Many companies sign up to exhibit at trade shows, conferences and festivals as a strategy to promote their products and services. It’s often a significant investment with huge potential return, but only if done right. If you’re spending so much money to be at show, you’ll want to make sure that you’re getting to most out of it.
The last thing you want is to put so much effort to attend the show only to have people walk right by your booth and not engage with you at all! Without a strategy to increase traffic to your exhibitor booth, you’re doomed to failure and all the money spent will go straight down the drain.
Getting people to stop at trade show booth is great, but it means nothing if there’s isn’t a strategy in place on what to do once they’re in there. Be clear from the start – what are you trying to achieve? Are you trying to gather potential leads for new business? Promote a new product? Being clear on your strategy from the beginning will make it easier to create a plan of action on how to attract people to stop at your booth.
Once you’re clear on your strategy and goals, now we can think of ways to attract foot traffic. The best trade show booths offer interactive experiences that memorable and fun.
Visitors need a reason to stop by your booth; there must be some sort of incentive that attracts your target customer to stop by and check you out. That’s why today we’re sharing 8 ways to drive foot traffic to your trade show booth.
Advertise before the show
One effective way to gain more foot traffic to your booth is to let your customers know ahead of time that you’ll be at the show! Invite your potential customers to meet you in person and let your audience know about anything special happening at your booth to entice them to stop by!
You can let people know about your booth by sending out email blasts, making social media posts, advertising directly on your website and even in your email signature!
Create an attractive setup
Having well-designed exhibitor booth will catch visitors’ attention and perk their curiosity so they’ll want to stop by. Having a theme could be something to consider and decorating your space according to it will make your booth more engaging and fun. Having a great booth design will draws eyes to your company and have people flocking to you.
Pick a Great Spot
Where you choose to have your booth located on the show floor can really affect the amount of foot traffic your receive. Choose a spot where you know a lot of people will be, like the main stage, near the entrance/exit, bathrooms, food court etc. Not only will more people pass by, but it’ll also make it easier to find you.
Include a Lounge Area
Attending trade shows means spending the entire day on your feet. Using part of your space for a lounge where attendees can stop and relax is a great way to get people into your booth. Include some comfortable furniture and make sure your marketing material is available nearby so visitors can learn about your products and services.
You can even incorporate a charging station and outlets in the lounge where visitors can get a bit of work done.
Run contests or giveaways
People love winning things, so having a contest is a great way to get people to come to your booth. Not only will you have more traffic, you’ll also have a way to collect contact information from the visitors and maybe even include some additional questions so you can get to know them better.
The better the prize, the more visitors will be tempted to enter. When using this strategy, ensure that the prize is appropriate to your audience and use tons of signage to promote it!
Photo booth
Photo booths offer a fun and interactive experience for your booth visitors – definitely helps with driving traffic to your trade show booth. Physical photos are a great takeaway gift that visitors can keep on their desks or fridge, and the print outs can be branded with your company information and logo.
Many photo booths also include an instant sharing option where guests can email or text the photos to themselves. This is great because you can customize the message they receive with more info about your products and links to your website. Some machines can also capture data, meaning you can incorporate a survey, contest entry form or collect email addresses from booth visitors to follow up with them after the show.
Combined with the above strategies, a photo booth can be great tool to connect with target customers and capture new leads.
Play some games
A fun and exciting game where people are cheering and having fun is a great way to bring more attention to your trade show booth. Incorporating game play is great icebreaker and fun activity, but it also can generate a crowd at your booth by bringing excitement. Some examples include a prize wheel, golf, jumbo board games, jumbo Jenga, and more.
Be sure to choose games that are relevant to your target customers, and don’t be afraid to get creative!
Free samples and gifts
People love free stuff, so including swag and gifts is also a great way to boost traffic at your exhibitor booth. It’s important to make sure that everything is branded! We want visitors to remember who you are. And if that person is walking the show floor, and someone asks him/her where they got that tote bag, you’ll want them direct that person to your booth!
Some examples of free gifts to give away include: water bottles, tote bags, USB chargers, food, drinks and more.
In conclusion, there are many ways to drive traffic and engage visitors to come to your trade show booth. Well-planned exhibitor booths with great strategies and conversion techniques in place guarantee success and awesome results! Using multiple techniques and combining the above strategies will definitely draw more attention to your space. Just be creative, and have fun!