Trade Show Display Lighting
Booth Lighting Strategy

The right trade show display lighting can help maximize the impact of your exhibit and attract attention in an otherwise crowded, competitive exhibition hall. Following are some tips that will help you make the most of your booth lighting strategy.

Attracting Attention with Your Lighting Style

Appealing lighting can help draw more people to your exhibit and set the tone for your booth staff to meet prospects and generate valuable sales leads. Your tradeshow lights should be warm and bright. Extra lights can be used to place focus on specific products or areas you want to highlight in your display.

When selecting your lighting, consider the demographics of your booth visitors. If your target market is young hipsters, you’ll want to use much flashier, daring lights than if your target market is older or more traditional.

Approach using any flashing, moving, and twinkling lights with caution. While they will certainly attract attention, the special effects could lead to sensory overload for booth visitors, compromising your sales opportunities.

Set the Appropriate Mood

Trade show display lighting sets the tone and mood of your display, helping you tell your company story and sell your products. Many presenters make the mistake of using too much lighting in an attempt to impress.

Exhibition venues are typically well-lit, so it is not necessary to overdo it with the lighting. Rather, use extra lights or spotlights in certain areas of your exhibit display for added emphasis.

Using colorful lighting can also be tricky, if you don’t use the color illumination properly to focus attention and convey your message. For example, a booth with blue lighting can make the visitors to your booth look like they are going to lose their lunch.

Make sure that the lighting you choose reflects your company’s brand image, draws focus where you want it to be, and makes visitors feel comfortable and ready to buy.

Do Your Homework

Each venue has different rules regarding what type of lighting can be used, so contact the show representative and/or the venue and ask questions.

Search online for videos of previous tradeshows that have been held at the facility, so you can determine what type of lighting is appropriate and allowed in the exhibition hall.

Highlight Your Products and Services

If there are specific items in your display that you’d like to highlight, use one light for each item. Use two lights if the item is especially large.

You can also spotlight graphics in your display if you want to emphasize them. Consider using different colors of lighting to visually separate unique offerings.