A List of Dos and Don’ts for a Proper Booth and Exhibit at Any Event

When it comes to having a unique opportunity to get to know lots prospective customers, as well as suppliers and other major players in your industry, all within a short timeframe; joining a conference, or participating at an exhibition, or trade show, are some of your best options.

The opportunities presented by such events can be a big boost to your company. They’re great for marketing and growing your sales pipeline so dedicating time, effort, and resources to them is well worthwhile.

What’s important however is to treat these meet and greet events with the uppermost respect. Being too casual may be detrimental to your cause and poor preparation of your presentation and marketing collateral may put off prospective customers and alliances. There is a proper way of preparing for events like these, when your focus is to have a professionally outfitted booth and exhibit that does your business proud. In the digital age all these events incorporate online and offline exhibits and event attendee have much higher expectations therefore your business needs to make sure the budget allocated is adequate and whatever is designed is presenting your brand and it’s wares in the best possible way.

In preparation for presenting at these events, there are lots of strategies that work; too many to cover in this post so we’ll cover the standout top three tips to set you off on the right path.

Don’t leave things to the last minute

When the decision to join an exhibition or trade show has been made, don’t leave things to the last minute. It’s best to prepare everything well in advance – including making your reservation, buying tickets, securing accommodation, and so on. Take care of all your logistical requirements way before the event. To make it easier on yourself, remember this: the cost of joining an exhibition tends to be about 4 times the actual cost of the stand or booth, and it’s also best to add another 5% as contingency funds for emergencies. When you prepare everything in advance, you have the added advantage of saving money and perhaps getting a better place or location for your booth.

Do have a great display and exhibition stand

Whether you are using a pop up stand, a full exhibition display stand, or a simple banner, you want to be sure that it is set up in the right way. You can often choose between 2 options for your booth: it can either be an open space booth or a shell scheme. With a shell scheme, you will have an enclosed area which has walls on each side, with a banner or board which can display your main message. With an open space, you have, as the name implies, an open area. The good news is that nowadays, you can opt for pop up displays or banner stands which are a lot easier to assemble compared to traditional displays, and which feature great graphics as well.

Do follow the 7-second principle

Whilst there may be many rules to follow when joining a show or exhibition, there is also what is termed the ‘7-second principle’. The ‘3-second principle’ refers to the theory that you only have 7 seconds in which to grab the attention of any passersby – enough time for them to decide if they want to get to know more about your company and what you can offer. Deliver a message that’s short and sweet – it works every time.