From trade shows to consumer fairs, getting the right look and feel for your exhibit is core to being noticed and hopefully increasing business. An engaging but professional look couple with enthusiastic booth staff will ensure that you are seen and remembered no matter how busy the event is. Interestingly, despite the drive to digital, events are still the second largest growth area for media spending, according to B2B Magazine’s ?2014 Marketing Outlook? study, meaning exhibition strategy remains crucial.

Custom exhibit booths can add versatility and flexibility to your event offerings, meaning you can modify the stand to different sizes (e.g. 10×10, 10×20 and 20×20) and increase or decrease your trade show footprint depending on your needs. Exhibit design companies offer a range of booth specifications to fit all requirements. Most inline or standard linear booths, which are usually 10 feet (3.05 meters) wide and 10 feet (3.05 meters) deep, are designed to be arranged in a straight line with neighbors on either side of them, leaving only the front exposed for attendees. Back wall height is usually limited to 8 feet.

Perimeter booths are similar, except that they back to a perimeter wall of the exhibition facility rather than to another exhibiting neighbor and the typical maximum back wall height is taller at 12 feet (3.66 meters). Booths exposed on all four sides to aisles are called island booths and are typically 20 feet x 20 feet (6.10 meters by 6.10 meters), but can be larger and can be configured differently. Maximum height for these booths is 16 to 20 feet including signage. These make for effective custom trade show exhibits.

Custom exhibit booths are complemented by graphics. Long-range graphics should be placed as high as possible, medium-range graphics at eye level, and short-range graphics should be placed 5 to 6 feet from the floor. A good design tip is to ensure that 40% of your graphics use white space. This creates a cleaner design and a more pleasing look for visitors. Avoid too many states images; think of creating movement and interest with your graphics, just like they do on billboards.

Once you have the design right, you need to consider what you are going to do at the booth. Think of creative ways to draw in the foot traffic, while still maintaining a professional approach. Gimmicky techniques can back-fire. Above all, ensure that booth staff are trained and motivated to engage meaningful, courteously and sincerely with all visitors to the booth. No matter what look or feel you create with your custom exhibit booths, the wrong staff can undermine it and drive visitors away.