Achieving your new or revived exhibit booth is like playing a good-old game of red rover; brainstorming new ideas to get ahead of the other “team,” standing out as the strongest on the playing field, connecting towards one common goal (stopping others from breaking through the chain, of course), deciding on a solid approach and then hoping to break into the “chain” of potential clients to return to your own team, unscathed. 

Over time the most well thought out booth themes run one direction and booth activities sprint in the other. If your chain is breaking or you can’t get through the other side; your booth might be in a bit of a rut.

It’s time to get out of a tradeshow booth rut and back into the game, and draw a big crowd while you’re at it:

1. Don’t forget the basics

It’s easy to forget the mission and goals of your company in the heat of the moment. Revisit the foundation of your company’s values and core beliefs to make sure it aligns with the potential booth theme direction you’re headed in.

2. Key players must connect

All the key players in your booth- graphics, printed collateral, videos, activities, etc, must all connect. These elements must all relate to the products or services being sold and also the basics--company mission and goals. Remember, you are delivering a message and it should be consistent throughout.

3. Warm-up and practice are part of the game too

In addition to connecting all in-booth collateral, remember attendees will get the first glimpse of your booth in pre-show emails, direct mail and advertising if you have chosen to do so. You want to make it easy for attendees to tie all pre-show marketing and PR aspects together, so they will know what your company is all about when they approach your booth.

4. Show you’ve got heart

As frequent tradeshow attendees, very often we see the same booth activities; iPad/iPod giveaways, etc. It’s always refreshing to see exhibitors who get a little personal and display their passions through their companies. How about tying your booth into your corporate giving plan?

At a recent tradeshow, we worked with our client on creating a booth theme that was for a good cause. We held numerous in-booth activities where the company would give a specific donation to a selected charity based on the amount of attendees that participated in each event. This theme lined up with the company’s community service goals and easily related to their products and services.

This idea drew traffic to the booth and raised awareness for a deserving cause. Attendees were happy to stop at booth events to make a positive impact on the community. Most participants wanted to learn more about the exhibitor that was helping to make a difference and exhibitor sales, as well as the charity, benefited.