Trade Show & Exhibition Stand Ideas

Trade shows are a great way to connect with potential customers and build relationships. Exhibiting at a trade show gives you the opportunity to showcase your products or services to a large number of people in a short period of time. Additionally, trade shows can be a great way to generate leads and sales.
We understand that getting your trade gazebo to stand out amongst the competition at these events can feel like fighting against a crowd, however we have put together a whole host of ideas and tips to turn crowds into potential customers.

Exhibition Stand Ideas

1. Live Demonstrations

Depending on what you sell, a live demonstration is an amazing way to engage potential customers and bring all eyes to your stand. Whether it’s software, easy-to-display service or a product, seeing a live version helps customers understand how you can help them making it much harder for them to object while creating intrigue as they’ll no doubt be filled with questions about your product or service. 

2. Engaging Movement

If you have a sign, product or anything else that moves this can help draw in visitors from a distance as the moving parts of your stand will help yours stand out from the competition. This can bring any stall to life and gives excellent talking points for you and your customers.

3. Games & Competitions

Creating a game with a prize to be won at the end of the day almost guarantees engagement as visitors attempt it, tell others and share stories of their fun. This can also help people to remember your brand as they’ll attach a positive memory to it.

4. Host a Q&A Session

If you have an engaged social media following or there are a lot of burning questions about your industry, holding a live question and answer session can be perfect to help visitors get a feel for your brand and your product. This can work most effectively when you get the majority of questions sent in before the day, this allows you to constantly have some questions to fall back on if you’re getting limited audience participation.

5. Unique Structural Design

At trade show events stalls are often very similar, especially in structure, they typically have flat walls and an entrance or opening allowing staff or visitors to enter the stall. You don’t have to do this, varying your stall can go a long way when it comes to standing out from the crowd and there are several 3D-printed structures that you could implement to help give your stand that extra edge.

6. Social Media Wall

Use displays to create a live feed for social media engagements with your brand, you could even create a specific hashtag for the event and encourage attendees to post under it. Bonus point if there is some form of visual or audio feedback whenever there’s a post but ensure that this doesn’t become aggravating or distracting to prevent it from taking away from the rest of your stand.

7. Pop-up Shop 

You can create a small retail area inside your exhibition stand so visitors can easily purchase products on-site, this is even more effective if you have a physical product as you can give it to them there and then. 

8. Create a Lounge Area 

There are many benefits to having a comfortable sitting area near or within your stand as the perfect place for attendees to relax and unwind. You’ll find it much easier to converse with people here as it’ll feel much more personal, you could even provide some refreshments and a place to charge their phones to help them escape the hustle and bustle of the event. 

9. Photo Booth

If you’ve ever seen a photobooth at a wedding or special occasion then I’m sure you know how much of a hit they are, attracting everyone to let their guard down and take a silly photo wearing a cowboy hat or something of the sort. Getting one for your stand can seem a bit irrelevant but it will create a great memory and attach it to your brand, you also have the opportunity to get your brand information on the picture print outs so they’ll always remember you.

10. Themed Booth

This can be particularly effective if you have a specific niche. For example, if you sell car parts you could create a mini pit lane or if you sell sweet treats you could make your own version of Willy Wonka’s factory. The options are endless and this can be achieved with relative ease; it simply takes a little imagination.

5 Exhibition and Trade Stand Tips 

1. Ensure you utilise proper lighting

This often overlooked element can help make your stand that extra bit pleasing for visitors making sure lighting isn’t too harsh or too dim so that your goods and services are highlighted perfectly. Attracting customers by making your stand more appealing from a distance and making it easier for them to view your stand.

2. Use Vertical Space

You’ll likely notice that most trade stands will be a very similar height, meaning they all merge into one when you enter the venue. One way to get the edge on this is to utilise all that unused vertical space. You can do this in a number of ways. One we’d recommend is using a custom printed flag to display some key information about your brand or at the very least catch the attention of visitors so they make sure to stop by your stand. 

3. Friendly & Inviting Staff

This may come as self explanatory but when engaging new people you’ll want to ensure your staff are as inviting as possible so visitors will want to spend their time at your stall. This can also help sales later down the line as we all remember when we received great service – which goes a long way in helping build trust for your brand.

4. Utilising a Smaller Stand

If you have a smaller budget or would simply like to be a bit different, consider using a smaller trade stand. Larger trade stands can sometimes look empty due to all the extra space making them feel more intimidating. Small stands can help to create a more intimate atmosphere allowing for more personal conversations with your visitors.

5. Ensure the Design Meets Your Overall Objective

This is a key part of the process and helps you to make sure your stand is as effective as it can be. Some requirements to consider are: 

• Storytelling about your brand
• Demonstration areas
• Product storage
• Brand representation
• Audio visual equipment

This is a short list but each is a vital consideration for your brand as they will help you to direct visitors and traffic to exactly what you want them to see. So they can see all the best parts of your brand.

Small exhibition stand ideas

As mentioned earlier, small exhibition stands can yield some great benefits. Meaning bigger doesn’t always mean better. Here are some of our favourite small stand ideas.

Include scaled up items to make you stand more eye catching

Just because your stand is small doesn’t mean everything inside has to follow suit. Getting a larger model of your product or something relating to what you do can go a long way to drawing in visitors. For example if you are an electrician you could include a large model of a lightbulb that creates an instant talking point for anyone who comes near your stand and can even lead to funny photo opportunities that further market your business.

Create a small refreshment area

It can be exhausting walking around a trade fair all day and processing all the information that goes along with it. So having a small area with some fruit, cold water and some coffee can go a long way, visitors will no doubt appreciate you for it and that can make hearing about your business significantly more appealing.

Create a sensory experience

This can be done in multiple ways whether it’s using specific scents that relate to your business, playing some calming music or having sample or texture boards for people to touch and play with to create an experience that is pleasing to all the senses.

Large exhibition stand ideas

If you are able to get a large exhibition stand it can be daunting thinking about what to fill it with but we’ve collected some ideas to help you use the space so your stand is filled with visitors throughout the trade show or exhibition.

Utilise theatre style presentations

Creating a dedicated presentation area with a large screen or projector with high quality audio and lighting. Allows you to set the scene for visitors and deliver impactful presentations or demonstrations to multiple people to help you attract and engage attendees.

 Run a workshop 

This can allow you to get multiple people to try your product and find out just how great it is, this can also helps you to limit a lot of objections as you’ll be able to guide them through the process and assist them if they have any issues, there and then.

Create an interactive digital installation

Use digital installations such as augmented reality and virtual reality so visitors can explore your brand products and interact with them easily in ways that would be possible in the physical space.
 

Other trade show tips and considerations to think about

Your trade gazebo design and its content must be cohesive with your company’s overall marketing message. Put simply, your trade show stand is a living embodiment of your brand and it must reflect that.

Make sure your company name, logo, and any other branding materials you believe may be pertinent are displayed on your stand. The ideal exhibition booth maintains the ideal mix of product display, branding, and a direct marketing strategy focused on driving sales. 
View our printed gazebos

Implement experiential marketing into your trade show stand design

Your brand deserves better than to be remembered by trade show visitors for free pens, travel mugs or plush toys. If you’re interested in catching bigger fish, your trade show stand should focus on offering attendees experiences rather than free branded products. 
​​There are a few ways that you can implement experiential marketing at a trade show. One way is to have a booth that is interactive and engaging. This could include having games or activities that attendees can participate in. Another way is to have a booth that is designed to give attendees a complete experience of your product or service. This could include having a demo area or a hands-on area where attendees can try out your product.

Providing experiences which require visitors to spend longer in your stand gives you an opportunity to engage with them and turn them into customers.

Playing with colour

One guaranteed way of standing out amongst your competitors is to research their brand colours and choose something that contrasts better and brighter. As long as you follow the rule of thumb and stick to three bright colours, this is a surefire way to create a winning trade show stand.

Colour psychology in branding

Colour psychology is the study of how different colours affect our emotions and behaviours. It can be used in branding and marketing to influence customers’ moods and perceptions of a product or service. For example, blue is often associated with trustworthiness and calmness, while red is often associated with energy and excitement. Using the right colours in your branding and marketing can help create the desired emotional response in your customers.

Colour:

• Red ( anger, danger, excitement, heat, love, strength)
• Orange (energy, happiness, joy, fun, creativity, success)
• Yellow (happiness, hope, positivity, sunshine, mental clarity)
• Green (growth, life, nature, wealth, luck, fertility)
• Blue (calm, peace, serenity, stability, trust, wisdom)
• Purple (royalty, luxury, mystery, magic, spirituality)

Gazeboshop offers unlimited printing in any colour on all aspects of our gazebos, meaning we can turn your trade show stand designs into a reality. Our dye sublimation printers allow us to match pantones so we can match your brand colours perfectly and print full-size photos on your gazebo. 

Use digital displays to your advantage

Did you know that the human brain responds more intensely to video and graphics than text? Playing short marketing videos on display in your trade show stand is a great way to attract attention.
If your budget doesn’t accommodate a digital display monitor, why not combine a QR code in your print graphics for your trade gazebo and lead prospective customers to your company’s socials, website, YouTube review or product demo? The possibilities are endless once you combine digital with in-the-moment opportunities.

Put your USP at the forefront of your tradeshow design

Attendees at trade shows are inundated with offers and experiences from various companies and often leave with hundreds of business cards. Unless your trade show set up makes your USP abundantly clear, you’ll end up as just another forgettable face in the crowd.
Make your products or marketing messages that emphasise your benefits, take centre stage. You only have a few seconds to make an impression – make them count using your unique selling points.
A top tip here is to market the benefits of your product or service instead of the features. Your display should put the benefits of your product or service in the most visible location, and list the features in brochures and other materials that prospects will leave with.

Final thoughts

We understand that brand exposure at trade shows has never been more crucial to a business’ success.
Let us help you create your winning trade show stand, branded banners and complete a form for a free visual with your quote. However, if our advice has left you inspired, there’s nothing stopping you from creating your own design using our scaled templates and we can quote you on receipt of the artwork.