Exhibition stand design & build - Sleek secrets to attract visitors to your stand!

Considering taking a stand at an exhibition? Of course, you know that your target customers are attending in their droves, but you'll be vying for their attention in a crowded and highly competitive space.

At Sleek, we have delivered entire exhibitions for tens of thousands across the globe and created individual stands for the world's most recognisable brands; our extensive knowledge of the exhibition environment has given us a unique insight into making an impact at any budget. 

The key is considering your exhibition stand design and build from your target audience's perspective, not just your brand goals.

And that’s only half of it. Once they’re on your stand, you need to impress upon them the unique values of your product within a limited time frame.

With these goals in mind, here’s our guide on how you can engage your target audience and ensure they’ll be talking about your brand long after the exhibition has ended.

Human by design

Your exhibition stand design and build must attract the right people, so we always recommend considering this from a primarily human point of view. It’s critical first to consider what your target audience love. What products do they buy? What places do they like to visit? If you are in the technology sector, you may take design inspiration from the products and places they aspire to; clean lines, smooth surfaces and very high-resolution digital imagery combined with your brand identity would be naturally appealing. 

One essential aspect we always impart to clients is to create an inviting space that isn’t overly crowded with elements; include what’s required but be selective, as stands with too much going on can be off-putting to visitors. 

If your target audience prioritises sustainability, you should consider this in your build materials. In addition, greenery can be genuinely attractive, and there are endless creative ways to incorporate this into your exhibition stand design and build. Finally, remember to factor in noise cancelling if you have meeting rooms on your stand -  a fabric ceiling can sometimes be all that’s needed to ensure the conversations that matter can take place without having to shout above the noise!

Lighting is everything

Exhibitions tend to feature bright lighting - provide a contrast by illuminating your stand in a softer light that is both welcoming and attractive to visitors. This then provides the basis to utilise either spotlights or backlighting to create an impact on branding, key messages, products or even areas. Being creative with lighting and colour contrast can dramatically elevate your exhibition stand design.

Stand Tall 

Incorporating height creates prestige, and an exhibition stand design with a tall, branded structure will project your presence across the entire exhibition with dramatic effect. A moving LED wall can be particularly eye-catching! As previously mentioned, you want to avoid too many elements crammed onto the stand floor; building upwards allows you to add additional areas, such as hospitality or meeting rooms, without appearing too busy. Unfortunately, exhibitors often miss this fantastic opportunity when planning their exhibition stand design and build.

Get Moving 

An exhibition stand design that utilises movement naturally attracts the human eye. This can be as simple as changing imagery on digital screens to rotating stand elements or product turntables. Movement makes your stand (and, therefore, your brand) feel dynamic, which is always attractive to visitors.

Think Social

Your exhibitions stand and build design can attract your audience before they even set foot in the building! With social media, you can showcase exactly what’s happening at your stand, so your target audience knows where to head when arriving. That’s why it’s critical to ensure your design incorporates appealing elements that make it a must-visit. Not only that, if your exhibition stand design and build is visually striking, you’ll find visitors want to post it to their followers - providing access to a whole new audience outside the exhibition! Lastly, creating media from your exhibition stands can provide social content for the coming weeks and months, especially if you are conducting product demonstrations.

Pick Me Up

Exhibitions mean long days with high step counts for visitors. Incorporating a branded pick-me-up, such as snacks or ice cream, into your exhibition stand design can make you very popular! As people, we tend to want to give back when we receive something, and visitors are more inclined to have a conversation to show gratitude. If you have multiple locations at the exhibition or want to support other brands, you can ask delegates to attend the stands you want them to visit to collect stamps which they can then exchange for a free treat!

Beware of potentially messy food - popcorn or similar can lead to an unsightly corned carpet surrounding your stand. Instead, choose something easy to hold and eat without creating a mess.

Take me home

SWAG or giveaways that visitors genuinely want to take home are a surefire way to attract visitors to your stand. An excellent example of this is ‘sticker bars’ at tech exhibitions. It may sound simple, but these are incredibly popular because the target audience will often place them on their laptop. That means your brand could be greeting them every morning when they log on, plus it will be seen by anyone sitting across from them. Talk about being front of mind! But it’s more than just your logo - we use our design teams to create something that looks great and is genuinely desirable to your audience.

A little R&R

Attending an exhibition means being on your feet. A lot. If you are planning a larger build, consider incorporating an area for visitors to sit, relax and catch up on emails whilst surrounded by your key messages. You will find that they are naturally inclined to show interest in your product once they've had the chance to take the weight of their feet and get on top of things.

It's about capturing your audience when they're in the receptive mindset of 'right, that's sorted; I feel relaxed and ready to get back into the exhibition!' There's also the positive association of your brand offering them this space within such a hectic environment.

Let’s play

You’ve probably gathered that we like to think from a human perspective here at Sleek, and, as humans, we want to have fun! So providing a gaming or competitive element into your exhibition stand design and build can draw a crowd and give visitors a chance to connect. This can be as straightforward or as high-end as you want but make sure it’s appealing to bystanders as well as those playing. The endless options include virtual reality flight races across a cityscape, electric car racing and rapid reaction games that are enjoyable for both the audience and players.

Engage

Once your exhibition stand design and build have captured your audience, it's time to engage them with your product. The hard sell is often counter-productive, and a human approach is much more effective. Demonstrate your product's capabilities visually via digital screens which are engaging, sustainable and can tell an evolving story about your brand. Customer quotes and reviews that show how your product has benefited them are a genuine way to bring the advantages to life. If you have a physical product, then demonstrations or allowing visitors to try it for themselves is one of the best ways to engage visitors plus, these elements create great live-streaming content.

Time to talk

The exhibition stand staff should be enthusiastic, personable and highly knowledgeable.

It should go without saying that staff talking to one another for extended periods makes a stand appear unwelcoming, the focus should always be on the visitors! 

It is so important to remember that every visitor will need a slightly different approach; it's about finding the balance between allowing each person to learn about your brand (without feeling hassled) whilst also providing the option to speak with a knowledgeable representative who intuitively knows when it's the right time to engage a potential customer.

Exhibition stand staff should take the time to understand each visitor's background and needs so they can impart how your product could uniquely benefit them. This approach always makes the potential customer feel valued and builds trust in your brand. A daily meeting to ensure all staff are up to date and focussed is time well spent.

These are just some elements we consider when delivering an exhibition stand and building design for our clients. At Sleek, we strive to deeply understand your target audience, brand and goals whilst considering the unique environment where you’ll appear to ensure you attract the right visitors. Please do #speaktosleek using the contact form below if you want to know more. We would love to hear from you.