The Power of Trade shows: What works then? What works now?

How many of us believe that trade shows are important? They just come and go and so are the trends. It is not the trade show that matters but the resonance that lingers. The ultimate goal of trade shows is to sell something sooner or later. And that can only be done when you use special attractions to attract your target audiences. These attractions are nothing but trends. And we are here to tell you what trends have worked in the past and what works now.

Past Trends

1. Carrying Visiting cards
2. Distributing pamphlets
3. Distributing marketing brochures
4. Touch screens (more active and dynamic than a printed brochure)
5. Un-booth concepts (food or a bar, or charging stations)
6. Social media promotions (tagging people and pictures)
7. Multisensory exhibits (to evoke human senses through fragrances, gamification, or music)

Present Trends

1. Experiential exhibits: A dynamic approach is implemented where demonstrative product samples, interactive product demos, and immersive branding visuals are provided to attendees to see what works and what doesn’t. This keeps the whole approach of the trade show exhibit active and not passive. This kind of exhibit has the potential to pull in more traffic who can readily interact with your booth content. And on the plus side, the attendees can record their experiences and share them on social media which you can use for live promotions.
2. Advanced exhibit design: Some time ago touch screens were a hit. But nowadays, trade show exhibits are developed and designed using advanced technology and low touch screen formula. It’s a hands-free method where a motion sensor or a voice recognition system activates the digital display and the attendees can download a copy of the brochure on their phones. On the exhibitor’s end, it saves them from noting a lot of contact information of prospective leads on pen and paper. Because many renowned trade shows offer lead management software that turns your phone into a scanning device where the name and contact information is gained through badge scanning or through scanning business cards.
3. Custom Exhibit: Very few can have the luxury of a custom exhibit. It is worth every penny. A personalized trade show booth structure is designed and constructed by taking the exact measurements, given by the exhibitors. And the features, attractions can be altered, and magnified depending on the budget. Truly it is a purchased item and needs proper installation and dismantling after the trade show is over. The main emphasis is on product displays, streamlining the exhibits to create more space and make them less claustrophobic so as to increase the footprint.
4. Virtual Exhibit: Not all trade shows offer virtual exhibits and when they do, you might want to experiment with all of them. If you’re looking from a budget perspective, this trend is a deal. As a lot of international attendees will attend your exhibit and the ones who run on a small budget.

Wrapping up: For milking out the best leads, we believe in inducing both ways. For the live world, businesses can offer live product/technology demonstrations but for the virtual world, they can have a product demo through live footage playing for the virtual attendees. So, all of the trends are useful if you can make the most out of them.

And if not, you can collaborate with us, Sensations Exhibits, a prolific trade shows booth builder who can give wings to your imagination and set up a good exhibit that is within your reach and expectation.