Creative lighting for your trade show booth is sure to lure more visitors. On the other hand, a poorly lit exhibit detracts from the trade show exhibit space and can leave it largely ignored. Your trade show lighting professional can use dramatic illumination techniques to create a show stopping effect or simply use lighting to highlight graphics and/or products.
It is essential for the lighting designer to know the exhibitor's goals, exhibit design and budget before presenting lighting options. Once this is established, the trade show lighting professional can offer multiple options to maximize the visual appeal of the exhibit display.
By innovative use of different types of lighting, the same trade show booth can have a completely different look, effect and mood. There is a wide range of lighting choices ranging from a simple clamp on arm, to high quality fluorescent lighting, track or rail lighting, recessed lighting or fully programmable, changing color LED lighting fixtures.
Each of these forms of illumination serves a different purpose. The selection of the proper lighting product is therefore based on what effect the exhibitor desires to achieve.
For example, in the more decorative trade show booth using tension fabric, the fully programmable, changing color LED lighting creates a dynamic, dramatic effect that is certain to draw the attention of trade show attendees.
For a clean appearance in the same trade show booth, very white fluorescent lighting works well. If, however, dramatic shadows are desired, certain types of targeted track lighting may be preferred. Quality clamp on arm lights can be versatile enough to deliver good white light on focal points or to wash lighting evenly on backwalls. High quality white light ensures that colors and graphics are accurately displayed. Since light can also alter color, it is essential that your white light renders consistent and true color.
Keep in mind that when searching for the right lighting effect, there are a number of price options that can help you reach your goals. Be mindful that there are rental options available for very high end lighting that may be an appropriate way to satisfy your trade show budget constraints.
Rob Cohen, Vice President/Owner of Display Supply & Lighting, Inc. of Itasca, Illinois, offers examples of how a professional trade show lighting company can help you avoid two of the more common exhibit mistakes. They are:
1. Be aware of the electrical codes, capabilities and constraints in exhibit halls. Find out in advance what is allowed or disallowed in the convention hall to meet local lighting requirements. Find out requirements for exhibit halls whether they be the McCormick Convention Center in Chicago, the Kaiser Convention Center in Oakland, the Moscone Center in San Francisco, the Las Vegas Convention Center, the San Jose and Santa Clara Convention Centers, etc.
Be sure your trade show booth lighting products meet the exhibit hall's specified criteria for trade show exhibitors. For example, trade show halls require 3- wire grounded plugs on all lighting fixtures at the trade show. These fixtures are not commonly available at large volume box stores.
2. Scope out the location of the exhibitor's trade show site.
This is important as not all types of light bulbs are allowed in some facilities. Recent regulations restrict a couple of major conference facilities from using certain types of light bulbs often for safety reasons.
Cohen says it is critical that your exhibit house either understand their lighting options or have a relationship with a company that can advise them on trade show lighting opportunities and concerns.
Remember, lighting can either attract or detract visitors to your trade show booth. It is best to know what your exhibit display emphasis is and what your lighting options are before you design a lighting system for your trade show display.
When planning your trade show marketing program, one of the important things to consider is the series of handouts you will make available to your booth visitors. Full color printed materials are by far your best bet when it comes to trade show handouts. But how do you maximize the impact of such a traditional item?
You've spent significant money on staff training, beautiful graphics, and a professionally designed display. The traffic is pouring through your booth. But will they still remember you tomorrow?
Let's face it, you only have two chances to make your message stick with your booth visitors: your follow-up strategy, and your handouts. Will your handouts make it past the waste basket? Are they an integral part of your follow-up strategy?
Let's be clear here. We're not talking about handing out sexy things like cds, yoyos, ball caps, t-shirts, or beer mugs. Those things have their place, but this is not it. Right now we're talking about getting a piece of product literature into the hands of your prospects and hoping it doesn't get chucked into the garbage can just outside the exhibition hall.
** Why product literature?
Product literature is always the "go to" handout because printed pieces of paper or card stock are cheap. And done correctly they can be more effective, have more staying power, and certainly communicate more about your actual product than things like hats or pens.
So what makes a memorable piece of product literature -- one that a prospective customer will keep? Here are a few suggestions.
** Don't be cheap when it comes to graphic design
A cheap one colour flier may save you money in the short run, but it is much more likely to be pitched into the waste basket. On the other hand, you probably don't need an expensive multi-page brochure. The first one is "underkill", and the second is "overkill". Do an attractive, simple advertising piece that has catchy graphics and a clear statement of "the pitch".
** Use full colour and use striking photographs
Create a striking headline and don't just do a description of the product. Create a "benefit-rich" statement that focuses on some significant customer-oriented benefit of your product.
For example, you can create a headline that says "Powerful Front End Loaders from Mega Loaders", or you can say, "Get the Job Done in Record Time for Half the Price." Which one would you look at?
** Content matters - make a substantial offer
By content we mean the pitch...the offer. Create an offer they cannot discard or ignore. Give something substantial away if they fill in an inquiry form. Or tie your offer in with your website. Create a valuable special offer they can only access online. Put it in the form of a "valuable coupon", something like this:
"Get $40 off your next purchase when your register on line."
This encourages your prospects to keep the handout, and also encourages them to respond by going to your website and having another close look at your special offer. What could be better? An automatic followup strategy.
** Give them something they will keep
Often a business card is the best. Everybody keeps business cards. Often we keep them long after the person has left the company or the company has ceased to exist. Most of us have a little (or big) pile of business cards. And some of us have a drawer full of them. A few of us even have them carefully sorted in a Rolodex.
Make your business card stand out from the crowd. Spend a little extra and do it in full color. Put a photo of your product on it, or use a striking photo that illustrates the benefits of your product. This says "credibility" -- "this company is for real".
In other words, business cards -- especially full color cards -- are good. You might even consider a "double whammy" full color perforated post card / business card combination. The 3.5" x 6" (or whatever) postcard contains a coupon type offer, and the attached (perforated) business card can be neatly torn off and kept in your pile, drawer, or Rolodex.
Remember to make your printed handouts memorable, creative, and substantial and enough people will keep them to pay you back many times over for the bit of extra cost involved.
Both Dick Wheeler & Rick Hendershot are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Dick Wheeler has sinced written about articles on various topics from Trade Show Exhibit, Trade Shows and Trade Show Exhibit. Dick Wheeler is President of Professional Exhibits & Graphics, headquartered in Sunnyvale, California with a showroom in Sacramento. Firm is full-service premiere trade show exhibit, graphics and management services company.. Dick Wheeler's top article generates over 22200 views. to your Favourites.