Getting Digital Engagement Right In Your Booth
When you attend a trade show or exhibition, engagement is paramount. Your stand should be designed to attract and draw attendees in, to get them engaged with your brand, and create a memorable experience that will give them a favorable view of you as a company.
Today, modern technology has given us the ability to engage with attendees not only face to face, but also through digital media. Many stands today incorporate interactive displays – but they should not be considered as a complete replacement for personal engagement.
No Matter How Awesome, Digital Engagement Should Not Replace Personal Engagement
Interactive display stands allow your visitors to engage with your content and information at their own pace. This is an excellent way of conveying in-depth information, such as technical features, product specifications and more, and can help you to engage with more of your potential audience, as one attendee can be engaging with your brand through an interactive display while another is engaging directly with a staff member. However, they must be integrated properly and sensibly.
The first question you should ask yourself when considering interactive displays is whether your target audience will be comfortable with them. Nowadays, most of the market will be comfortable with touch screen technology, but that does not mean that everybody is. The power of the grey pound, for example, should not be underestimated, and older target audiences may not be as familiar or as comfortable with tablets and other devices as a younger audience. Similarly, if you’re marketing to children, you need to consider whether the technology you want to use is simple enough for them to grasp. One solution to either of these issues is to ensure that you have staff on standby to guide your attendees in using the technology.
Secondly, you should ensure that you’re not using technology simply to show that you can; whilst you can use tablets, interactive display screens and video walls for the “wow” factor, they should also have a very clear purpose that supports your brand and your message. If they simplify your message, help your attendees to understand your products and services, or otherwise serve a purpose, then they are in the right place.
Once you have established the right purpose and the right technology for your stand, you can move on to preparation for the event. The content should be finalised as far in advance as possible, so that there is plenty of time to check that it works completely as it should, and to allow time for staff training. Whatever digital content you have on your stand, especially if it is interactive, the staff manning your booth should be completely confident in its use. If an attendee asks them a question, they need to be able to quickly navigate to the correct information without hesitation in order to make the best impression every time. They should also know some details of the technology you’re using – even if it’s not part of your service or directly connected to your product, you’ll quite often have attendees asking this sort of question, and it helps to be prepared.
Technology is Great, But Things Happen
You also need to be prepared in case anything goes wrong with your digital displays; most technological issues can be anticipated and prepared against, given enough forethought. For example, if you’re using tablets on your stand, make sure that they’re fully charged the night before, have charging cables for each one in a convenient location and, ideally, have a couple of fully charged spares on standby.
With tablets and other devices, you also need to check what else might be displayed; use a file protection app to ensure that irrelevant files on the device can’t be accessed by accident, load a wallpaper background that is in keeping with your brand image (for example, one with your company logo) and, if the device’s internet browser is accessible to visitors, have your staff clear the browser history regularly throughout the day.
Finally, if you have portable digital devices on your stand, you will need to consider their security as well – it’s all too easy for an attendee to wander off with a tablet still in their hand if it’s not secured.
Find an expert team that can help you create exciting, eye-catching displays that integrate digital engagement tools in the right way for your audience. I’m sure you will see great success within your booth.
By: Fred Attrill –
