Put yourself in the shoes of somebody attending an exhibition. You may only have a few hours at the event and you want to make sure you get around all of the best stands and have a chance to talk to anyone of interest along the way. What factors will make you gravitate towards certain stands and bypass others?
As a business looking to exhibit at any event, this exercise is an essential one to undertake, as ultimately it’s what you’re going to be up against but multiplied by thousands of people.
Whether you’re planning a modest or indeed mighty creation for your exhibition stand, every business wants to achieve a healthy ROI on their investment. The key to success lies in getting in the minds of the audience within the offering that you deliver to them.
Here are our top tips as leading exhibition stand designers and installers, to ensure your exhibition stand leaves no stone unturned where grabbing attention is concerned.
10 Mistakes Businesses Make At Exhibitions
- Choosing the wrong exhibition for their target audience
- Not having clear event objectives
- Generic exhibition stand design
- Not creating a welcoming atmosphere
- Lack of lead capturing
- Not creating takeaway literature
- Failing to promote event attendance
- Forgetting to follow up on leads
Nail Your Brief
It’s a given that you’re wanting to exhibit at the likes of the NEC in Birmingham or the ExCel in London because you want to raise brand awareness, increase the company turnover and have the chance to network with like-minded individuals. The problem is, so does everyone else!
Instead, the focus needs to be on who your competitors are and what you have to give that others don’t. It’s also essential that you fully understand your target market as a business, so that the design and overall offering of your exhibition stand truly reflects this.
Let’s imagine your company sells compost and the exhibition is for gardeners and exterior landscapers. Some may not be aware of how each compost type can affect the growth or health of plants, and others may have a firm favourite brand they won’t switch from. You could appeal to both camps by showing how your compost competes even with the best household names.
Regardless of your industry type, whether you sell soil or indeed supercars – the same formula applies because with any exhibition, it’s all about turning heads and changing perceptions through live interaction.
Pre-Show Marketing
While much of the focus is going to be on the day itself…let’s rewind a little here. If you really want the masses to flock towards your stand, then similar to the designing of your stand, the marketing needs to commence way in advance. That’s because if people know to look out for your stand long before they arrive at the venue, they are more likely to purposely head over.
Now is the time to think about all of the ways you connect with your customers to ensure the message about your attendance gets through loud and clear. On any social media channel, be sure to use a hearty amount of geotagging and hashtags. Aspects to include are your brand name, industry, venue name, location etc.
When informing people of the event you’ll be attending, let them know:
- The event venue
- The date of the event (along with a link where people can purchase tickets)
- The plot location of your stand
- An idea of what your stand will look like through branding or mockups
- What people can look forward to from your exhibition
- Any giveaways you’ll be running
Once again, focus on the elements your company or industry are most known for. While there’s always room for unique additions, you also have to remember you’re trying to appeal to the wider public.
If you’ve exhibited at previous shows, you could even create a video marketing campaign to advertise your next event to really build momentum.
Choose An Exhibition Stand Type
Exhibition stands come in a variety of different configurations depending on your requirements. As an example, some exhibitors want to display their products innovatively with a Magnwall, whereas others want the space to hold presentations. Others may want a completely custom solution that completely reinvents the experience beyond anything that anyone has ever seen before.
Some of the exhibition stand types we provide here at Human Built include:
- Modular exhibition stands
- Made ready exhibition stands
- Shell scheme exhibition stands
- Space only exhibition stands
- Magnwall product displays
- EMEX theatres for exhibitions
- Seminar theatres for exhibitions
- Custom exhibition stands
Size isn’t always indicative of how eye-catching an exhibition stand will be either. This means that even if you’re on a budget, the right approach to the design, layout and overall functionality of your exhibition stand will be what sets it apart from others.
Exhibition Stand Design
Graphic design plays an integral part in any exhibition stand design. Elements such as colour use, photography, illustration, typography, motion graphics, point of sale pieces and wayfinding all need to be considered.
A balance needs to be stuck between representing the ethos of the company, but in a way that amplifies it within a vast exhibition venue. What definitely won’t attract the masses is anything that appears bland, over complicated, dated or simply not in tune with the audience demographic. Instead, the aim is to invite people over whether they are walking past or spot your stand from the other side of the building.
Quality should always take precedence over quality too. As an example, within our made ready exhibition stands, we’re able to supersize product images to billboard size. It’s not always possible to cram a million things onto one stand, rather a better technique is to use striking, high quality imagery that’s simply breathtaking.
A diligent approach to exhibition stand design can only come from the proper planning, and of course the key eye of our graphic designers.
Exhibition Stand Fixtures & Fittings
Exhibitions are intended to be fully immersive spaces. What starts out as an initial idea on paper needs to end up as a 3D experience that looks great from all angles. To achieve this, various exhibition fixtures and pieces of furniture can be used.
Some of the exhibition fixtures and fittings we supply include:
- Audiovisual installation
- Floor covering
- Freestanding exhibitor graphics
- Furniture
- Lighting
- Wayfinding
All of the above double in helping to make an exhibition stand both eye-catching, but most importantly a place in which people will want to spend time. As an example, seating helps facilitate business deals and networking, while simultaneously looking more inviting to passing visitors.
Likewise, lighting makes it easier for your team to work in the space, especially since exhibition venues may not have an abundance of natural light. However, lighting also illuminates your brand name and any products or services you have on display.
Floor coverings are also essential for health and safety, but that doesn’t mean you can’t inject some personality into your stand at the same time either. From sophisticated grey floors to shocking pink carpets and everything in between…we can do it all!
Event Ideas To Attract Customers
When it comes to attracting customers at an event, you don’t have long to make an impression that will stop people in their tracks. Harsh as that sounds, you have to prioritise making an impact especially with so much competition around you.
Every single exhibitor should have an idea of the products or services that they offer that are most in demand. In addition, industry research should be carried out to find what your customers are most searching for so that you can find ways to tap into the market.
From there, some of the top ideas for attracting customers at an event include:
- Audiovisual displays
- Giveaways
- Live product demonstrations
- Live broadcasts across social media
- Interactive/hands on elements
- Seminars
- V.I.P presence
Thinking back to the five senses also helps here – sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste. With your stand masterminded by our creative team fulfilling the ‘sight’ aspect, are there any of the other senses you can embrace?
Some ideas covering different industries may include…
Smell – Popcorn machines, fragrance samples, cooking demonstrations
Touch – Product samples, vehicle try-outs, physical games
Hearing – Audiovisual displays, soundtrack, verbal presentations
Taste – Product samples within the food or drink industries
Of course, every industry can approach the five senses in its own way. But even if you focus on more than just visual impact alone, it will encourage people over because you’re offering something different that will genuinely intrigue them.
As for the V.I.P presence, a great example would be a fitness clothing brand hiring a well known athlete or fitness influencer to make an appearance at the stand. If the individual also has a healthy social media presence, part of their contract could be to post they will be attending the event, further raising the profile of your exhibition. Human Built also provides talent sourcing as part of our comprehensive exhibition and event service offerings, if you’d like further advice in this area.
Cool Exhibition Stands
We think it’s important to keep our ears to the ground in the wider global exhibition space, as we want to ensure our client offerings are truly innovative, rather than being a repeat of what’s come before. In particular, exhibitions that are held in Japan, the United States and Germany offer plenty of food for thought for the UK market.
Of course, every single brief that graces our office will benefit from a unique concept, but it’s always interesting to see what’s out there. If you’ve also come across any cool exhibition stands, we’d be happy to incorporate any factors you found successful into your exhibition stand too.
For example, interactive elements, custom made stands, a clever use of lighting etc. For us, it’s all about interpreting the concept into the most unexpected and beautiful of ways. Ideally, we want the stands we create to join the list of the ‘most cool looking stands’ on design websites, too!
Photo credits:
1- Epson: Triad Creative Group
2 – JustEat: Skyline Whitespace
3 – National Geographic: GM Stand Design
4 – Hermes (designer unknown)
5 – T-Mobile: Neumann & Muller
Unique Exhibition Ideas
While we’ve certainly witnessed many unique exhibition stands in our time, and had the pleasure of building many too, the ironic aspect about being ‘unique’ is that anything that has gone before is no longer so. Plus, the crowds have likely already seen it too.
So what’s the solution? Undoubtedly, tearing up the rulebook of how you have previously exhibited, especially if the overall performance fell short of your objectives.
Some questions to ask yourself as a company are:
- What new or exciting developments can I introduce at an exhibition?
- How can I present my products or services in the most innovative way?
- What has worked excellently for us in the past, and how can we elevate this?
- What are the available exhibiting options based on the stand design we select?
- Where are we not hitting our potential, and what solutions would fix this?
When it comes to pushing the boundaries to create a unique exhibition offering, custom exhibition stands provide the most flexibility to allow your ideas to run wild. As exhibition designers ourselves, custom stands quite literally start with a blank canvas, resulting in a unique final product every time.
Guerilla Marketing Techniques
For those uninitiated with guerilla marketing, essentially it’s all about marketing your products in the most unconventional ways, that equally have creativity bursting out of the seams. The above guerilla marketing campaign by KLM is an excellent example that quite literally got people stopping in their tracks! How did he do it? Who knows, but look how it got the masses investigating when they should have been heading to the gate at the airport.
When it comes to creating a creative exhibition stand or trade show concept, guerilla marketing is one technique that will never get old. Plus, there are endless ways you can embrace it not just within your stand, but within the wider exhibition venue too.
Exhibition Stand Designers & Builders UK
We may be a little biased, but when it comes to making your exhibition stand stand out, it certainly helps if you get one of the UK’s biggest and brightest exhibition stand designers on your side.
Here at Human Built, we offer a complete range of services including exhibition stand design, logistics, construction and even the dismantling of your stand. We can also provide all of the key points we’ve mentioned above, plus project management, furniture hire, logistics, electrics, data registration services and much more.
We’re based in Birmingham, and we offer our services across the UK and beyond. So wherever you’re exhibiting and whatever you have in mind, let us show you what we can do.
Email us or give us a call on 07760 172326 for further information, and our friendly team will be in touch. You can also check us out on Facebook or Instagram where you can also view our work on display.
