Your company wants to participate in a trade show and you have been put in charge of providing and organizing the event. After the initial horror of being responsible for such a large-scale event passes, the question arises: “How to build an exhibition stand. Judging by the fact that you’re reading this article, you’ve started a Google search for “Ready or complete guide to build an exhibition booth.” We’ve been waiting for this, so we’ve prepared exactly what you’ve been looking for.
Congratulations on the responsible position of organizing an international trade show! Leave your doubts behind, even if it’s your first time having such an event, we’ll help you get it right the first time.
To build or not to build an exhibition stand
We do not doubt that you and your team have already answered all the questions related to the need for your organization to participate in this exhibition. That’s why the decision to participate has been approved and there’s no turning back. But, let’s answer once again the fundamentally important questions you should ask yourself before your final decision to build an exhibition booth. Below you will find a short list of questions, don’t skip this paragraph, maybe you and your team, have overlooked something.
- What will be the positive result of the event?
- How will you know that the result is as you planned?
- How many times should your sales increase after the exhibition? Or how many contracts with distributors do you plan to sign? Or how many people should see your new product? Here, each company chooses its business objective.
- What kind of customers or partners are you looking for? It should be wholesalers, retailers, small businessmen, regular people, concerned directors, warehouse managers, and so on. In short, who is your target audience, and will they be at the show?
- Will you be demonstrating your product at your stand? If it simply won’t fit physically at the stand, how do you plan to show it to guests?
- How will you gather contact information on those people who are interested in your products or services at the booth?
- How much money do you plan to allocate for participation in the trade show event?
- How much time or several transactions will it take to recoup your investment? Describe three ROI options for your planned event: a worst-case scenario, an average that you are happy with, and an unexpectedly great scenario. Are you happy with the numbers? Do they look realistic?
- Do you have enough time (at least 6 months) to begin the process of preparing for the upcoming trade show?
Now that the last few doubts are dispelled and you have answered all the questions, you should build an exhibition booth and participate in the exhibition!
If you represent a large company or a brand with a history, even without answering these questions, you can argue that you should build an exhibition booth. After all, in your case, you do not necessarily need to increase sales thanks to this event. Much more important for you to brand yourself and be where your competitors are bound to show up.
Now, it’s time to move on to “How to build an exhibition stand ready to guide.
7 tips to design and construct an exhibition booth
The decision has been made, the exhibition is on, and you are the main person who organizes the whole process and will coordinate the construction of the exhibition booth.
Preparing for an exhibition consists of two main parts. The first part is the creation of the design and overall concept of the exhibition and the construction of the exhibition stand. The second part is planning the interaction at the booth to get the result for which you organized this exhibition.
Let’s deal with the first part
Choosing a location for the construction of the booth.
With the country and city, you have probably decided. Now it remains to choose where exactly your exhibition booth will be located. Yes, as usual, money rules, and you will be placed wherever the budget allocated for the lease of the exhibition space allows. But no one has ever canceled the communication with the organizer of the exhibition. Be sure to request a floor plan. Study it and find out whether there are any supporting columns or air conditioning directly above your future structure, whether the visitors will be able to reach your stand or will be stuck somewhere with your competitors, and so on. Location is very important, because some booths are not accessible to people, despite the excellent and attractive design.
Determine which areas you need at your future booth.
Before you set a task for the designer, you need to determine for yourself which work areas you want to place on the booth. Be aware of space limitations, if you have any. Think about whether you need an enclosed meeting room, whether you will be demonstrating your products on-site, how much space they will take up at the stand, whether you need a pantry or staff room, how many information desks you need, and whether there will be space for a bar counter. These important elements will help with organizing logistics at the stand directly during the exhibition. Also, information on mandatory areas at the stand should be given to the designer who will draw the exhibition stand, or to the construction company if it will make the design for you.
Give the sketch of your future exhibition stand to a specialized stand designer.
In case you didn’t know, the design of exhibition stands is drawn by a special designer. Not every designer can draw designs for future exhibition stand designs. Because even if you like the design, the production may simply not bring it to life, because it will be too fantastic and suitable only for a picture on the computer. Booth designers should know all these nuances so that later you did not throw your money away. It is advisable to tell the designer the amount of the budget you plan to spend on building the booth because you must agree that the designer’s imagination can outweigh the builders’ ability to use cheap materials or find exclusive decorations depicted in the picture.
Give the finished design to the developer of the exhibition stands.
From there, it’s simple – you give the design to the exhibition agency. The best solution would be if the builder draws your design himself, taking into account all the nuances of the future development, your floor plan, and the budget you have. If you are satisfied with the amount for the construction of the chosen design, you negotiate the terms of the project and strike a deal. At this stage, you as a project manager will communicate with an employee of the company developer and clarify the nuances of preparation and implementation of the project. If the exhibition stand builder provides you with project management services, you’re in luck! 80% of all your work will fall on the contractor’s shoulders.
Arrange for the necessary equipment to be rented and installed at the booth during installation.
Did your design include elements or equipment not provided by the stand builder? Then you will have to find contractors yourself and arrange for timely delivery and installation at the exhibition stand. We, for example, provide this service for you ourselves. It is our task to find everything that will be depicted in your design and arrange for a timely installation. We will let you know how our business is progressing in this direction.
Stand logistics to the fairgrounds and installation of the structure.
The booth is built, it’s time to deliver it to the fairgrounds and assemble it. This stage of work is usually done by an exhibition stand builder, your main task will be to control the deadlines and communicate with the responsible manager on the contractor’s side. Come to stand construction 1-2 days before the exhibition opens. You may need to supervise the progress of the work and correct some shortcomings, which are always unavoidable during the installation of the actual exhibition booth.
Management of the booth construction process.
This is not a separate point in our recommendations. It is a process that permeates all steps in the construction of an exhibit booth. Communication and deadline control will be your main responsibility until the end of the exhibition and summing up the results of your participation. If you have any questions, we can always advise you on how to solve this or that problem.
Interaction with visitors at the exhibition stand
The second part of a successful international trade show is communication with visitors to attract them to your booth and interact with your products. This stage is just as important as the construction of the exhibition stand. And the budget for attracting guests can be the same as for the construction itself.
We described the most interesting ideas in the article “Creative trade show booth ideas for your next trade fair“, so you can read and use the ones that suit your exhibition stand and the goals that your marketing department set for you.
The main thing is to be creative and try different approaches. There is no single correct recipe for a successful exhibition. Each company is unique and inimitable. All that you can read somewhere, exactly for your company will be recommendatory. Maybe what worked well for some, will show poor results for you. So, study the experience of other companies, but do it the way your personal experience tells you and your marketing department tells you. Good luck at the show, you will succeed!
Anton Udovenko
Project manager
