049 - How to Make Your Trade Show Booth Stand Out

You have three to five seconds.

That's how long a passing attendee gives your booth before they keep walking. So what are you doing with those seconds?

In this episode 049 clip, Khalil asks Chris a fair question. Whose job is it to figure all this out? The exhibitor's?

The exhibit house's? Chris answers, and then shares a few booths that stopped people cold.

Be Honest About Where You Are

Chris starts with a gut check. Be honest about who you are.

If you're a startup heading to your first big industry show, hire pros to help. That covers the branch office feel, the message, and all the logistics.

And there are a lot of logistics. Every booth starts as bare concrete. Then come questions like:

• What do we need for power?
• Do we need network cables?
• What other gear has to be in place before anything goes up?

You build the ground first. Then you build up. Trying to DIY all of that on your first try is a tough way to learn.

Nobody Goes to a Trade Show to Read

Chris has a favorite warning for first-timers. Do not treat your back wall like a billboard.

Packing it with text and copy won't work. Nobody goes to a trade show to read. Nobody.

What does work? Something that acts as a visual speed bump.

Chris says big shopping malls are a great place to get ideas. Think cool lighting, soft natural wood tones, and spaces that feel inviting to walk into.

Some exhibitors have a secret weapon. Chris mentions his friend Scott Tokar, a magician well known in the business event world. Put Scott in a 10-foot space and he'll draw a crowd in two minutes.

No magician? You still need something that slows people down.

Make Them Curious

Chris remembers a startup that sold memberships for air ambulance service. Get sick abroad, make one call, and a plane with a medical team comes to get you.

Great service. One problem: nobody knew the name.

So their booth showed a jet over the curve of the earth. The header said just this: "A benefit that could save your life..."

People walked past once or twice. Then they had to come back and ask, "What is it?"

That's the booth doing its job. The visitor is stopped. Now the staff takes over.

Then the Staff Has to Step In

This is where a lot of booths drop the ball. The design does its part, and then the staff just stands there.

Chris paints a picture. Say your 20x20 has a meeting room with a huge panoramic Grand Canyon photo on the outside walls. A visitor stops and stares.

Don't say, "Isn't that a great picture?"

Say something like, "If you think that's impressive, got three minutes? I'd love to show you what we're doing."

Will people try to brush you off? Of course. Your job is to engage anyway.

Chris jokes that he'd offer a one-arm push-up to anyone who sat through his pitch. The point is to have some fun with it.

80% of What They Remember Is You

One stat should change how you staff a booth.

Six months after the show, about 80% of what a visitor remembers is the short talk they had with your staff. Not the lights.

Not the graphics. You.

So there's no single trick. It's all of it working together:

• How you get people stopped
• What info you capture
• What tool you use to capture it

On that last one, tech has made life easier. Chris points to Backtrack, an app from past guests Jordan and Hunter.

It can turn your phone into a lead capture tool that sorts scans into leads you can act on. Most shows offer something too.

Want to hear more on that? Jordan and Hunter break it down in how Backtrack can help the event industry.

None of This Happens by Accident

Chris knows this may sound like common sense to veterans. But for newer exhibitors, it's worth saying again.

Your booth needs a clear job. That job should tie back to your company's strategy. Then you use the booth for exactly that.

Before You Book the Space

Run through these:

• Are we new enough that we should bring in pros?
• Is our back wall a billboard or a speed bump?
• What makes someone curious enough to stop?
• Does the staff know what to say once they do?
• How are we capturing leads?

Chris goes deeper on that last step in defining and executing your booth's purpose. Is your booth ready for its three seconds?