Observations from IBS can help your tradeshow investment pay off
Walking down a tradeshow aisle-especially large shows like IBS(the NAHB International Builders’ Show, produced by the National Association of Home Builders and held annually in the U.S.)-you’re bombarded by shapes, colors, movement, and messages.It co-locates with the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS) as part of Design and Construction Week. It’s all jumbled mess of sensory overload. It’s easy to get lost in the shuffle as an attendee but far worse to get lost in the crowd as an exhibitor. Here are some thoughts on what made booths successful at the show:
1) Define Your Space
Often it’s difficult to tell where one booth stops and another starts. Make sure your booth clearly defines your territory-walls, enclosures, carpet-anything that says “This area is unique” is critical to getting noticed. The huge Ford commercial vehicle space was nearly empty except for the trucks, carpet and people. Sound boring? It wasn’t. The open space was noticeable (and welcome!) and it kept the focus on their products.
Standard exhibit footprints make planning easier, with common sizes like 10×10, 10×20, and 20×20. Keep a clear route at least 36 inches wide, which aligns with ADA accessible route guidance, so visitors can move comfortably. If layout allows, leave a 60-inch diameter turning space to accommodate wheelchairs.
2) People Make the Difference
It sounds superficial, but attractive, engaging people bring a booth alive. And attractive doesn’t have to mean “pretty” (although it clearly doesn’t hurt), but rather, people who are born to talk to others and smile when they do it. Watching the attendees, you see time and again how true this is.
3) Style is Everything
The booths that got noticed were tech-driven in their design (simple, clean, and open), with the exception of natural/green products where a rustic theme was common. Dated designs stood out for all the wrong reasons, and like an old website, they seemed to unfairly date the products they promoted.
4) K.I.S.S.ing Booths
The K.I.S.S. principle (“Keep It Simple Stupid”) was behind the best booths we saw. The crammed and jumbled booths were easy to ignore (and there were a lot of them!), but the open and airy booths with only a few areas of focus were traffic stoppers. What I observed: one idea, one message, one solution = many, many visitors.Use the simple rule of thumb, 1 inch of letter height for every 10 feet of viewing distance, and stick with high contrast so headlines pop from the aisle. Avoid setting long headlines in all caps, it slows reading and hurts legibility.
5) That’s Entertainment
No matter how stylish or fancy or informative a booth was, it’s hard to beat booths that entertain as well as educate. There’s no denying that the booths with crowds and lines were the ones with a reason to stop by other than to pick up a brochure.
6) Remember Why You’re There
I think most exhibitors are hoping for traffic to build awareness and drive leads. One company (will remain nameless) paid what I’m sure was a lot of money to have branded carrying bags set out with the show programs. Unfortunately both times I stopped by, the staff was too busy talking to one another to notice the people bothering to visit their booth. So if they were hoping to drive awareness of their staff’s disengagement, well, it worked. Follow-up emails must meet CAN-SPAM rules in the United States, even one-to-one product pitches. Use accurate From and subject lines, include your physical mailing address, and offer a clear opt-out. Honor opt-out requests within 10 business days, and mark promotional messages as ads when that applies.
FAQs
Define your space with walls, enclosures, or carpet to make it unique and noticeable. Keep it simple and focus on one idea, one message, and one solution.
Engaging and attractive booth staff, a tech-driven or themed design, and the ability to entertain while educating visitors.
Yes, dated designs can unfairly date the products they promote, while modern and simple designs have a better impact.
Engaging people who can talk to others and smile while doing so can bring a booth to life and attract more visitors.
es, entertaining elements in a booth can attract more visitors and keep them engaged beyond just picking up brochures.
There’s no doubt that some companies try to showcase far too much, and the best strategy is always to just focus on a single product or two, especially when you base your display around the demonstration of a single new product.
People really do make the difference. An engaging smiling booth staff are just more fun to stop and chat with. The least inviting booths are those with seemingly disinterested folks scanning messages on their smart phones.