How to Use AV to Attract Exhibit Stand Traffic

Incorporating audiovisual technology (AV) in your exhibit stand can transform the look of your display, add impact to your brand message, and drive traffic away from competitors. Yet, how you use AV can make all the difference.

An exhibition, much like the forums of the internet, is a competitive game of attention-grabbing. Exhibitors can no longer afford to stand idly by, manning plain, old-fashioned stands, while attendees sail past to visit more engaging displays.

A large part of this competition is waged digitally. It is no secret that audio-visual content stimulates viewers like few other forms of media. But simple presentations that belong in a drab, Monday afternoon business meeting will no longer suffice. Individuals don’t want to slog through lines of uninventive text, or watch stock footage of happy business folk shaking hands.

Like everyone, they want to see something new that grips them and will stay in their head for days to come. But how to do this? Here are some ideas.

1. LED Walls

Screens are now more or less normalized, and will do little by themselves to attract attention.

One more modern approach is the LED wall which can achieve a more textural visual feel, as opposed to the flat surface of a digital screen. Many modern, high-quality trade show stands are adopting this technique, as onlookers are enticed to walk past these satisfying installations.

2. Livestreaming

Another exhibition trend is the use of the livestream. A blending of virtual and live, these streams give attendees the impression that your stand is connected to a wider world in the internet. There is a feeling of scope, of importance, that grabs a visitor’s attention, as they tell themselves: This seems significant, I wouldn’t want to miss this.

While the livestream may be enough itself to attract attention, its effectiveness will compound if you also have some engaging content to stream. A performance of some kind, related to your brand, would be an excellent way to maximize the impact of your stream.

3. The Content Itself

It’s worth mentioning that while there are many ways to pull customers in with audio visual (AV) technology, a truly successful hook will have some content at its center. This doesn’t have to be a magnum opus of literature or visual design; it should simply be something substantive or informative that the viewer will be thankful to have absorbed.

With the saturation of media content today, it is sometimes easy to resign oneself to the view that good content is no longer important and that AV in the 21st century is just smoke and mirrors to hook customer attention. Yet, this is far from the case. Having something of substance behind your AV displays is the best way to maximize their potential.

4. Trigger Tech

To those asking: How can I bring my stand to life? — here’s how.

Short of physically attaching arms and legs to your booth, a motion detecting stand that plays a video in response to a visitor approaching is the best way of imparting an organic quality to a stand.

What’s more, in busy trade shows, this trigger tech may pick up and hook the attention of individuals that would otherwise have walked right on past.

Staying ahead of the curve in such a competitive business environment is a continuous challenge. According to Alan Jenkins, CEO of Quadrant2Design, "‘Part of the relevance of exhibiting in the new age is in response to the sheer difficulty of staying afloat and up-to-date as a business."

One of the simplest ways your business can signpost itself as modern and cutting-edge is by taking advantage of the new AV options offered by the new world of tech. Of course, they won’t do all of the work for you, but they will get your foot in the door, and that is a crucial starting point.