As any seasoned trade show visitor knows, trade shows can sometimes be a showcase of imitation at its best. There are rows upon rows of booths all shouting the same thing, giving away the same branded pens, with staff wearing the same clothes and bland expressions.

To draw crowds and be memorable, it is essential that your booth stand out from the crowd. In a trade show environment, this is as simple as adding a little creative excitement to your trade show marketing.

Imagination is the enemy of imitation. With creativity, imagination, and a healthy sense of humor, your trade show marketing efforts will leave an impression that extends far beyond the trade show floor. Here are a few ideas to get the creative juices flowing:

Trade Show Marketing Idea #1: Live Performers

People love being entertained. Bringing a little bit of theater, drama, and spectacle to your booth will draw a crowd and keep them there. While non-live performances can work, some of the most effective trade show marketers incorporate live performances.

Live performance artists can range from the downright weird to the classically cultured. A contortionist will shock and amaze, a magician will dazzle, a band will entertain, and a harp player will soothe. To increase the marketing power of the live performance, try to connect it to your product or service.

For example, at a recent trade show for kitchens and bathrooms, one well-known bathroom company drew a crowd that spilled over their stand and into the pathways. In two of the bathtubs lay a beautiful bikini-clad model blowing bubbles into the crowd. If that wasn’t enough, in the shower display, three similarly dressed models danced to a DJ’s tunes under the running water -- a little risqué maybe but highly effective.

Trade Show Marketing Idea #2: Cash Cube Money Machines

If sex sells, then money is the next big motivator. Cash cube money machines are the trade show marketing answer to this tantalizing motivator. Cash cube money machines look a little bit like a phone booth – but that is where the similarities end! The money machine is filled with money (either real or custom printed promotional money) and then sealed off with a chosen contestant inside. The money is blown around the cube, creating a visual spectacle. The contestant then has twenty to thirty seconds to grab as much ‘money’ as they can.

Cash cube money machines are particularly good at creating media buzz. Apply pre-trade show marketing by taking out a promotional advertisement in the trade show catalogue, or by running a contest advertisement in a prominent newspaper or radio station to encourage attendees to visit your booth and win a chance to enter the money machine.

Trade Show Marketing Idea #3: Outside The Box Booth Design

Another fantastic trade show marketing attention grabber is unusual or fun booth design. There are companies that specialize in creating these sorts of displays and will often have a portfolio of previous booth designs to inspire you. The best out-of-the-box booth designs will relate to brand or target audience, or even better, both.

One recent example at a trade show of an exciting booth design was from a children’s shoe company. The show, being open to the public, was full of parents with their children. Knowing that it is often impossible to get children to sit down long enough to try on shoes they turned their booth into a sandpit. This spectacle caught the attention of the children first, who dragged their parents toward the stand. The children then played happily in the sandpit long enough to try on two, three, or four pairs of shoes. Needless to say, sales for this company went through the roof that day.

About the author

Jonathan Edelman is a trade show marketing consultant with more than a decade of experience trade show and business marketing arena. Edelman is the creator of Ideas 4 Now, a trade show marketing company and creator of the Blizzard of Dollars Cash Cube Money Machine. In addition to hardcase and inflatable money blowing machines, Ideas 4 Now provides consulting for a variety of industry specific niches including bank marketing, casino marketing, and more.