By Patrick Knott, Senior Sales Manager, ON Services, March 26, 2024
Where attention is currency and innovations are key, establishing a standout presence on the trade show floor isn't just advantageous—it's imperative. As attendees navigate through a maze of options and distractions, exhibitors must constantly devise inventive strategies to capture interest and foster meaningful connections.
To ensure a successful tradeshow presence, exhibitors must focus on enhancing the impact of their message and effectively boosting attendee engagement and interaction. This ensures that the brand shines brightly amidst the bustling trade show environment. The goal is to be a beacon that cuts through all the noise.
In the ever-evolving landscape of trade show exhibits, those who stand out often possess a keen understanding of the trends that drive attendee engagement. The following are some helpful tips that the most successful marketeers on the show floor are often looking at:
Grab their Attention
Content tells the brand story. How that story is told is constantly evolving. The trend relies on large video walls and the integration of multiple technology solutions to create unique experiences. These technologies are delivering dynamic content to draw the attendees into the space in new and exciting ways. It is more than just flashing lights though; Video Content must present a cohesive message.
Produce the Unexpected
Utilizing a component of surprise can create a moment in the attendee’s mind that leads them to engage the booth staff. Several strategies can help create these moments including interactive technologies like Augmented Reality (AR), custom designed and built gamification stations, and inviting expert speakers to provide interactive demonstrations. Underpinning each of these is the creative use of technology. However, even though the best solutions do not just utilize technology design in creative ways, the staff needs to train on the elements of the booth. It must always be a holistic approach.
Evolve the Experience Daily
We all know that some attendees may require multiple visits to the booth before they engage with the team. There are many impediments (both real and imagined) that can prevent a meaningful dialog between the attendees and the staff. The booth might be too crowded, or not crowded enough, or the wait to speak to someone might be too long. A winning strategy is to adapt the booth daily through changes to content, lighting, different speakers and product demos that can create return visitors. This results on more engagement moments where meaningful dialogue can occur.
Expand your Reach
As part of a cohesive strategy, one should create experiences that draw attendees into deeper levels of interaction. This can include a literal pathway in the booth, engaging kiosks that tell the brand story as attendees move throughout the experience, live streaming, scheduled sessions, VIP areas, off-booth training/demo areas, utilizing map routing technologies, or creating incentive-based engagements like raffles and give aways. Central to all of this is the seamless integration of innovative technologies, custom application development, content creation and complex programming to allow multiple disciplines to work together in a custom and targeted way, all with the goal of enhancing attendee engagement and facilitating valuable data collection.
About ON Services
ON Services isn't just an audio-visual production company; we're your catalyst for trade show success. ON Services can ensure that your trade show presence transcends the ordinary, delivering tangible results that propel your business forward.
Patrick Knott, Senior Sales Manager, ON Services
Patrick is an experienced sales professional in the live events industry, with a family history three generations deep. Having a broad experience, touching multiple sides of the events business and a particular focus on experiential brand engagements, Patrick brings a unique and nuanced perspective to the ON Services team. Patrick is committed to bringing value and expertise to our clients and their projects.
Get in Touch with Patrick: Mobile: (678) 530-7553 | pknott@onservices.com