After walking the floor of your industry’s largest show, you decide that it’s time to go for it: next year, you’re going to go big and be an exhibitor. You pause for a latte, take a seat, crank up your laptop and hop on the event’s website, ready to sign up and get started. You can envision it already, your brand vision is big — in fact, you know that you’ll need nothing less than a 20 ft space to showcase all that your firm has to offer. You can hardly contain your excitement, 2026 is going to be an awesome year.
There’s just one hitch: All of the 20 x 20 spaces are taken and the only space available is much, much smaller than you expected. While you may be tempted to wait until the “right” size is available, don’t. With good planning, creative use of space and the right focus, you can get the benefit of a larger space in a smaller footprint.
The first tip is to take that first step. Get your brand on to that tradeshow floor. Take another walk around and look at the space available. Which of the smaller option locations is best for your brand? Now go sign up. Step one complete, on to the next move. Consider this new size and what pieces of equipment or products you originally planned to showcase. It’s important to have a clear idea of your objectives for this event. Do you have multiple divisions who are clamoring for the “most” real estate? Are you launching a new product? Is there a big announcement or need to deliver a presentation? Ask and answer a few key questions before you begin the design and planning process.
- Do you have a desired look or style?
- What’s your budget?
- Who’s the target audience?
Dig deeper and drill down, ask more questions as you walk through this process.
- What are your goals and objectives?
- What do you hope to accomplish? More leads? Brand awareness?
- What is required of the space? Space for product display or a large hospitality area? Room for ample storage or a meeting space?
While considering your options, think about how to best represent your company or organization. Is multimedia the way to go? Can you tell the brand story with a strong video, across a video wall on or a monitor? Would a product video work equally well? Might your visitors be more interested in crafting their own experience, on a touch screen, as opposed to speaking with a sales rep inside the exhibit? As for follow-up, might real-time lead capture and analytics help you reach those key objectives?
There’s much to be said about getting your brand out there, taking that first step and delivering a compelling, creative, targeted experience. With careful thought and consideration on the front end, small could mean big results.
