Too many companies are under the impression that flashy trade show booths sell product. While this can be true depending on the industry you're in, it's usually a better idea to keep it simple. Keeping your trade show exhibits' designs simple can actually help highlight your product, your service and your people. Simple doesn't have to be boring though, so talk to a company that creates professionally designed trade show booths to get ideas on a great design.

Trade Show Booths Don't Need To Be Flashy: Let Your Employees Shine

Flashy trade show exhibits certainly attract interest, but that's not the only way to get attention. Instead of loud music and flashing strobe lights, let your employees generate interest. If you have professional employees working your display, they'll bring in the customers all on their own. Make sure the employees working your booth are knowledgeable about your products, your company's history, what makes you different from your competition and what kinds of things your customers are looking for.

There's no reason that you can't take advantage of lighting and music to enhance your display. Just take care to keep the volume at a reasonable level and use lighting to highlight portions of your display. Avoid flashing lights because some people are sensitive to them and they could cause headaches or worse.

Trade Show Exhibits Should Be Uncluttered

Creating an uncluttered, clean looking display design should be the ultimate goal. You want your booth to be inviting and open. Take care to have your I&D staff place supplemental display pieces like banner stands and literature racks out of the main walkways and angle the exhibit so that each section is easily accessible. After all, customers won't visit your display if it's inconvenient.

Keep Your Exhibit Organized

Chances are good that you've packed a lot of extra promotional materials. Things like lead cards, business cards, customer brochures and additional materials are necessary parts of any event. The problem is that no one knows exactly how many of these materials you'll need. You may go through thousands at one exhibition and then struggle to give away a hundred at another. Because of this, it's always a good idea to over pack. The cost of shipping extra materials to and from an event is well worth it. If you find yourself without materials for your customers, it can give them a very negative opinion of your disorganized business.

This is where your I&D staff is a big help. The I&D staff often have two storage sections, one for your display cases that can't be accessed throughout the event and another called 'accessible storage.' Accessible storage is just what it sounds like -- it's a storage area where the I&D staff will stash things that exhibitors need access to during the event. If you're not sure where this is, ask the I&D staff that assembled your booth. Your business will likely have its own dedicated space.

Creating effective trade show booths shouldn't be a hassle. Think about the type of message you want to convey and work with a company that designs functional displays. You'll end up with a professional design that's sure to attract attention.

Chris Harmen is a writer for Skyline St. Louis, a company that helps customers with trade show exhibits in St. Louis. The company can design custom trade show booths in Saint Louis for clients.