by 
I recently highlighted the steps that Archbright, an HR services provider, took to make their HR trade show booth stand out at the Lake Washington HR Association (LWHRA) Annual conference. The steps are:
- Use a current trend to draw in your audience.
- Entice visitors via social channels prior to the conference.
- Follow up after the conference to maximize your investment.
As promised, I’m going to look at each step in detail over the next few weeks.
In my previous post, I mentioned how coloring books geared towards adults have become very popular in recent years. The marketing team at Archbright used this trend to generate interest before, during, and after the conference. They brought in a coloring wall to their booth. It was a huge success.
What are some other current trends you could use to entice prospects to visit your booth?
Capitalize on trendy brands
My husband regularly attends IT conferences, and we’ve been thrilled to see him walk in the door with branded Hydro Flasks and YETI mugs from the events he attends.
These are not only high quality, but they’re also useful, and they keep your product or service top of mind. Giving prospects something from a trendy, high-quality brand also subtly suggests that your product or service is high quality, too.
Make your mark stick
In the past several years, digital stickers have become a new way of communicating online. They’re also popular in print—with people using them to mark their territory.
Many people use stickers as a name tag on their notebooks, water bottles, or other items at work. These are a fun way to add some spark to your HR trade show booth that won’t cost a lot of money and are easy for prospects to immediately put to use.
Inspire charitable donations
We hear a lot about how younger workers want to make an impact. I believe that’s true for all ages, so think about ways your HR trade show booth can help your prospects with their philanthropic desires. Offer them a way to #dogood at your booth. Rather than loading participants up with more stuff they might throw away, offer a way to recycle an everyday item.
For example, collect old shoes at the conference and tally how many pairs you collect. Snap photos as people donate and post those on social media. Celebrate the donation by sending participants an email with the number of shoes you collected and highlight your pile of shoes on social media. People want to make a difference—help them do so at your booth.
Support the environment
There’s a trend to remove plastic straws from restaurants.
Help participants support the environment by offering them a reusable stainless steel straw.
This may not be a budget-friendly option, but it will be an item people remember.
Offer options for wellness
The current trend at work is a sense of overwhelm. That’s probably even truer for the HR professionals visiting your booth. No way around it…they have a lot of stressful “people emergencies” to manage in their roles. The concept of wellness is top of mind for them professionally and personally. Offer some quick options for their wellness. A few easy ideas include:
- A bag of chamomile tea to help prospects get to sleep after a long day at the conference.
- A laminated card of simple yoga poses to practice
- A clip-on pedometer to use while they walk at the conference. (There are some inexpensive options out there!)
These are just a few ideas for how you can use trends to inspire a great concept for your next conference booth. If you use one, let me know. And if you have other ideas to share, please be sure to leave a comment below.
Check back next week when I’ll be offering tips for how to use social to entice prospects to stop by your booth!
