Want to get more people into your trade show booth? Yes, you do, because a crowded booth creates buzz and attracts still more people, and a certain number of those will end up being qualified prospects.
You can do a lot to influence traffic with the design of the booth itself. Do: allow for a seamless flow of traffic from the show floor into your booth… so people can find themselves inside your booth without expecting it. This means minimizing the use of registration kiosks that throw up a barrier. Do: use people imagery in your booth signage, especially people who make eye contact with passers by.
Don’t: put kiosks in the far corners of a large booth. They create a desert island effect, making your booth look empty even when it isn’t. And especially don’t: put up walls or barricades of any kind that people have to pass through to get into the booth. They simply won’t do it and your trade show will be an unsuccessful and lonely experience.
You can also build traffic prior to the event by inviting customers, prospects whose contact information you have collected, and possibly registered attendees (depending on how much it costs you to use the list, it could be a good deal or not) to come to the booth and get something specific with solid perceived value: a new research report on trends in your industry, for example. Don’t invite them just to check out your new product line, that’s not a strong enough call to action. A drawing or bring-this-postcard-for-a-free-gift will also work, though as with other soft offers this means more response but less quality.
hey Otis,
Great advice. I think you know more than many of the trade show “industry experts”. I agree with your point on avoiding physical barriers for entering your booth space. It pains me to see the smaller exhibitors want to have a table across the front of their booth space, then they reach across it to shake hands or talk to people. They should read your post! Steve Booth