A tradeshow is an exciting way to put your brand in front of more people. You expose prospective clients to what your business has to offer, whether they’re goods or services. The potential to make more money abounds at tradeshows, but you have to go in with a clear goal. Designing the booth is the first step toward closing the deal with your new clients. 

Unfortunately, many businesses make some common mistakes when it comes to their trade show signage. Here are the top five common design mistakes that companies make and how you can avoid them in your next booth: 

More Isn’t Always Better

We have all heard the adage that more is better, but this same expression does not apply to the design of your tradeshow booth. It’s tempting to include everything you can think of in the design, such as your branding materials, every product that you sell, and every service that you offer. This will make your booth appear cluttered and disorganized which can be a turn-off for buyers. 

Instead, you need to set clear goals for your time at the tradeshow. Are you aiming to sell more of a certain product or a service package? Simplify your advertising materials so that people can get a clear idea of what you want to market to them. 

Use white space to your advantage and give your customers a bit of a break from the onslaught of new information that they are finding at the tradeshow. The white space also makes it more likely that they will stop by your booth to catch their breath from the overwhelming number of booths at the tradeshow. It is inviting, even if you feel like it might be wasted space. 

Complicated Message

The truth is that you have seconds to hook a prospective customer when they pass by your booth. If the concept behind your design appears too cluttered or complicated to grasp at a glance, you might experience many people walking right past you at the tradeshow. They will move onto other booths that have more distilled and easily-understood signage. 

You have a lot of competition at a tradeshow, so it is important to make the most of the time you have in front of clients. Make sure your offer is digestible in a three-second glance and that it does not overwhelm the viewer. 

If you aren’t sure whether your marketing materials or booth design are too complex, try running it past some of your employees and ask for their input before you finalize the details of the booth. Be sure to choose employees who are known for their honesty and not just those who will tell you what you want to hear. 

Rundown Signage 

Many businesses try to cut down on the cost of attending trade shows by reusing their marketing materials. To some extent, this is perfectly acceptable. After all, you spent hard-earned dollars on those materials, and they aren’t obsolete after just one show. Chances are that you want to market the same message to more than one crowd, so you might as well reuse high-quality materials to advertise. 

The problem arises when those materials start to show signs of wear and tear. You want each trade show booth you design to look fresh and new, even if you happen to be reusing materials. If something gets damaged or the colour starts to fade, it is best to have that item replaced. 

You may even want to replace your signage at the beginning of each year to reflect new products, sales, or goals. This ensures that your booth stays fresh throughout the season and makes it more likely that you won’t display rundown signage. 

Low-Quality Images

Pay careful attention to the quality of the photos you include in your signage for a tradeshow booth. Those pictures are going to be blown up to larger proportions, so they need to be high-quality images. Without high-resolution images, your pictures will come off the printing press as blurry. This can make even the most elegant signage appear cheap and low quality. 

If you aren’t sure whether your images will present well, send them over to the professional printer and ask whether you need something with a higher resolution. Experts in Winnipeg trade show displays should be able to offer some guidance on whether your display will turn out well with a particular image. 

Ignoring Lighting

Lighting is an important aspect of your booth, but too many business owners and marketers tend to think of it as an afterthought. Many trade shows have overhead fluorescent lighting, but this may not be ideal for the design of your booth. You could attract a lot more attention to the booth with creative lighting that makes your design stand out among the crowd. 

Instead of relying on the overhead lighting at the tradeshow, come prepared with some lighting of your own. You might want to install LED lights around the edges of your table, place a backlight on your signage, or use spotlights to highlight the most important aspects of your signage and offer. Don’t forget to bring important tools to make this happen, such as extension cords. 

You also need to think about the quality of the lights that you use. If you want to invite customers into your space, consider using warm lighting as it is more welcoming. Businesses who want to emphasize the contemporary side of their company may prefer to use cool lights. Whichever you decide on, make sure you are consistent with all of your lighting. 

Getting High-Quality Signage for Trade Shows

Now that you know the most common pitfalls of displaying your signage at a trade show, you can be better prepared for your next booth. SpeedPro Winnipeg North can help you design signs that will capture the attention of all prospective clients and accurately convey your message to the crowds. Give us a call today to see how we can help you with high-quality signage!