Booth Entertainment: Do the old school magicians still cut it?
Being regulars at events, the Zuant team has seen their fair share of booth entertainment tactics. From hot new virtual reality stations to showcase products, to booth babes handing out sweet treats, the range of traditional to innovative approaches to entice delegates to tradeshow booths is colossal. Unfortunately, choosing the wrong kind of entertainment can do more harm than good. Read on to find out how you can select the right kind of entertainment to suit your brand.
Why are you exhibiting?
Before deciding what booth entertainment to use, it’s important to understand your key reason for exhibiting; is it for marketing, brand awareness or simply for lead generation purposes?
Once your event objective has been determined, it will become clearer what form of entertainment will help reach your event goal. For example, if your aim is to generate leads, an interactive game would be ideal as it would open up the opportunity to strike up a conversation. Whereas a band or performer would be better suited to attract crowds and create ‘buzz’, perfect for brand awareness objectives.
Who is your audience?
Understanding your audience is key to choosing the right engagement to suit your brand.
First impressions are important. If delegates are being introduced to your company at the event, you want to make sure that the first impression reflects your brand accurately and sets a good reputation. The same goes for the existing customers, you need to make sure that your booth entertainment is on point to represent your brand and transmit the right message. Should your booth entertainment be irrelevant or worse, insulting to prospects, you’ll end up putting potential customers off for life. On the other hand you get the chance to really charm your audience if you get it right, giving you the opportunity to build relationships with your audience before you’ve even approached them.
Convey product info through entertainment
Tying booth entertainment and brand messaging together is a factor that some choose to take or leave. Failing to join up brand messaging and entertainment doesn’t necessarily result in a negative reaction, however when the product offering and entertainment choice pair up nicely, the booth experience seems much more genuine.
It’s all for your consideration
After taking these fundamental factors into consideration, it will be easier to eliminate unsuitable entertainment options. I think we’ll all agree that old school magicians no longer cut it at tradeshows to pull in the right audience, but you already knew that! The key to successful booth entertainment is to make sure you choose something relevant that ties into your brand. Whether it be a sweepstake competition, a putting green or a robot, keep your brand and your marketing in mind and you’ll be sure to get the right prospects to your booth.
