The pressure to reduce your company’s marketing spending – while also improving results — is greater than ever.  At the same time, deadlines loom and tend to force quick decisions.  Making an informed, educated buying choice is the difference between either empowering you to execute your trade shows with agility and efficiency for years to come — OR — doom you to trade show Hades.

What you should know as a first time trade show exhibit buyer:

• Be sure your goals dictate your purchase
• Never buy on price alone
• Remember to consider long run costs
• Don’t wait until the last minute

1. Be Sure Your Goals Dictate Your Purchase (not the other way around)

To maximize your investment in a trade show booth it’s important that your entire team, from marketing to product to the CEO, agree on the goals long before committing to a purchase, or even to a particular event.

Some examples of well articulated goals include:

• To obtain leads or clients (define these specifically!)
• To develop deeper relationships with existing clients
• To build brand equity and increase awareness
• To educate (x number) of people about our company and products
• To support your industry or the people throwing the event
• To recruit new employees from our industry
• To court investors

Your goals will determine your strategies, and your strategies will drive decisions for your exhibit booth purchase, including layout, design, graphics, traffic flow, product demonstration plans, promotions…well, everything!

If you’re having trouble getting a consensus, consider this exercise:  Force your team to select their top three goals and assign a percentage of importance to each.  Then ask your team to select, hands down, the most important single goal.  This approach should yield the quantifiable data and buy-in you need to establish your goals…and move forward with your trade show display purchase.

A professional exhibit consultant will ask you to share your goals, budgets, marketing plans and current communications material.  After digesting all the information, you’ll be provided with a recommendation consisting of a price quote and design rendering.  It may take a few design modifications and quotes until the exhibit suits you perfectly.  When you’re ready to buy, insist that everything is in writing.

2. Never Buy On Price Alone (or, consult with a professional)

It is easy to fool yourself into thinking the lowest price is the best value.  But buying an inexpensive trade show booth can cost you more in the end – significantly more! You must be sure to consider these factors as you evaluate your options:

• Quality
• Reputation
• References
• Years in Business
• Success stories or case studies
• Ability to consult and partner strategically
• Availability of a local I&D crew in all the major convention center cities

We are big proponents of purchasing an exhibit from a local company.  Chances are the company has been around for decades and has a deep understanding of client needs and the industry at large.  In the old days, exhibits were custom-crafted, making them extremely expensive to build and maintain.  More recently,  exhibit “systems” evolved as an alternative to the high cost of custom craftsmanship and heavy wooden materials.

Today, there are multiple categories including portable, modular, pop-ups and lightweight metals & stretch fabrics.  All have their distinct advantages, and this is where an exhibit consultant can be very useful.  In the end, your exhibit consultant should help you maximize your exhibit marketing potential and help you avoid the costly mistakes you’re likely to make on your own.

If you plan to exhibit more than once or twice, chances are you’ll work closely with an experienced exhibit consultant for several years.  Shop around and base your decision on more than just price. Exhibit consultants have years of experience about design, marketing, graphics, and trade show tactics.  Their knowledge will help you avoid the pitfalls that most inexperienced trade show marketers make. And, there are lots and lots of expensive pitfalls.  Working with a knowledgeable trade show consultant will save you money over time.

3. Remember to Consider Long-Run Costs

• Can the design you’re considering be re-configured to a smaller or larger booth size?  There are lots of options these days enabling “modularity,” so that a single pool of booth property can be rearranged into new designs and configurations – and also re-skinned to communicate different messages to different audiences (or to update your brand message over time).

• Is the booth you’re considering made from lightweight materials?  Or, is it made from heavy wood or metals?  Considering that a large portion of your budget will be spent on drayage, shipping and storage, be sure to select the most lightweight design possible to ship

• Is the construction complicated, requiring extra labor to set-up and dismantle the exhibit?  If so, reconsider.

4. Do Not Wait Until the Last Minute

For certain, rush costs will be incurred as the delivery deadline approaches.  These costs are easy to avoid by simply planning ahead.  Enough said!

While there are always going to be risks associated with making a new investment, by following the suggestions above, your investment is much more likely to be one that pays huge dividends – and not remain an unfortunate liability.

For more ideas on exhibit design, as well as booth staffing, budgets and more, pick up the What’s Working In Exhibiting guidebook.  Request your free copy of the 32-page book by clicking here.

The number one factor for determining  if you should have a green exhibit program, is if your exhibit is designed for the most efficient shipping. Consider the fact that trade show exhibits shipping across the country many times per show season, over several years, are spewing thousand of pounds of carbon emissions. Exhibits that ship the most efficiently can have substantial effect in reduction, which leaves a smaller carbon footprint…and that’s a very good thing for everyone! So green exhibiting really does make sense.

Custom Modular vs. Traditional Hard Wall Exhibits

By shipping a 20′ x 30′ custom modular exhibit (rather than a 20′ x 30′ traditional hard wall custom exhibit) to just one show reduces the amount of CO2 going into the atmosphere by nearly 2 times its own weight.  That one-show carbon emission reduction is larger than if you switched from your regular, gas guzzler to a hybrid car for an entire year.  Over this exhibit’s lifetime, shipping that same 20′ x 30′ custom modular to 3 shows a year for 5 years will reduce 62,299 pounds (or 27 times the exhibit’s weight) the amount of carbon emissions, from entering into our atmosphere.

It’s easy to make a difference, long term as well as immediate.  For example, you’ll also notice “green” savings as a result of reduced shipping charges.  Good for your budget.  Good for your business.  Good for all.

Thinking Green?  Go Rental!

For the greatest overall savings a custom modular rental may be the perfect green fit for your exhibiting program.  Both of the exhibit designs below are custom rentals.  Many rental depots are stocked with inventory and located at major venue sites.  The carbon emissions savings coupled with greatly reduced transportation costs will be a big step towards maximum impact, increased ROI, reduced expenses.

Reducing costs for you and reducing harmful emissions for the planet are great benefits of a green trade show display.  Making the up front investment in a sharply designed custom modular exhibit that provides quality and looks will help you rule the trade show floor and make it worth every penny.

Read more about how exhibitors are switching to lighter weight custom modular exhibits because they help lower operating costs and provide greater flexibility in The Trend To Custom Modular white paper.  Click here to request your free copy. 

Investing in the right trade show display is a serious decision.  Like anything else, there are hundreds of options on the market.  However, it is easy to make an expensive mistake by rushing into a purchase without all of the knowledge at your finger tips. Don’t sacrafice long term value for short term gain! Below are the 5 most common mistakes businesses make when purchasing a trade show display.

While attending this year’s Exhibitor Show in Las Vegas last month, I could not help but ponder why a simple rule of exhibiting is so hard for many to follow.  The Exhibitor Show is the trade show for the trade show industry.  This is the collection of trade show pros!  You would think that all the simple bases of exhibiting would be covered.  Yet… not the case, even by the experts.

If you do nothing else with your graphics, get these two things right with your trade show exhibit:

Clearly state 1. Who you are, and 2. Describe what you do.

Who you are and what you do.  That’s it!  Simple.  Basic.  Trade show 101.  Yet…so hard for so many.

Depending on the size of your trade show display space, you have roughly 3-5 seconds to catch that prospective visitor’s attention.  If they cannot clearly identify who you are and/or what you do, your odds of attracting their interest dramatically fall.

In today’s economy, the trade show floor is now being walked by more senior level decision makers.  With more to do in less time, no one has time to waste.  If your prospective visitor (and future client) cannot clearly identify who you are or what you do, then the easiest decision for them to make is to keep moving on to the next space.  They do not have the time nor do they want to spend the energy to try and figure out what solution you provide.  At most shows, there are simply too many other messages competing for their attention.

If you are a large organization, stating that you are XYZ may not be enough.  What division of XYZ?  And then simply state what you do.  What is the problem you solve?  What is the solution you are offering? What makes you different?  The idea is to help your prospective visitor easily make the decision that you are indeed someone that may fill their need.  After all, that is why they are there at that show.  They have a need and are seeking out someone to fill that need.

Following this rule will also help save your booth staff time, energy, and money by helping the prospective visitors qualify themselves rather than wandering into your space trying to figure out who you are and what you do and eventually getting to the point where it is clear by eating away at your staff’s time and resources.  This frees your staff to fully concentrate on true potential clients.

Adding graphics that help tell the story, some pointed bullet points, and even a testimonial or two all help encourage that prospect to stop… once they can identify who you are and what you do.  And making sure your booth staff is properly prepared and trained to work as a team on the show floor will only help increase your show ROI.

But it all starts with the basics.

Who you are and what you do.  That’s it! Simple.  Basic.  Trade Show 101.  And not so hard.

Round out your knowledge of trade show basics by reading the What’s Working In Exhibiting white paper. With almost 100 tips, the report reveals the most effective strategies and tactics exhibitors are using today to boost their results and stretch their budgets. Click here to request your free copy. 

“I’m designing a trade show booth. What should I consider?”

Has anyone ever told you “It’s about quality not quantity”?   Although this saying doesn’t apply to all aspects of life, making quality purchases helps to ease your anxiety and prolong the life of your purchase, especially with your trade show exhibit.  When something is priced at a higher margin than other competitors, it is usually for a reason: quality materials, excellent craftsmanship, better warranties, and more.

Accessorize Your Brand With Quality

For all you fashion-forward exhibitors, this situation can be likened to that of purchasing a knock-off designer handbag.  Just because the consumer MAY be the only one who knows it’s not a true brand-name bag, does not mean that she is carrying a bag of corresponding quality. Compared to a real Dolce & Gabbana, the fabric of a knock-off  bag may have only a faint smell of leather, poor craftsmanship, lackluster lining, not to mention the buyer’s big, fat conscious yelling “FAKE!” It may look good from a distance, but up close the shoddy craftsmanship shows through.  Similar to enhancing your image through fashionable accessories, you want to accessorize your brand with a well-designed, quality graphic and trade show display.  The quality that makes your brand shine is in the details of superior craftsmanship and know-how. When you value saving a few dollars over quality in trade show exhibiting, you may not be the only one who notices.

You Get What You Pay For

We recently had a client looking to save a few bucks, only to find that her bargain hunting ways back lashed.  In search of a better deal, she decided to outsource her posters to a print shop; assuming the production would be just as reliable.  She unknowingly sent over designs with little resolution.  This resulted in poor quality images that couldn’t be optimized.  Rather than informing her that the images would be blurred, the company just went ahead and printed it!  This would have never happened under our supervision.  We always proof our designs, and would deny approval to create graphics out of images that fall below quality standards.  Since she assumed this was a simple project that could be completed with the same care for a cheaper price, she left zero time for error, and therefore had no posters to use in her booth space.

Learn Your Lesson

Before you base a decision on the quantity of money you may save, you must first guarantee the quality of your investment.  Don’t end up with the fake handbag that may look good from afar, but up close is a cheap, low-quality version of what it could be.  You put a lot of time and effort into your trade show marketing plan, and completing the process with a high-quality design and exhibit is the sure fire way to reap the rewards.

Quality trade show booths are just the beginning when you start exhibiting.  For more ways you can increase your marketing effectiveness, read the What’s Working In Exhibiting guidebook.  This 32-page white paper has almost 100 tips for exhibitors to boost their results and stretch their budgets.  Click here to request your free copy. 

In a visual marketing bazaar such as trade fairs and conventions, every visit to your trade show booth leads to a build up of pre-conceived notion. That notion is carried on to every subsequent encounter that your clients might have with your products and/or your services.  Be very purposeful as to how you want your brand to be perceived.  If you walk into a trade show exhibit of clutter, confusion and the mundane, the products and services will be perceived as such.  On the other hand, if you walk into a space of elegance, simplicity and controlled light,  you are in a perceptual space of high technology and smart efficiency.  You see, simplicity and complexity are mutually dependent.  Because technology only continues to grow more complex, there is a massive economic and emotional advantage to present it in a simple and humanized space.

Be Aware!

Your brand elements like logos, tag lines, trademarks, packaging and your trade show display might be yours; but the reality is, it is owned by your customers and your prospects.  It is their perception of your company that impacts your bottom line and ultimately your survival.  We live in a 24 hour connected world.  Be aware of the savvy planetary word-of-mouth.  Be aware, even before you get to pitch about your brand uniqueness, you might be encountering prospects that have formed perceptions about your brand.  If it is positive, your brand achieves victory, if it is negative, you shift to the mind-set of damage control. Triumphant lesson from Avis: When Avis (the # 2 car rental behind Hertz) anchored in “We try harder,” all of a sudden the brand gained momentum to aspire for something bigger.  Being #2 is positive and goal oriented.

Propagating the Positive Perception

Start with how you want your customers and prospects to think, feel, remember, and experience your exhibiting space.  The over arching goal should be positive memory retention.  Have the courage to be different and make memorable limbic connections with your visitors. Focus on white space.  It is your strategic weapon.  Let it be.  Do no cover every surface with your story.  Remember, we live in an overwhelming, information grinding, digital age.  Your exhibiting environment should be all about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful.  Architectural elements and textures should work towards empowering your brand style and image.

For more reasons why trade shows are so important to your marketing message, read The Value Of Trade Shows white paper.  This special report reveals how exhibitors and attendees find significant value in trade shows, and expect to for many years ahead.  Click here to request your free copy that will help justify and enhance your trade show program!

Certainly, not everyone is fan of Snooki and the Jersey Shore.  True, most of us might not choose her to be the Godmother of our firstborn.  But think what you will, Snooki knows photo opps.  And boy, can she cause a buzz.

Take the product launch of her new fragrance, Snooki for Women by Nicole Polizzi. The fragrance is represented exclusively by Perfumania, a client of Skyline New York trade show exhibits. Perfumania is second to none, with over 370 retail stores that carry world class, designer perfume brands.

Here’s Snooki, pictured in front of a Mirage pop-up display.  Notice the crisp, repeating logos that will show up in any picture.  Observe the hot pink vibe.  Appreciate that this display will be used at hundreds of venues, taking just minutes to set-up and break down.

(Here’s 20 more ways to use a portable display beyond trade shows.)

Think about it — owning a custom backdrop that can be instantly whipped out for a photo opp is a brilliant idea.  With the multitude of websites that can virally display photos and videos (Facebook, You Tube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Press Release Distribution Sites), a modest investment in a custom backdrop can pay off in spades – for years and years.

So, before dismissing the messenger (Snooki), consider the message (Mirage pop-up displays make great backdrops for photo opps).

And now, back to (our) reality (show).

Snooki’s got the right idea but for even more valuable information check out the Event Marketing Idea Kit.  This 58-page book has a range of topics along with checklists and worksheets to help with the logistics of putting on an event. Click here for your free copy. 

The 10′x10′ booth space is the most common size in the United States (source: my unscientific survey of recent show floor plans).  Starting small might be a good idea because of limited marketing budgets or based on the number of attendees at a trade show.  Once you’ve gotten your feet wet and become satisfied with the lead generation and business growth potential, you’ll understand that it might be time to move up to a bigger trade show booth.  Here are a few factors to consider when choosing the ideal trade show exhibit size.

1.  Venue Considerations: Location and audience.  What is the expected total number of attendees?  Is this a trade show that highlights your particular industry or is it more generalized (vertical vs. horizontal)?  A larger trade show booth will attract more attention, but it’s a good idea to compare all costs to lead potential (ROI).  Take a critical look at the floor plan as well.  Larger booths are typically located in the center of the trade show hall and in the main walkways where most of the traffic takes place.

2.  Demonstrations and workstations.  Would attendees benefit from product demonstrations?  If so, you’ll need a booth big enough for to highlight the product, visible from all sides & comfortable for a large group of attendees.  If you expect to meet privately with individual clients, you’ll need a comfortable conference room or space.

3.  Staffers.  Once you’ve set a goal of how many leads to generate, you’ll know how many attendees booth staffers will need to speak with in order to produce those leads.  Then you can decide how many staffers it will take to speak with all of those attendees — rule of thumb average: 8-15 per hour for good qualification and depending on the time of day.  So, consider the size of space in order to hold this number of staffers & attendees. Remember, for a 10′x10′ booth, you’re typically max’ed out of space with 2 staffers and 2 attendees (25 sq. ft. each).

4.  Invest for Less.  If #1, 2 or 3 above apply to your situation or, if your current size booth is too crowded you will not be as effective in attracting attendees, conversing, presenting and generating leads. But, cost can be a barrier to increasing your size, however the payoff to your bottom line can be huge.  Make a smaller investment by designing a Custom-Modular Exhibit or consider a Custom-Rental solution.

Find out how you can help lower operating costs and provide greater flexibility by using a custom modular trade show exhibit.  Click here to request your free copy of  The Trend To Custom Modular Exhibits white paper. 

Exhibiting at trade shows takes a combination of talent, teamwork, and effort to succeed.  That goes double when you expand beyond backwall displays into island trade show booths.  The investment is bigger, the attention is larger, and the stakes are higher, in oh-so-many ways:

1. Greater height

While backwalls are usually about 8 feet tall, that’s rarely the height of an island trade show booth.  Most islands are at least 12 feet tall, and are often 16 feet and taller, and taller still when you hang a sign from the ceiling above your booth space.  That height creates a bigger impression and gets you seen from afar.  And, you can use 100% of that height, unlike backwall exhibitors (in the USA) who can only go to their full 8 foot height when it doesn’t obstruct their next-door neighbors.  However, be careful not to only put your name up in the rafters on a hanging sign 20 feet above your booth, so that people walking closer to your booth won’t know who you are unless they (very unlikely) crane their necks to look up.

2. More aisle frontage

A 20 x 20 foot island exhibit has 80 feet of aisle space, twice the aisle space of an equivalent-sized 10 x 40 backwall.  That gives you twice the opportunity to engage attendees as they walk by your booth.  Just be conscious that since your exhibit doesn’t back up against a pipe-and-drape backwall, it no longer has an automatic front side.  Now your exhibit can be seen from 4 sides.   It’s up to you to decide if all sides should be treated equally from a design standpoint, or if you expect one or two sides to be visible to greater traffic, and thus be designed more as the “storefront” of your exhibit.

3. Greater variety of booth sizes

When you get an island exhibit, it’s usually not one-size-fits-all.  At one show you may only be able to get a 20 x 40 foot space where you want it on the show floor – and then at your next show, have to take a 30 x 30 foot space, and still use the same exhibit components.  Just as likely is the need to peel off parts of your booth for either a smaller island or a 20 foot backwall exhibit.  Your island trade show exhibit needs the flexibility to adapt to all these spaces if you are going to avoid excess spending to fit all those booth sizes.

4. Private meeting space

Whatever you do in a backwall exhibit is there for the world to see.  But island exhibitors can free themselves from that restraint.  With opaque walls and even double decks, island exhibitors can host private meetings that allow them and their guests to converse, negotiate, and make deals with abandon.  Exhibitors can show off their latest new products (especially fashion-driven products) only to their trusted buyers, without tipping their competitors off.

5. More likely to be a rental exhibit

When you have a backwall display going to 5, 10, 15 or more shows a year, it makes perfect sense to own that display.  But when you only go to one or two shows a year where you require a larger presence with an island exhibit, you become more likely to choose exhibit rental.  Rental gives you the ability to change your look, booth size, and message more easily than an owned exhibit does – and at a lower cost if you only do one or two shows a year.

6. More complex design requirements

Not only do island exhibits have greater height, more aisle frontage, and multiple booth spaces to fit, there are other reasons that make their design process even more complex.  Island exhibits will inspire more stakeholders to want a say in the design process.  You’ll have more functionality requested (presentations, product demos, conference rooms, lead stations, storage, and more).  So island exhibits require more of another thing: time to get designed and built.

7. More booth staffers

You need more booth staffers to cover and work an island exhibit.  That can mean getting staffers from all over the country, or from more departments of your company — which puts even more emphasis on booth staff training.  When the booth staff comes from all over, you’ll either have to train them with teleconferences or video conferences, or set aside enough time at the show site before the show starts.  Staffers who don’t know the products or your clients well will need even more training to shore up their gaps.

8. Hired Installation and Dismantle

Skyline got its start in the 1980s by making it less expensive for exhibitors to install their own 10 foot exhibits with attractive displays that set up in minutes without tools.  However, for over 20 years we have also been making island trade show exhibits that do require tools, ladders, forklifts, and most of all, hired labor.  While some exhibitors are willing to set up our more modular (and less portable) inline exhibits, once you are in an island booth space, it’s all about either labor from the show contractor or from an Exhibitor Appointed Contractor (EAC) that you choose.

9. Higher profile vendor selection

It’s a lot more likely that your CFO will want to be more involved when you purchase an island exhibit than a banner stand.  As island exhibits can cost many times more than a backwall display, the purchasing process involves more people and greater scrutiny.   You will have to justify both your island exhibit’s initial buying (or renting) decision and the total operating costs, compared against the opportunities at trade shows to build your brand awareness, profitably generate sales leads, and meet your other sales, marketing, and operational objectives.

While these 9 things make island exhibits different from backwall displays, no matter what size they are, your exhibits must still get attention and support your booth staff.  That’s something that never changes!

Find out how island exhibitors are shifting towards custom modular exhibits for their expanded design capability, greater flexibility, and lower operating costs, in the free 20-page white paper, The Trend To Custom Modular Exhibits, by clicking here.