There’s nothing worse than seeing a key sponsor’s exhibit booths devoid of attendee traffic. After all, exhibitors are likely to place the blame for poor foot traffic on your event — and if your sponsors aren’t happy, they won’t renew for next year.
So how can you encourage attendees to engage with the booths across your conference or tradeshow floor?
As an event creator, you have the power to provide exhibitors with surefire exhibition booth ideas to increase attendee traffic.
To help your exhibitors get the most bang for their buck, follow these three steps.
Step #1: Start with your sponsor’s goals and objectives
Long before the day of your event, exhibitors should be clear on their goals and objectives. What is the purpose of their presence on your conference or tradeshow floor? Is it to rack up new email signups, hit a certain amount in sales, or create awareness around their company?
Once they’ve established the why, then they can focus on the how. Defining success will not only help your exhibitors prepare for the event, it will keep them focused on the day-of, too.
Step #2: Align with your attendees’ interests
With so much to see and limited time to see it in, conference attendees tend to pick and choose the booths they visit. That’s why your goal should be to encourage sponsors to make their booths eye-catching, interactive, and unique.
Here are five exhibition booth ideas that will help sponsors attract valuable leads:
- Declutter the design. Design experts say that white space is a very effective way to help graphics and logos pop. Scaling back images and reducing the number of screens can be more inviting to passersby than a loud, cluttered booth design.
- Incorporate a cool offer or freebie. Whether it’s a charging station, free Wi-Fi, or a unique piece of swag, incentivizing people to walk over to a booth can make a real impact on the amount of foot traffic received.
- Add engaging activities. Want to help an exhibitor stand out in a sea of business card exchanges? Photo booths, contests, social media walls, or even a game can help attract attendees and provide a memorable experience worth sharing with their colleagues.
- Provide a quiet place to recharge. Amidst the hustle and bustle of a tradeshow floor, calm moments are rare. That’s why a booth that provides a comfortable workspace (branded, of course) can be a big draw for busy professionals looking to do some work.
- Give away free samples. Another way to incentivize people to stop by a booth is by giving away free samples of the sponsor’s product. But the sample has to be worth their time — and the exhibitor needs to promote the offer in the lead up to the event!
Looking for more exhibition booth design ideas? Check out 6 Creative Booth Design Ideas for Tradeshows and Conferences.
Step #3: Measure the success of exhibition booths
After exhibitors establish their why and how, it’s time to determine the ways they’re going to measure success. Depending on their goals, a variety of metrics could work — including leads collected, social media mentions, or white papers shared.
Exhibitors need to prove the return on investment (ROI) on tradeshow or conference floor presence. If you want to build and maintain healthy relationships with your sponsors that keep them coming back year after year, you need to give them the right tools to measure their success.
If you use RFID badges at your event, consider arming sponsors will sensors at their booths. This way, when they engage attendees, they can instantly add them to their database. If you have a mobile event app, you can also use that tech to measure exhibition booth success.
What millennials want from your conference
Millennials now represent the majority of the workforce and attend more live events than any other generation. Download this tip sheet to learn three important facts about millennial conference attendees that will help you design your exhibition floor — and the rest of your event — with them in mind.
