Designing A Trade Show Booth From The Visitor's Perspective - Getting In Their Heads

Written by Yuki Sano Thursday, 28 April 2011 08:00

Advertising and marketing for chiropractic practices is best learned by observing other chiropractors. I've been seeking out successful doctors for decades, watching them, listening to them, learning from them, and I can tell you this - successful doctors do a lot of marketing.

Advertising and marketing for chiropractic practices is best learned by observing other chiropractors. I've been seeking out successful doctors for decades, watching them, listening to them, learning from them, and I can tell you this - successful doctors do a lot of marketing.

This new era of marketing has led to unprecedented success for some companies, who have expanded the thought to an unexpected place: the trade show display. These companies have focused in on their target audience and designed a trade show exhibit from the ground up with them in mind. Their questions, concerns, and complaints are anticipated and addressed in advance. The end result is a trade show display that appeals to visitors on a level rarely observed before.

Thinking Outside Your Situation The most important tool that will enable you to successfully design from a visitor's perspective is an ability to separate yourself from the situation and look back on it with fresh eyes. This is a very difficult skill to develop for yourself, particularly if you're new to the entire design field. If you need to, don't hesitate to call in a few friends from outside of work or family members to look at your project the first few times. As they tell you what they see, you'll be better able to make decisions and understand their thought process.

Focus Groups Before A Trade Show Booth Once you have a way to get a fresh outlook on your trade show exhibit, you'll need to determine what perspective you should adopt. There are many ways to do this, but perhaps the most popular and simple is to run a few focus groups. These groups consist of a few individuals who represent your target audience.

Decide that locating groups of your target market is a research project. Go to the library and ask the librarian for help. Work on developing a list of groups, associations, clubs, and meetings. Then set yourself the task of "researching" these groups. Call up the membership and ask for information about the group, and about attending a meeting or two.

A young caller once asked talk show host Rush Limbaugh if he knew the secret to success. Rush replied "You can't go wrong by focusing on becoming an excellent communicator no matter what field you enter." Develop a unique brand that enhances you message. Then tie that brand into everything that you do to market yourself.

Create Profiles The final step is to put together a profile of an average client in each of your target demographics. What does he/she do? How does he/she feel? Put as much detail as possible into your report. This will essentially be the lenses through which you view your trade show booth and judge its appeal.

Ok doctors, now it's up to you. I know some of you are saying "Ewwww, if I did any of those things, somebody might see me and say something." Exactly, that's the point!