Common Exhibiting Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

When planned well, events can open up business to a wealth of benefits, creating brand awareness, generating leads, and even making direct sales. However, their success rides on the careful planning and strategy employed in the lead-up to the event.

Without this planning, your image can suffer, and events can fall short of expectations. Here at Quadrant2Design, we live, breathe, and sleep exhibition stands, and so, we thought we would share some of the most common mistakes so that you don’t have to make them yourself.

Just like the other areas of your business, exhibitions require clear objectives and a strategy to achieve them. Without this planning, your exhibition stand won’t work as effectively as it could to help you meet your goals. Consider:

• Goals & Objectives – Before contacting your exhibition stand contractor, define exactly what you would like to achieve. What does success look like to you, and what are your KPIs?
• Strategy – How are you going to achieve your goals, and how would you like the stand to work for you?
• Show Analysis – What is the standard for this event, who is attending, and where are you best positioned?
• Competitor Analysis – What have competitors done in previous years? Are they launching products? What type of exhibition stands do they usually use?

We’ve all been there – an event feels like it is miles away, until suddenly it is right on your doorstep. While many contractors will be able to help you at short notice, the ideal timeframe for event planning is around 6-9 months in advance.

Leaving enough time to plan is essential for establishing goals and objectives, training your team, and designing your stand to meet your aesthetic and functionality requirements. Without this time, the chaos from the lead-up to the show is likely to flow into chaos at the show and can harm return on investment.

If budgets are tight, early booking is even more important. Early bookers are more likely to receive early bird discounts, with the potential to save up to 10% on both floor spaces and exhibition stands, while very late bookers are sometimes required to pay overtime rates. Therefore, booking early not only keeps you on top of your planning but also helps you maximise your budget.

One of the biggest exhibiting mistakes is spending too much of your exhibiting budget on the space and not allocating enough budget to your actual display.

So how does this happen? Sometimes budgets are not well-defined before the event, and other times, people mistakenly believe that bigger is always better. However, what it leads to is an oversized space filled with an underwhelming stand. It is much more effective to invest in a slightly smaller space and fill it with a professional, impressive exhibition stand.

Make sure to plan your budget carefully, allocating around 35 – 40% for your exhibition stand.

While specific exhibition goals can vary, it’s fair to say that all businesses strive for a good return on investment.

Unfortunately, a common exhibiting mistake is reducing the spend on the stand, so that the profit looks greater, rather than investing in the stand to gain a greater return on investment.

As the phrase goes, “sometimes you have to spend money to make money”! Reducing investment is extremely unlikely to bring you better results. Investing in your exhibition stand is what enables you to create a more memorable impact in the hall, giving your team a strong platform within which they can generate leads.

The exhibition stand design is one of the most important aspects of any show – it can either be the key to standing out or the reason for getting lost among the crowds. The best stands consider the following elements from the early planning stages, to ensure stands are welcoming and appealing for guests.

• Colour Pallettes – We always recommend keeping the stand to three or four main colours, for a cohesive, professional look. Use brighter tones for accents!
• Functionality – Think about how the stand works with high-traffic walkways, and consider zoning the stand so that it is easier for staff to guide the flow of traffic.
• Clear Reception Points – People feel much more confident in approaching a stand with a clear reception point/ waiting zone. Including this is a must.
• Negative Space – Allow for good negative space around branding and text to avoid cluttering the look.
• Movement – Incorporate moving features to make the display more eye-catching and dynamic.
• Height – Build to the maximum height to avoid being overtowered by adjacent stands.

One of the most common exhibiting mistakes we see is overloading the stand with text. Exhibition stands are already an overstimulating environment. When you add too much text onto the stand, you’ll find that nothing sticks. It is much better to be selective and include only core straplines or hero messages.

With so much planning and budgeting to consider, it can be easy to overlook one of your most important assets: your staff.

Trade shows are unlike typical workspaces, and they often push staff out of their natural comfort zones. Unless your employees have worked in customer-facing roles like hospitality or in-person sales before, there’s a good chance they will feel a little nervous. However, some people are more naturally suited to the environment than others.

Staff should be knowledgeable about the company, but should also be confident and friendly while working on the stand. Avoid individuals who cannot speak confidently about your products, as this reflects poorly on the company.

One of the most common exhibiting mistakes is failing to follow up leads after the event, or not being personable in the follow-up. Exhibitions are incredibly busy environments, and after a long show, the last thing you want to do is follow up on leads, but it is vital to do so, ideally referencing something unique from your conversation at the show.

It’s always recommended to follow up on leads within 24 – 48 hours, as this is when they are most likely to convert. As harsh as it may sound, if you’re not in contact with your leads, your competitors will be, so you should follow up promptly!

We hope these insights have helped you prepare for your next trade show. Whether it’s investing enough money into the exhibition stand design or making sure you follow up promptly with leads, considering these factors can significantly enhance your exhibition presence.

If you have an upcoming exhibition stand project and would like expert support with the design and build, make sure to speak with a member of our team. Contact us at design@quadrant2design.com or call 01202 723 500 for a free, no-obligation design proposal.