6 Things You Can Do To Get Noticed At the Trade Show A trade show exhibit can make a significant difference in your company’s bottom line for the rest of the year. The challenging aspect of a trade show is to stand out from a large crowd and stick in visitors’ minds. Business owners who network on the trade show floor away from their own booths are those who bring in more foot traffic. Meeting and talking with others in your industry is a very good way to spread the word about your company. A good idea is to give out promotional items that offer a little extra everyday convenience for potential customers during their daily routines. Examples include electronic sensors used to locate misplaced car keys or a pocket-size digital recorder for dictating notes on the go. The standard trade show booth features a table with printed brochures in the front and sample products in the back. Try displaying your product lines in the front, sectioning your booth into different product-line-specific areas or including a walkway that naturally draws curious visitors further into your display area. Customers who feel they are in a “mini-store” of sorts are more likely to stay longer, browse through more of your products and engage more with your sales staff. One of the goals of a trade show booth is to get visitors interested in learning more detail about your products and services by visiting your website, blog or social media pages. As part of your incentive plan, offer each new customer a small reward for liking your Facebook page, following you on Twitter or connecting with your Google+ page. Displaying a QR code to be scanned with smartphones allows customers to connect with your company right from the trade show floor. Holding raffle drawings, scavenger hunts or wheel-spinning for a prize are all excellent ways to interact with customers. These activities are fun and effective at strengthening buyer loyalty. Adding these contests and activities to your exhibit may cost a bit more, but the returns can be much bigger as more visitors tell their friends in attendance about your trade show booth. A sales pitch that simply lists features and benefits is no longer sufficient because most people do not mentally connect these points to their everyday lives. Based on your target audience demographics, create a narrative presentation that takes them through how they would commonly use your product. Some of the best practices at a trade show emphasize building solid connections with customers and with other vendors in your industry. Incorporating these ideas into your next trade show will help you noticeably stand out from the competition.