How to Choose The Best Booth Location
There is so much that goes into getting ready for a trade show. One of the first deadlines to focus on is selecting the best location for your booth! A majority of your trade show budget goes to your exhibit space. So it’s important to choose a location that will help promote your presence, so you will have a bigger return on investment.
RESERVE YOUR SPACE
The saying the “early bird gets the worm” also applies to trade show spaces. Some organizers start reserving locations the same day the current show starts. Building a good relationship with the event organizer will help you stay up to date with the event and may open up other doors for your company like sponsorship opportunities. Also if the space you wanted is occupied, let the organizer know you are interested, in case the other sponsors cancel. Make sure to keep in contact with them throughout the year. Tip: You can also attend the event as a visitor before you have your booth. You can take notes of various booth spaces and monitor the flow of traffic!
KNOW YOUR LOCATION
Once you have secured your location, make sure to get familiar with your surroundings. It will also be helpful to know where concessions, bathrooms, and competitor’s booths are located too. To ensure your booth has great visibility, make sure that no poles or columns are blocking your area. Do keep in mind any height restrictions, as they can vary from show to show.
Setting up around the main entrances may sound like a winner, but they are often crowded and can lead to congested traffic. When visitors enter the trade show, they are focused on understanding and adjusting to the layout of the show. If you are in any congested areas, this may cause visitors to overlook you or prevent any meaningful interactions.
Instead of having a large single booth (20×20) in one location, try splitting it up into two small booths (10×10) at different locations. A great way to play this off is to have a dynamite design on both booths that can read either together or separately. Maybe you use the same design but one booth has your primary color and the other your second color. If both booths have the same objective and your teams show the same great customer service, then people will feel more comfortable working with your company and will hopefully do business with you. This also helps you serve more people and will not make your booths feel congested.
It is important to keep your exhibit manned during the show but it is a good idea to walk the floor and talk to people too. If you have samples or maybe a raffle going on, hand them out to people, and encourage them to visit your booth!
KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS
Remember your event organizer that has become your new best friend? Ask them who your neighbors will be at the show. Are they friend or foe, do they have the same color scheme as you, will you stand out from them or blend into the background? If you want to piggyback off a big brand company, make sure you have the same clientele or you could be wasting your time.
MAKE IT COUNT
At the end of it all, the best booth location is what you make it! Picking the location is just one factor in your trade show success. Informing potential clients of the services your company offers and gathering contact information for them is the real goal. Remember to follow up with the people who did stop by at your booth and write a little personal note about what you two discussed. This will make your customer feel remembered and special!
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