Secure a Great Location

My Trade Show Rule #2: Secure a Great Location.

In my years of experience with trade shows, everyone wants a high traffic 10' x 10' booth area at the front of the show or in a major cross-over aisle. We sometimes call this the highway. Most trade show operators know this and offer their biggest booth properties here hoping to secure the big brands into those booths.

Many companies like to locate near a specific exhibitor, or on a corner, near a washroom, close to “the big booths”, a “busy booth" or close to food concessions. Other companies like to maintain their spot from previous years.

But why is securing a good location important? Simply because when it comes to trade show marketing more visitors to your booth is better. However, the fact is that attendees will only visit 20-25 booths at a major trade event and your booth location should be used as a competitive advantage.

So how can you ensure the best location for your booth? My advice to clients:

Know the system. Most trade show organizations use a point system to assign the booths for the next edition of the show. Generally the more you spend at a show, the more points you earn and you'll have more choice on booth location.

Join the association. Find out if being a member will give you more points and get you a better booth location, consider joining the association. Understand what membership can do for you.

Be flexible. It has happened that I’ve arrived at the show and our booth position has been changed. This can happen; the layout may have changed a bit and now the flow is not there or there is a huge obstruction in your way. Can you move your booth? Can you remove the obstruction? Is there a booth where someone didn’t show that you could move to? All good reasons to get to the show early and engage with show management.

Think next year. At this year's show, start thinking about the next version of the show and make arrangements to ensure someone from your team is going to pick the best spot given your criteria. The show operator will often pre-select or use a proxy system to pick a booth for you if you cannot be there for the actual booth “draw”.

Make sure the ROI is there. Trade show marketing is a long game. You will have good shows, bad shows and great shows. Remember that picking up one new client can pay for years of trade show exhibiting. I have often seen managers and owners making emotional decisions about trade show marketing without true facts: “That show sucked!”. But did it? Make sure that you have a system to keep track of wins, losses and draws from trade show marketing so that you have facts to back up whether the show did suck or you got a $4 million dollar order from a show lead. Too many times these metrics are not shared with decision-makers.

Watch for my next post on Trade Show Rule #3, Creating a Trade Show Plan.

Like this post? Like, comment and share, tell me about your experience. How has your booth position made a difference to your exhibiting experience?