Trade shows are a big investment of both time and resources, so making your exhibit stand out is key to maximizing ROI. Whether you’re showcasing a new product, connecting with industry partners, or building brand awareness, a well-thought-out booth can make all the difference. Elevate your trade show presence and boost attendee engagement with these tips.
Plan Your Exhibit Space with Purpose
Think of your booth as more than just square footage, it’s an experience. Consider what you want attendees to walk away with: awareness, education, or a sales lead. From there, map out how traffic will flow, where your staff should stand, and what areas are dedicated to demos, conversations, or relaxation. Even small adjustments, like ensuring clear sightlines or adding a comfortable seating area, can improve engagement.
This exhibit layout includes a centrally located counter to greet attendees, multiple demo stations, and an open design that welcome traffic from booth aisles.
Prioritize Engagement Opportunities
Attendees have countless booths to visit, so interactive experiences are crucial. Live demonstrations, digital touchpoints, or gamified elements give people a reason to linger and interact. Don’t underestimate the power of simple touches like charging stations or refreshments, which create opportunities for casual conversation. And always make sure your team is approachable, trained, and ready to turn engagement into meaningful connections.
Rental vs. Custom Exhibits: Finding the Right Fit
Exhibit design plays a huge role in how your brand is perceived. Rental and custom exhibit solutions offer different options to transform your space from simple pipe and drape to crowd-captivating experience.
Rental Exhibits
Flexible, sustainable, and cost-effective, Hargrove offers a wide variety of rental exhibit solutions. These pre-designed exhibit packages allow for different levels of branding and customization, accommodating different booth sizes and layouts. These turnkey rental exhibits are a great option to ease a hectic expo season or streamline exhibiting at international trade shows.
Custom Exhibits
Eye-catching custom exhibits are designed to fully reflect your brand’s personality and create a one-of-a-kind environment. Hargrove’s exhibit specialists, designers, and fabrication team work alongside you to design an exhibit that can grow and evolve with your brand’s ambitions and expo schedule. If you’re committed to a long-term trade show strategy, investing in a custom design can be well worth it.
Custom exhibits create immersive brand experiences right on the show floor.
Measure What Matters
Your exhibit’s value continues beyond the show floor and setting clear KPIs before the show can help you evaluate performance after the event. Marketing communication and social media are critical tools in supporting and amplifying these outcomes. Tracking these channels alongside your on-site metrics gives you a more complete view of impact and ROI, while helping refine strategies for future events.
Common success measures include:
Lead Generation – number and quality of contacts captured
Engagement Metrics – booth traffic, dwell time, or demo participation
Brand Awareness – social media mentions, press coverage, or post-show survey feedback
Sales Impact – new deals influenced or closed as a direct result of the show
Top exhibits don’t just occupy space, they create experiences. Hargrove delivers fully integrated exhibit solutions, combining strategy, design, graphics, and fabrication under one roof. With clear KPIs and engagement strategies, your exhibit becomes a high-impact destination. Plan early, align objectives, and extend your presence through strategic outreach to create a high-impact exhibit experience designed to drives results.
Interested in exploring exhibit design options for your next event?
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