The pandemic brought all kinds of innovation to the events and trade show industries. One thing remains the same though: it’s as important as ever to have a plan for getting noticed next to some of the larger, most flashy booths you’ll be up against.
Luckily, there are tons of event technology solutions that savvy event planners can leverage to stand out from the crowd. Below are 8 trade show technology booth ideas you can use to draw traffic to your booth and interact with your audience.
1. Create a Game Show in Your Booth
Gamification is a great way to get the people in your booth excited about being there. There are a variety of ways you can gamify your booth and draw your audience in, including virtual prize wheels, gaming apps, and social media contests.
One of our favorites is the iPad Jeopardy Wall, which is a giant Jeopardy board made out of iPads. You can customize the board with answers about your own business, industry, or the particular event you’re at. Guests can either interact with the wall themselves, or you can run a full game with buzzers, timers, and score keeping. Make sure to offer swag as prizes to your winners, and you’ll have an audience gathered around your booth in no time. Just a warning: a good game can get competitive.
2. Show off your App or Website via a Giant Smartphone
Giant smartphones (pictured above) are great for app demonstrations, custom video content, registration, or letting people experience your website on a huge scale. Trade show floors are busy places — people probably aren’t going to stand around and watch a screen. Creating an interactive experience, however, peaks people’s curiosity and draws them into your booth. After you’ve created the perfect content, maximize your success by displaying it in an intriguing way. These smartphones come in two different sizes, and there’s a tabletop version as well.
Options like touchable video walls, interactive monitors, or touch tables are also awesome trade show ideas to draw people into your booth.
3. Outshine Boring Displays with an LED Video Wall or Interactive Floor
Video walls are undeniably eye-catching and allow you to display one seamless image or multiple images across different panels. The sheer size and brilliance of video walls makes them much more impressive than standard monitors, and your content options are greater, too. A few ideas to help pull in foot traffic are featuring attendees via social media feeds and showing live virtual reality (VR or AR) content.
Another creative option sure to attract visitors to your booth is an LED floor. Exhibitor has lots of examples of floors that create an immersive environment from head to toe.
4. Create a Podcast Studio At Your Booth
Consider creating a live podcast / broadcast studio at your booth with camera operators or audio techs. Audiences can watch and listen to interesting conversations in real time. At the same time, you can live-stream the interviews to at-home viewers or record for on-demand content. This makes the impact of your trade show extend beyond the venue’s walls. Your podcast studio can also reflect your branding and logos. (Interested? Don’t hesitate to contact us for a quote!)
5. Demo Products with Augmented Reality
Augmented reality combines real world and the virtual world, often superimposing virtual elements onto real world surroundings. According to a 2019 Deloitte study, 55% of shoppers say AR makes shopping more exciting, and 40% they’re ready to pay more if they can test an item via AR. There are some great applications for trade shows and events. Letting your audience explore your product or your content creates a more memorable impression than simply 2D photos or slides.
It’s also great for product demos where you can’t physically bring the product into your booth, or wouldn’t be able to test it on the trade show floor. In recent years, several car, furniture, and medical technology companies have used AR to immerse potential customers into their product and brand.
6. Inspire Social Media Discussion
Events give you the opportunity to interact with your guests in-person while simultaneously connecting with them online. If you truly want your connections to last beyond the show, promoting social media networking is incredibly important. A strong social media presence extends the reach of your event far outside your venue.
While it takes some planning, setting up a social media wall and directing social discussion is a fantastic way to generate buzz. Incorporate featured posts, giveaways and a social photo booth to up your game even more.
7. Offer a Cell Phone Charging Station
You know the feeling. Your feet are tired, your bag is heavy with swag, and your phone battery is hovering at 3 percent. Now imagine coming across a mobile charging station and a comfy spot to sit. Offering a free phone charging station at your booth is the perfect way to attract trade show attendees, and immediately give them a positive association with your brand. When you rent a charging station, you can also get it branded with your colors and logos. While people are waiting for their phones to charge, they can also check out your nearby collateral or other materials to learn what your business is offering.
7. Share a Virtual Reality Experience
Take your audience on a fully immersive experience by incorporating virtual reality at your trade show booth. Virtual reality content doesn’t have to be as complex as you might think. It can be as simple as a 360 video to give a tour of your building, a project you completed, or another event you planned. Every year, creating VR content becomes more accessible, but it’s still one of the most unique trade show ideas for attracting people to your booth and leaving them with a lasting impression.
Meeting Tomorrow provides customized AV and event technology solutions for trade shows, promotional events and product launches anywhere in the country.
