Recent technological developments for trade shows make it easier and cheaper to impress attendees with custom trade show displays. To continue marketing your business and gather qualified leads, learn about the newest successful trade show trends and how you can integrate these ideas at your next event.

New Trends for Trade Show Booths

Technological advances and shifts in attendee’s attitudes have sparked a change in how companies exhibit their products and promote their brand at trade shows. If you have attended or exhibited at a trade show recently, you may have seen some of these trends on the trade show floor or heard about them from visitors who could not stop talking about the awesome booth in the next row. Increase your trade show success and return on investment by trying out some of the following ideas about technological developments for trade shows:

• Apps: It should come as no surprise that retailers are developing custom apps for trade shows. This is a great way to engage existing customers before, during, and after the event. Apps help drive visitors to the booth using foot traffic technology that shows how far away the booth is, what traffic levels are like, and the best route to take to avoid delays. Although the idea behind trade show apps has been around for a few years, the value of an app has been proven and many companies are beginning to implement app development into their trade show strategies.

• Geofencing:

  Geofencing allows you to set a perimeter fence around your trade show booths and send an SMS message when trade show visitors cross the fence. This helps you maintain top of mind awareness in attendees’ minds, which is critical in a crowded trade show environment. To further entice visits, include notice of a giveaway or promotion in your SMS. Guests may be more likely to stop by if your message suggests they could win one of your products or services.

• Holograms:

  Holograms allow you to create transparent displays that truly bring your products to life and draw attention from hundreds of feet away. If your products are too large or heavy to transport to the trade show, the 3D hologram lets you showcase them at the event. For a fraction of the cost of shipping a large item to the trade show, you can develop a hologram that encapsulates your item perfectly and increases customer engagement through better understanding and a “wow factor.”

• 3D printing:

  3D printers that create on-demand, customized prototypes for visitors to take back to their workplace can generate buzz and drive sales. By engaging booth visitors in the computer design process, you can demonstrate your technological expertise, product, and relevance. Why show a brochure of product customization options when you can create a product right in front of their eyes and let them take it back to the boss?

• Interactive technology for tailored presentations:

  Augmented reality and tablets make it easy for trade show booth visitors to serve you information that helps you better target their needs in a tailored presentation. Too often, generic presentations do not connect with booth visitors or generate leads and sales. Adding interactive technology to your trade show booth lets guests customize their experience and thus your pitch for a better connection all around. These can be incorporated into the trade show booth design.

• Lead generation software:

  Lead generation software has continued to be a growing trend among trade show exhibitors. Such software makes it easy for you to harness leads before and during the trade show, move leads through the conversion funnel, and gain valuable data on your performance across trade shows. Expect this software to keep improving in the future, and to really become a must-have for trade show attendance.

After the event, gather data so you can see what worked, what didn’t work, and tweak your display from there. It may take more than one trade show before you finalize interactive displays or get geofencing just right, but the rewards are well worth the innovation risks.

Technological Developments your Trade Show Display

By integrating some of these trends into your next trade show display, you can catch the attention of attendees who become curious about your booth because it catches their eye and looks exciting. You can also nurture leads that have found you online and want to attend the trade show to test out your products in person. Most importantly, you can deliver value to your attendees that they cannot get by visiting your website.

Think creatively when considering which of these trade show solutions to integrate into your next event. Consider honestly where your trade show display is lacking and where a smart investment in new technology could spice things up while adding value to what you give consumers. You certainly don’t need to try all of them, especially if they aren’t relevant to your products.

The ASAE Foundation, Center for Exhibition Industry Research Foundation, Freeman, Gaylord Entertainment and PCMA Education Foundation recently released a report on Future Scenarios for Trade Shows. One of the key findings in their report was the driving need to deliver something new to trade show attendees. Whether it’s integrating the physical trade show event with online interactions pre- and post-event or integrating one of the new technology trends in trade show booth design, it is important to stay ahead of the curve as trade shows change.

Trade Show Success with Innovative Ideas

Tailor these trends to your industry. If you are in a tech savvy industry, you will need to really increase technology spending to stay relevant in your niche. Stay on alert to industry trends and how they impact these upcoming changes to the trade show environment, and tack your course accordingly.

Today’s trade show booths must deliver the attendee an experience that they simply cannot get anywhere else – or else, they will stay home. With these tech tools, you can ensure your next pop up displays act as a lead generation tool and buzz generator during the event.