Trade Show Display Basics for your Benefit

As it is true of almost all aspects of life, technology is changing fast the way people create and present trade show displays nowadays. While this is a factor you cannot ignore, the basic function of the display remains unchanged – to attract customer attention and disseminate information about your company and your products/services. For those reasons, the basics of a trade show display remain unchanged, and you need to factor them into all your marketing planning.

Choose the right graphics

Ornate, artistic, and highly colored graphics with a large amount of artwork may look very attractive. However, you should be aware that you are not exhibiting your products/services in an art gallery.

What is important is that the message and information that the display tries to convey should be easy for the curated audience to read, understand and remember. The bottom line is that the clarity of the message and its desired effect should be primary, and artwork and graphics secondary.

Use a memorable headline

Most visitors to a trade show head for a few specific booths, and spend the rest of their time wandering around. These are exactly the people whose attention you need to target. Their attention span unfortunately is just a few seconds, and then they move on. That is all the time you have to make an effective impression, arouse their curiosity and to bring them into your stall.

It’s imperative, therefore, that your display headline must do the trick for you: it should be in an easy-to-read font, short, clear, direct and interesting enough to make them pause and then come in.

Keep the description focused

The trade show display should be succinctly informative to the visitors, not overly technical and all-inclusive. Let it highlight in bullets the Unique Selling Points of your products/services. If there is too much matter, the visitors will lose interest and walk away. If they are interested, they will ask the staff at the booth for more information.

Show up prominently your company name

The trade show is all about promoting your company. You need to make sure that the name is prominently and captivatingly displayed, so that it is etched in the memory of the visitors. If there is a company logo, strike a balance between the text and the graphic – the logo means nothing unless you have a distinctive name related to it.

Display clearly your website and social media addresses

Visitors cannot gather from one visit to a trade show booth as much information as they might require. In addition, there will usually be issues and questions they have after the visit. Placing your website and social media addresses prominently will help them later to access the information they want.

It is not easy to find the right mix of technology, creativity and display expertise to create ideal trade show displays. The best way to go about it is to seek the service of a professional signage company that specializes in this area.

They will be able to combine your industry and product knowledge with their signage and display specialist skills to design for you an excellent display; it will surely attract the kind of crowds you want and help you stand out at the trade show.

Creating Memorable Signs : Dos and Don’ts for you

Signage is the commonest cost-effective publicity medium available. The precise purposes of a business sign are to: create public awareness of the business entity and the products or services on offer; arouse interest in the form of footfalls and queries.

Many business owners try to ensure that their signs serve those purposes by looking around and following what others are ‘successfully’ doing. In most cases, business signs are sized nicely, balanced in the amount of information they convey, and perfect in the use of tasteful artwork and color coordination.

In other words, most of these signs are like a million others – all of them anything but memorable. That is what you do not want. That’s how your business sign should not be.

The universally known sign

One sign that is recognized all over the world and evokes immediately associations of the industry it represents is the HOLLYWOOD sign in Southern California. Forget the fact that it was originally put up by a real estate developer over 90 years ago, to promote a new property subdivision.

Today it means movies – not just in the place of its location, but all over the world. Let’s look at how it has turned out to be such a memorable sign.

It is dramatic

It is far too big, brash and loud. It is located in a strange place; it would have been perfect for a real estate subdivision, but not for the movie industry. It is 3-dimensional, where it does not need to be so. But it works beautifully.

It is unusual

The color scheme is odd: a white sign on a hillside of green and dark brown. The sign is not mounted on a pole or stand, but sits on the ground. It is not in proximity to high traffic areas and people have to look for it. But it works wonderfully.

It is not “correct”

The letters of the sign are not level: they rise and fall as the terrain undulates.  Would a normal sign have such sloppy lettering? It would not. But once again, the sign works enchantingly.

The HOLLYWOOD sign is an old one, of a period when signage was unknown to be what it is today – a sophisticated high tech science. It does not conform in any way to what are generally accepted as the fundamentals of good signage. It has major defects that advertising and PR experts would pronounce ‘fatal’.

But it has become a celebrated all-time icon. None of these “mistakes” were made on purpose – they just happened. At times, making such “mistakes” deliberately can work for you in creating memorable signage.

The HOLLYWOOD sign breaks all the rules that most people associate with business signs. But it works as no other, and has become an evergreen icon of the industry. In other words, playing too safe and being too conventional can make your signs forgettable.

Going to the other extreme can detract the onlookers from your message; the sign, not your business, would become a talking point. Finding the middle ground is not easy.

The best way to get your signage right is to work with a professional signage company. They have the experience and expertise to create signs that are memorable, maximize the publicity you get, and increase the footfalls as you expect.

The Role of Signs in Rebranding your Business

No retailers love a soft and slow market. Unfortunately, this is what happens rather frequently, especially when you struggle to attract eyeballs and retain footfalls. However, this can be a time, which you can use to your advantage. You can review your business critically and dispassionately to identify trouble spots. Have things become stale, boring and predictable? Could these be part of the problem? Could a little rebranding help improve the situation? If so, get started without delay.

Signs are reliable tools

What kind of rebranding can promote your business is something only you know: no one else knows your business and your market better than you do. Raising money can be difficult, when the market is dull or weak. The moment you make up your mind on the rebranding action plan, you need to keep expenses down, and make it as cost-effective as possible, without compromising on the outcome of the action.

The solution is simple – signs! Despite all the new marketing tools available today, like the internet and social media, the right sign in the right place in retail business, is still the most efficient strategy to attract customers and ensure a rise in profits.

Decide on a consistent and pleasing design and color scheme of the sign. This will become part of your revised brand. Find an effective logo or image that you can use everywhere to reinforce your new business image.

Create an equally effective message about the changes you want to spread. At times, you may need to spread more than one message. If so, decide on the proportions and mix of the messages with the budget available. Then get the final action plan and budget ready. Think not that you are risking money during difficult times; you are in fact investing for the near future to keep going ahead full steam.

Employ a professional signage company

When your homework is done, your next step should be to contact a professional sign making company. Work with them to fine-tune your business requirements and the budget in order to design the different types of signs you need. Your business acumen should go hand in hand in hand with their signage expertise. The outcome would be the best signs put up in the best locations proclaiming effectively your new message.

Signage is a far more complex and specialized field than most people realize. Depending on the design and the location, a simple sign could be as effective as an expensive high tech tool. Multiple smaller signs in different locations may be better than a single huge one in certain cases.

The best way to ensure that you make the right decisions and get the maximum return on your investment is to work with a reputed professional sign making company. They have rich experience and the right technology to provide you with the kind of service you need. Check their testimonials to boost your confidence in them.