Wherever you lay your stand, that's your home

The number of visitors to your stand can depend on your stand location. Ask any estate agent what the three most important things are when purchasing a home, the response will is likely to be 'location, location, location' and the same applies to your display. After all, this is the temporary home of your company.

Assuming the exhibitor can book early and has a free choice there are a number of worthwhile considerations:

1. TAKE A FIELD TRIP: Go to another show at the expo venue

Paying a visit to the venue of the exhibition during another show can be useful. Traffic and customer behaviours can be identified along with certain 'dead' areas where customers are less likely to pass through.

2. DON'T LET VISITORS GET SWAMPED: Make sure your stand is visable amongst others in large-scale shows

During bigger shows visitors will often miss certain areas due to the sheer size of the exhibition, consider the location of your exhibition stand carefully to avoid this situation.

3. BORDERING TACTICS: Poisition yourselves on the outskirts

Sometimes positioning a stand on the outskirts of the arena can be a useful method. Customer services like food outlets and toilets are positioned here and therefore passing custom can be attracted. On the contrary this can be a bad thing if the show is busy; these areas are likely to congest easily.

 4. CATCH THEIR EYE ON THE CORNER: Draw visitors in by choosing a corner spot

Corner stands are always appealing as they give off a feeling of openness and can draw customers in.

5. AVOID THE ENTRANCE: If your stand's here, you could be skimmed over

Many people try to avoid stands directly opposite the entrance as visitors often walk past to get into the main body of the show.

6. FACE THE PUBLIC: Avoid booking a space that is orientated so the stand is facing away from visitors.

Visibility is key, and some stands have more than others. Think about positioning your stand where people can see it clearly; facing the ends of aisles or at the bottom of stairs, for example. 

- Your company's major competitors at the show will draw potential customers who fit into your target market. Position your stand near your rivals and you could achieve positive results.

- Other exhibitors could be selling products which bear relevance to your own. Being near companies who fit into the same niche as you can be beneficial. Positioning an office equipment stand next to a computer display for example.

- Activities of your neighbouring exhibitors can affect your own stand. A bookstall would not be suited next door to live music for example. Check with the organiser.

- If your company has a few different divisions, operating 2-3 smaller stands as opposed to one big one can be very effective, if the stands are located correctly around the show.

At Envisage we have staff that not only build stands, but have worked on and managed stands in their previous lives! We are well qualified to help out with booking space and have worked with the organisers at a lot of shows.

What do you think?