especially solids—that fit your brand will stand out and please the eye of attendees flooded by “visual noise.”
• Bigger isn’t always better. A well-designed small booth, especially with multiple components that you can adjust to best suit your space on any given exhibit floor, will serve you better than a massive booth in which your staff and your prospects drown.
• Consider modular elements. The standard ten-foot pop-up booth may still be your best bet, yet you should consider a pull-up banner or a small branded table or display to add visual interest. Also, if at some point you need to display something in a smaller-than-usual space, you can grab one of the elements of your exhibit presence to suit the job.
• Think of all the exhibit environments. Is there a chance you might need to use your booth outside on occasion? Or inside, but in a smaller space than a large-scale conference floor? Aim to find a booth that can work in all the possible situations you’ll face.

Considering tradeshows and conferences in your marketing plan? FrogDog can help you find the winning formula. Give us a call!