Be brave at trade shows: How to plan a successful appearance

Trade fair appearances are one of the most effective ways to reach your target audience directly. Whether you want to showcase new products, recruit skilled workers for your company, or bring your brand to life. For many companies, however, the planning process can seem overwhelming at first: How big should the booth be? What content should we present? Who will take care of setting up and dismantling the stand? 

For years, we have been supporting companies of all sizes on their way to successful trade fair appearances. In this article, we would like to encourage you to take the first steps and show you how you can plan your trade fair stand efficiently and sustainably with professional support, flexible tools, and an experienced partner at your side. 

Why attend a trade fair at all? 

Before you start thinking about design, multimedia, or staffing, you should ask yourself the key question: Why do you want to attend a trade fair? 

Trade fairs offer you the opportunity to reach your target group directly, personally, and emotionally. This is something that digital channels cannot offer. You can: 

• Bring products to life and demonstrate them live. 
• Make contacts, strengthen existing relationships, and open up new business opportunities. 
• Present your company as an attractive employer. 
• Charge your brand with emotion and create a long-term impact. 

The key point: Set yourself a clear goal before you start planning. Everything else will follow from this goal.  

The biggest hurdle: taking the first step

Many companies hesitate because they consider trade fair planning to be complicated and expensive. “We're too small,” “We don't have enough experience,” or “Trade fairs aren't for us” are thoughts that often arise. 

Our experience shows that the first step is crucial. If you clearly define your goals and have an experienced partner at your side, the process becomes predictable and structured. A good trade show appearance is created step by step, not overnight. 

Preparation is everything: How to get started right 

Before you dive into design issues or digital tools, it's worth clarifying the basics:

• Set goals: Do you want to showcase products, win customers, generate leads, or strengthen your recruiting?
• Determine your budget: Set realistic costs for stand space, setup, personnel, and marketing.
• Clarify team roles: Who will take on internal tasks? Who will be on site at the stand?
• Create a schedule: From the initial concept to follow-up, a clear timeline makes decisions easier.

With this foundation, you can create structure and get started with planning in a targeted manner. 

If you want to dive deeper, download our white paper “Planning a Trade Show Presence.” It offers practical tips and strategies to guide you through your trade show presence, from defining your goals to follow-up.

From idea to stand concept

Once the goals have been defined, the creative phase begins: What should your stand look like and how should it come across?

• Implementing your own ideas: With 3D visualization tools, you can try out different stand concepts, position furniture and multimedia elements, and thus identify early on which variant is most appealing to your target audience.
• Professional support: We work with you every step of the way to design a trade show booth that authentically presents your brand—whether it's a small booth or a large stage. 

Important: There is no standard solution. The booth should fit your goal, your budget, and your corporate identity. 

Feel free to familiarize yourself with Studio: As an ExpoCloud customer, you have the opportunity to discover many variations of your exhibition booth and choose from a wide range of furniture, accessories, and design elements. You can get a first glimpse here: myWWM Studio.

How to keep track of everything: your trade fair portal with a system 

Planning, logistics, and organization are often the biggest challenges. This is where our mywwm portal comes in:

• Flexible trade fair stand rental: instead of making a large investment to purchase a stand, you can rent one as needed for each event. This saves you storage and maintenance costs in the long term and allows you to remain flexible when trade fair requirements change.

• Storage, maintenance, and transport are taken care of, and you keep track of everything.

• Sustainability: Reusable stands reduce material consumption and costs.

With a central system, you remain in control at all times and can concentrate on what's important: your message and interacting with visitors.

Digital content: Attract and hold attention 

Today, a trade fair booth is not just about furniture and exhibits. Digital content increases attention and actively invites visitors: 

• Moving images: Product videos, animations, or presentations.
• Interactive mini-games: Visitors can discover content in a playful way. 
• Multimedia steles & LED walls: For greater visibility and emotional impact. 

Do you already have content? We integrate it seamlessly. No suitable content? We work with you to create videos, animations, or interactive elements that bring your message to life. 

Your team on site: Who is part of it?

A successful booth thrives on the people who run it. Think about this early on: 

• Your own team: knows your products and services inside out. 
• External specialists: ensure a professional approach and take some of the pressure off.

The combination of both is often ideal: specialist staff take care of qualified discussions, while trained trade fair personnel welcome visitors and keep the booth running efficiently.

Understanding visitors: Using data to make better decisions

Trade shows not only offer direct contact, but also valuable feedback: Which areas of your booth are heavily frequented? Which exhibits attract particular attention? 

Data on visitor flows and interactions helps you identify popular exhibits, optimize content in a targeted manner, and make your booth even more attractive for upcoming trade shows. This allows you to:

• Identify popular exhibits
• Optimize content for future trade shows
• Make decisions based on real data 

For newcomers, this is an easy way to get started: you don't need to be a technical expert. We make the measurement and analysis usable for you.

Sustainability & Responsibility  

Sustainability is an important factor for companies today. With reusable stands, rental solutions, and sustainable logistics, we offer you the opportunity to work in a resource-efficient manner without compromising on professional quality. 

This allows you to actively contribute to protecting the environment while positioning your company as responsible and modern. 

Your next step

You now have a clear picture of how to create a successful trade fair appearance, from defining your goals to stand design and follow-up. The next step is simple: contact us and let's lay the foundation for your successful trade fair appearance together. 

We provide personal advice, develop tailor-made concepts, and support you every step of the way, from planning to implementation. With us, WWM GmbH & Co. KG, at your side, your trade fair appearance will not only be professional, but also a real experience for you and your visitors.

Get in touch now!