24 Mar A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words
Have you heard the old saying that a picture speaks a thousand words? This phrase is derived from advertising executive Fred Barnard in 1927. The actual quote he said is “One picture is worth ten thousand words”.
When is come to exhibiting in a trade show this couldn’t be more true. Regardless of what type of trade show display you have it is the graphics that you have on that signage and display that matters the most. You only have a few short seconds to capture attendee’s attention before they pass you by for the next booth. What are you going to do persuade them to stop at your booth? Yes it is true that some exhibitors pull out all the stops and incorporate a fun game to attract people (i.e. spinning wheel, putting green etc.). This method can help attract visitors to your booth but are they really interested in what you have to offer with your business or just what you have to offer with your games? Many exhibitors fall into the trap that more is better. More names entered into the draw, more visitors to your booth. Although more is great what is even better is more quality names and more quality visitors. The key is to incorporate imagery into your signage and display so that it more visual.
about Facebook for a moment. When you scroll through the various postings what stops you and engages your imagination? Is it a text based post with a paragraph to read or short post with an image? It is the image that brings us in. We want to learn more not read more. This is partially why online videos are becoming so popular. We take in more and learn more when we see the visual image rather than having to read.
It may be actual photographs of your product and or service in use or customers using it or other graphic image elements that will grab the attention of attendee’s a picture really does say a thousand words. Many exhibitors fall into the trap that they need to have bullet points and lists of all of their services. They feel that the more they have to say on their displays the more people will see. This is actually the opposite of what really happens. Think of it this way… when you see a billboard on the side of the road or on a bus what captures your attention more than anything? That’s right it is the image that is in the advertisement.
When it comes to signage and trade show displays less is more. You want to attract visitors by capturing their attention through effective and creative use of imagery. Rather than listing all the services your company does on a retractable banner stand, pop up trade show or hanging sign try have a full colour display with 80% images and 20% text. You want visitors to see the display and if they are quality potential customer they we be curious and want to find out more. The use of images resonates greater and faster with people than text does. The text should be spoken by you directly to them. Your display should not answer all the questions that the visitor has. That is the role of the exhibitor. Let your visual image based display to the talking. That is until the visitor is engaged. Then it is your turn.