Are you looking for a way to stand out from the crowd at your next trade show, exhibition or event? Not sure where to start with how to set up your conference stand, in order to maximise your brands presence?
Exhibitions and large-scale events can offer invaluable opportunities to get in front of potential clients, showcase your products and services, as well as build upon relationships and network within your industry. They can be expensive, and so you need to do your utmost to make sure your marketing investment is worthwhile. And, with many other businesses competing for delegates attention, making sure your branding is eye catching and appealing is crucial. This begins with setting up an engaging and visually appealing exhibition stand.
In this blog, we’ll walk you through the essential steps on how to set up a conference stand to ensure your business gets the most out of any trade show, exhibition or event.
11 Tips for Setting Up a Successful Conference Stand
1. Set Your Objectives
Before you start designing your stand, think about what it is you want to achieve. Without clear and realistic goals for the event, stands can become busy, unfocused and won’t allow your sales team do what they do best!
So for example, do you want to attract new clients to your stand and generate leads? Or maybe you want to promote a new product or service or to simply increase your brand awareness. Having these objectives clear in your mind will help to shape your stand layout, design and overall strategy for your team.
2. Consider Your Stand Location
Where you are located at a trade show or event can significantly impact your success. If your budget allows, look to secure a spot with high footfall. These are usually near entrances, break out areas, next to main stages and refreshment areas.
3. Have A Strong Brand Identity
Getting the design of your conference stand right, is critical to getting noticed in busy exhibition and trade shows. Passers by should instantly be able to know who you are, what you do and how you can help them. For many exhibition visitors, this could be their first interaction with your brand, and so it is your opportunity to make a lasting impression on them.
Branded signage is a simple way to showcase your logo and marketing message. Include a short strapline or simple keywords to convey your company offering and ethos. Depending on your budget and floor space, there is a huge variety of styles and materials to choose from when it comes to bespoke banners, graphic panels and counters. There are also branded options for outdoor events, with items like flags, gazebos and parasols helping to form your brand identity. If you need help exploring these options, our team would be happy to guide you through the different branded exhibition stands on offer.
You may want to consider creating zones to showcase different aspects of your companies personality. Express your brand’s identity through the use of company colours, eye-catching graphics, lights and even sounds – all of which will help to stimulate the senses and create an emotional connection with your brand.
4. Consider The Environment
For many businesses, sourcing items that are made from sustainable, environmentally friendly materials is a top consideration. By taking into account your carbon footprint when you are setting up your conference stand, you will be able to demonstrate your companies commitment to the environment.
When it comes to eco-friendly promotional event giveaways, there are so many options to choose from. From reusable drinkware and bags, to lanyards, notebooks and even gadgets made with sustainable materials. You can also choose to be more eco-friendly with your banner choice, with recycled versions of the display polyester material used now available on many different styles.
You should also think about whether to invest in quality items that are durable, and will last many years, rather than a cheaper item, that may only have a single use.
Get in touch with the Steel City team, and we can guide you to the ideal eco-friendly branded choices.
Read our RPET Promotional Products Blog Here. and Best Recycled Promotional Products Blog Here.
5. Think About Your Space
Think about how people will use the space and map out the flow of clients around your stand. Ensure that your stand is accessible to those with disabilities.
Make sure you keep your layout open and inviting. If you overcrowd your stand with too many products or information, it can be off-putting and may actually make visitors not approach you.
Will you need seating or a counter area in order to discuss your offering, or take down information? Make sure you don’t block off areas and that your sales team are always accessible.
If you need to display lots of products, look at the best way to display them, do you need shelving or cabinets? Also consider how much additional space you will need for visitors to view and interact with your products. Try and provide focal points, and if you have a large stand area, you could think about areas that provide comfort and refreshments.
6. Engage With Interactive Experiences
Can you offer product demonstrations or display videos of your products/service or even customer testimonials? If so, it’s a great way to showcase your products or services in action.
Or can you invest in a fun game, puzzle or challenge? By offering an interactive experience, you will not only capture attendees interest but also create a memorable association with your brand.
7. Plan Your Promotional Giveaways
Promotional giveaways are high up on many delegates lists when visiting a tradeshow or event. They are a great way to attract attention to your stand, provide an instant reflection of your brand identity and will remind potential clients of your business long after the event itself.
Promotional gifts are often low down on the ‘to-do’ list, but by planning in time to getting the product and design right, you are much more likely to see a positive return on investment. (Remember to incorporate the lead times to manufacture branded merchandise too).
Make sure your giveaways are memorable and relevant. From sweets and treats with your logo, to stylish branded drinkware and technology, there are many different types of gifts depending on your budget. You can read more about this on our exhibition page.
8. Utilise Technology
Enhance your visitor experience at your stand by incorporating technology. Sometimes people need a bit of time take in new information at a stand. This is where technology can help. Consider touch screens loaded with interactive brochures, pdfs, videos and digital contact forms. you could even link to a competition entry. You could also use QR Codes on your branded signage or promotional gifts, that direct visitors to your website or social media platforms for more information. VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) are becoming more widely accessible and affordable, and could make for a high impact statement at your next event.
9. Encourage Networking
One of the main objectives for delegates to attend exhibitions and trade shows is to network and make genuine business relationships. By facilitating networking at your stand, you will be more likely to encourage people to you. This in turn gives you an opportunity to connect with new prospects, and will also associate your company with being generous and helpful.
Ways you could encourage networking would be through a dedicated area within your stand layout, maybe with seating or tables. Or, you could use an interactive gaming experience to draw people together, including a scoreboard to keep everyone up to date on social media. Promotional giveaways and prizes are another way to get attendees connecting both in person and on social media (remember to include hashtags and QR codes).
10. Train Your Team
Your sales team are often overlooked when planning an event or exhibition. They play a crucial role in representing your business. Make sure you provide thorough training on your products and services as well as how to best engage and interact with attendees. There is nothing worse than an overly aggressive sales pitch.
It’s important to share the aim and objective of the event and set clear expectations of their role on the day. From products/services to focus on, to what clothes they are expected to wear and when they will have their breaks. Friendly and knowledgeable staff can make or break the success of the event, and they will leave a lasting impression on visitors. By sharing with your team how much an investment the event is, they are more likely to be motivated to make it a success.
Another way to help incentivise your team for good performance is by rewarding them. What about offering a prize, vouchers or even time off?!
11. Follow Up
Have a plan in place for following up on any contacts or leads promptly after the show. It’s easy to let the follow up process slip after the main event, but ensure you have the staff in place to answer any enquiries and offer guidance and advice. Whether it’s through phone calls, emails or social media, staying in touch will make sure the relationship is nurtured, and will ultimately help to convert leads into sales.
Conference Stand FAQs:
Q: How can I attract visitors to my exhibition stand?
A: Make sure you do some marketing before the event. Both to your existing clients to let them know you are going, as well as potential clients. You could offer an incentive of a prize draw, special promotions or promotional freebies. Higher value promotional gifts could be a good way to tempt your existing clients to visit your stand. Offer one-to-one meetings, as well as letting them know about your stand activities, and what they will get from visiting you.
Another way to promote your attendance at an exhibition is be writing a press release and sending to relevant industry publications. You could also get some local coverage.
You can use social media channels to create a buzz pre-show and during the show, and subsequently attract more delegates to your stand. Remember to include any official event hashtags and engage with any other posts and conversations surrounding the event. This will help to get your brand recognised and give a reason for people to come and see you. Promote your offerings and keep people up-to-date on any live demonstrations, contests or prizes you are running.
Don’t forget to continue marketing after the event itself. Utilise blog posts, e-newsletters and social media to remind everyone of your stand and company.
Q: How much space do I need for my conference stand?
A: This depends on your budget, and subsequently the amount of floor space you have available. It will also depend on the flow of your space and what you would like your visitors to do on your stand. In general, aim for a space that allows for easy navigation around your stand, and will facilitate interaction with attendees. The standard space size at exhibitions is 3m x 3m (9m square).
Q: How much should I budget for a conference stand?
This really depends on what it is you are trying to achieve, the space you are wanting to fill and what elements of design you are incorporating. A conference stand can cost as little as £80 up to £50,000 or more.
Start with the costs of the event itself, so the price for the exhibition floor space. This can range considerably depending on what size space you have, where it is located, as well as the demand to exhibit at the event. If it isn’t included in the price of exhibiting at the event, you may also want to think about whether you need an external company to assemble your stand and signage.
Next look at the costs of everything you will have at your conference stand. So any lighting, flooring, audio-visual equipment, furniture, signage and banners.
Just taking branded banners for instance, there is a huge scope of options for you to consider. Off-the-shelf banners can range from as little as £79.99 for a standard single sided pull up roller banner. Costs can increase depending on what size, shape, the number of print colours and of course the quality of the product. Banners can come with inbuilt LED lighting, have curved frames and include the ability to add TV screens into them. If you need any help deciding what type of branded banner is right for your brand, our experienced team would be happy to guide you through the options.
Another aspect to budget for is any interactive games or technology you want on your stand, promotional giveaways and prizes too!
Don’t forget transportation costs to and from the event, will you need to hire a van? Accommodation costs and of course stand staff costs all have to be taken into account in your budget.
Lastly, look to include costs for marketing the event. Whether that is with physical flyers, posters and invitations, business cards or digital advertising. It’s always wise to have a bit of space in your budget for any miscellaneous costs that might occur.
The costs can add up, but the best way to think about it, is that it is an investment in your brand and many elements can be reused time and time again.
Q: Are there cost-effective ways to design a conference stand?
A: If you are on a budget, look to design your conference stand yourself. You can source modular displays, banner stands and even branded furniture from distributors like Steel City who can select cost-effective options. Remember, it’s always wise to choose a smaller, quality stand that will last longer and be used at more events. If you want to use your stand at other exhibitions, make sure your artwork isn’t promoting a specific new product or service launch that may not be new in a year or two time.
You could look to rent furniture rather than buying it and choose simple LED lighting rather than all singing and dancing lights to keep your exhibition stand budget-friendly. Prioritise impactful branding and visuals that can be re-used for multiple events, rather than extravagant items that will take up most of your budget.
In summary, setting up a conference stand for trade shows, exhibitions or events requires careful planning and clear objectives in order to get the most out of your marketing investment. We hope the above 9 tips will guide and help you to start the process of creating a successful exhibition stand, maximise your presence, attract more visitors to your stand and in turn, achieve your event goals.
With the right strategy and execution, you can make your conference stand not only look great, but also be a vehicle to set your business apart from the competition.
If you would like any further guidance on your branded signage or promotional merchandise, please get in touch with our experienced team. We are a 40year BPMA approved distributor, and offer a dedicated account manager, free visuals and a price comparison on like for like quotes.
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