30 Trade Show Booth Design Ideas to Attract Visitors

Long before you ever set foot in a convention center, you’ll need to set up a strategy about why you’re attending the event and what you hope to get out of it. Don’t assume that you’ll set up a booth and start connecting with people to make sales. A classic article from Harvard Business Review established that you should always consider your selling objectives and non-selling objectives to inform your marketing strategy, booth design and how you’ll measure your overall success.

Which objectives you focus on will be determined by your immediate business goals and the nature of the trade show or exposition that you’ll be attending. If you’re hoping to make contacts and make sales, then you’ll need to ensure that you have the tools to collect contact information and enough products to meet demand. If you’re more concerned about establishing your brand and informing customers about your products, then you’ll need to carefully consider how your booth design promotes your brand and provide materials with detailed information about your company and products.

When you establish your key goals, always keep them in front of mind as you design, develop and run your trade show booth.

1. Have a design that’s purposeful and representative of your brand. Your design, which includes materials and choice of colors, should clearly state your brand identity at a glance. Your layout shouldn’t hide or obscure anything, but instead make it instantly clear what problem your product solves or services it provides. Consider how you can visually showcase ideas so that any show attendee can have at least a general idea of your product or service and how it can be used for their own benefit.

Not every brand can be as identifiable as the Polar Express, but this booth still takes care to design a layout, design and color choice that reinforces its brand.

2. Review and plan around the trade show schedule. Every trade show will have some mix of events, speakers, performances and classes for people to attend. If you’re going to have events of your own, plan them around the major headline happenings — you don’t want to hold yours at the same time that a major speaker or presentation is onstage. Alternatively, if you’re going to be short on staff, then plan to go down to a skeleton crew during those events to ensure you’re fully staffed during the rest of the show.

3. Try to secure a high traffic area. If possible, request a booth location that’s away from the outer edges of the venue — you want to be as close to the main flow of traffic as possible. If you can’t get to the main walkway, then look for areas where you can be on the way to important points of interest like exits, food vendors or restrooms.

4. Optimize your 10×10 booth layout. If you have a 10×10 booth, then try to secure a corner location. This will provide you with two open sides to engage with attendees, allowing your employees to interact with more people at one time.

5. Determine if you’re able to cover parts of the floor. Every usable space counts, including the trade show floor. If you’re allowed to place floor decals with your logo or customized mats, then you may catch someone’s attention who would have otherwise overlooked your booth.

6. Get the word out ahead of time on social media. Promote, promote, promote. Announce your attendance ahead of time and post hints and teases about what you’ll have at the trade show. Share “behind the scenes” previews of what you’ll be doing at the show. Use the event’s corresponding hashtags to reach the widest possible audience. And then, during the show itself, post regular live updates to keep the hype train rolling.

As for how your booth will actually look and function, here’s some helpful ideas for attracting attention and winning over new contacts

1. Invite people in and make them feel comfortable. There’s not a lot of seating at trade shows, so seating is always welcome. Warm, inviting textures and colors like natural wood will help attendees feel more welcome. If space allows, have an area off to the side that provides some privacy. Even just hanging some fabric can be effective in providing a quiet space away from the hustle of the show floor.

Few spaces are more inviting than a local pub, and the the set up of this display is an open invitation for anyone walking by to sit and chat about your products and services.

2. Make your space more inviting with natural elements. Most convention centers aren’t the most inviting spaces. Employing a biophilic design concept can make an area more inviting and appealing. See how your booth design can bring in natural elements like flowers or plants or use natural textures such as wood and stone for walls and flooring.

3. Brand everything. Yes, everything. Try to ensure that everything within your booth, from tables and chairs to water bottles and napkins, have your company’s name on them. Especially items that attendees may take from your booth, such as pens or bags.

4. Bring your own lighting. The convention center’s lighting may not be sufficient to illuminate your booth and is usually flat and dull. Look into bringing your own LED lighting so you can portray everything in the best light possible, especially important areas such as product displays.

5. Go big with letters. Don’t feel shy about using the largest possible font for your branding and promotional materials. Whether you’re hanging a custom banner, or using vinyl or large yard letters, you want your name and message to be easily seen and understood from a distance.

6. Brainstorm how to use unique display designs or accent walls. Any unique design element can be eye catching, which can help draw attention to your booth. Even a splash of color or the unique textures provided by a single accent wall are simple booth ideas that can attract visitors.

Flowing water is an excellent choice for an eye-catching natural element. Combined with this stone accent wall, it’s a can’t-miss display that feels relaxing and inviting.

7. Use the space above you. It’s not just the floor that can serve as extra promotional space. Whether you’re building a tall display, hoisting flags or bringing in balloons and inflatables, find ways to rise above the rest of the attendees. If you have the means, you can even inquire if you’re able to hang something from the rafters.

Now that your booth is up and running, how can you pull in more visitors and engage attendees? Here’s some interactive trade show booth ideas.

1. Put your best customer facing employees to work. The primary goal of the trade show is face-to-fact interactions, so why wouldn’t you have your most experienced customer service personnel manning your booth? If that would put you understaffed in other areas during the trade show, then consider hiring outside help.

2. Provide helpful things that people need. People attending trade shows are always looking for water, snacks and charging stations. Offering any of those items, or other helpful things like bags and pens, can help draw in attendees. These items can keep your staff comfortable as well. Remember idea #9 and brand your items. You can also try to tie them into your brand or to a product you offer.

3. Set up a photo area. Attendees are there for an experience, and giving them spaces where they want to take pictures and then share on social media is not just helpful for getting attention, it can also work as free marketing. Be Instagram friendly and have a specific hashtag for the event and promote it on your own social media accounts, that way your visitors can use it and promote it as well.

This archway is more than just great branding and a cool sight, it’s a perfect spot for a selfie.

4. Have small promotional materials to give away. Aside from helpful materials like water bottles, bring smaller promotional materials like stickers, pins and custom magnets. We can’t stress enough the importance of branded bags — trade show attendees always need ways to hold all of their swag.

5. Have a limited-time or special offer. People love limited time offers, so offering a “convention only” discount or special offer can get people excited and bring in more attendees.

6. Have interactive elements. The more that you can give attendees something to do at your booth, the more you can draw them in and keep their attention. Elements such as educational material, surveys, games and timed giveaways can spread the word about your booth and bring in more attendees.

Interactive displays are always attention-getting, and having this display framed as a miniature house makes it a unique element that passersby can’t help but notice.

7. Don’t overdesign. We’ve looked at a lot of things you can do, but here’s what you don’t want to do — stuff your booth with a mess of loud colors, loud noises or other distracting elements. Cramming as much as possible within a space not only looks messy, it can actually distract from your message and turn off potential contacts. Remember tip #1 — your design needs to be purposeful. Keep your goals in mind and have focal points to draw attention to the most important part of your booth.

If money wasn’t an object, then we’d all have the most incredibly designed booths complete with giveaways and performances. The truth is that, especially with the rise in the cost of goods, there isn’t always a budget to do everything. Here are some ideas on how you could do more with less.

1. Save and reuse previous trade show elements. Don’t feel that you have to reinvent the wheel every time you attend a trade show. Rearrange your layout depending on the context of the trade show, and give your booth materials a fresh coat of paint or cover with a new set of faux wall panels.

2. Make use of excess building materials. Don’t feel like you have to purchase new materials or hardware to set up a booth. Making clever use of existing materials can provide you with new design options. For example, using wooden pallets can set up areas and bring a rustic design element to your booth.

3. Purchase modular materials that can be customized. Speaking of reusing materials, rather than investing in static booth layouts, pick up modular materials like block walls that can be rearranged and repurposed for different designs and booth layouts.

4. Consider a unique 10×10 design. If you have just a 10×10 space to work with, consider a unique layout for your booth. A circular or triangular layout can make for a more interesting or inviting space. Or you can try to design your booth to emulate a specific style of structure.

A thoughtful approach to design can create trade show booth styles that emulate unique structures like country farm stands.

5. Place shelves where possible. Building shelves for your booth can allow you to display more products and make more use of the available space.

Trade shows are busy places and everyone is vying for attention. One of the most effective ways to stand out is through the use of interactive elements. As attendees see motion, hear music or sound or even smell something intriguing, they’re more likely to take notice of your booth.

1. Make use of both sound and smell. Even if you can’t afford live performances, consider having some ambient music playing. A diffuser can also project pleasant smells that may attract attention.

The smell of fresh bread is sure to draw attention. Granted, not every display can have baked goods, but you can try to have other pleasant scents in your space.

2. Make use of gamification to increase engagement. Gamification is the process of utilizing video concepts like earning achievements. Encouraging people to engage in activities or events that involve competing against other attendees or winning things can keep bringing them back to your booth. You could even incorporate a leaderboard that lists attendees “points” to drive engagement.

3. Ensure that all video or other media reinforces your goals. It can be tempting to make use of flashy videos to attract attention, but they can often be more of a distraction. Ensure that any and all video and interactive elements tie into your overall plan and purpose for being there.

4. Have live demonstrations and presentations. Set a schedule for attendees to know when it’s a good time to visit your booth. If possible, bring in a featured speaker or special guest to drive attendance.

5. Ask for and solicit feedback from attendees. Getting insights about what attendees liked about your booth — and what they would have liked to have seen or experienced — will help you optimize plans for future shows. There’s also the importance of following up with contacts. Ensure that you reach out to people in a timely manner to answer questions and provide requested information.

The best trade show booth designs take a thoughtful and strategic approach to how they’re designed, the content you offer and how your employees will attend it. If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to create a custom trade show booth that’s eye-catching and inviting, consider Texture Plus faux wall panels as a simple and easy way to design your booth.

Every example shown above makes use of our faux wall panels. Not only are they less expensive than the real materials, they’re easier to install and will provide you with hundreds of options that mimic real wood, stone, brick and other natural textures.

Interested in more information? Contact us for more information or order a free sample kit.