Friday, October 24, 2008

Choosing a trade show booth that reflects your corporate style

By Eric Lindmeier

Picking out a portable trade show booth for your company can be a difficult and challenging endeavor. Follow these simple hints and suggestions to make your booth selection process go more smoothly.

When your company participates in a trade show, your trade show booth says more about your corporate image than you might imagine. How you're represented makes an impact on important people in your industry - the people who make the decisions. It's important to make the best impression you can but how? You need a professionally designed trade show booth that grabs attention - in a positive way.

But with so many options to choose from, how do you choose which booth is right for you? There are so many sizes, so many details to consider counters, workstations, display areas, banners, wings how do you decide? Consider these three details: size, style and price.

Trade show booths come in all shapes and sizes: You can go with a small 10x10-foot booth or a monster 30x100-foot booth that will dwarf all the surrounding displays. You can even splurge on an extravagant 50x50-foot booth. Of course, the booth you select (or design) will ultimately rest on the needs of your business, its overall corporate style and budgetary constraints.

There are nearly as many styles to choose from as there are companies participating in trade shows. You can get a simple booth with a backdrop and maybe wings on either side and perhaps a countertop or two. Or you can go all out and custom design a really elaborate booth with display areas, conference space and a reception foyer.

Whatever style you decide upon, it's crucial that your trade show booth be approachable. You don't want to spend thousands of dollars on something that's so intimidating it'll keep people away in droves. Be sure the style of your booth reflects well your company culture, products and goals.

Trade show booths come in all shapes and sizes and that means they come with all size price tags. But, just because you may be on a budget, doesn't mean you can't design a nice trade show booth in the $400-500 range.

But, if you're looking to go really high end, how about custom designing a portable trade show booth with the potential to eat all the others alive? For about $240,000, you can get a custom-made double-deck booth with every imaginable feature. Okay, so maybe you're not the marketing director for Citigroup or Goldman Sachs. Let's think a little smaller.

However, somewhere between "bare bones" and "wildly outlandish" lies a grey area that comfortably encompasses many companies' marketing budgets. This mid range includes a variety of nicely equipped booths that can appropriately depict your company's style and corporate image without putting a huge dent in your budget.

Regardless of the size and style of booth you design or select, be sure it appropriately represents your business and your industry. If you choose well, you will have a portable trade show booth you can proudly depend on for many years to come.

When shopping for your trade show booth, be sure to check out the idea gallery at Expo Marketing (www.expomarketing.com) for inspiration and suggestions. The design pros at Expo Marketing can work with you to design the booth that's just right for you. - 15431

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