Last year I travelled all around the country visiting some of largest trade shows and exhibits. At shows like the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), ComplexCon, VMworld, and more, I watched hundreds of thousands of people scour the floor and interact with brands big and small – and I took notes. Walking an exhibit hall and exploring booths teaches you a lot about a company – how it wants to be perceived and how it makes attendees feel. And one thing that's clear is that from consumer-facing shows to business-to-business expos for the technology and health-care industries, all exhibitors are looking for a way to stand out among the crowd and bring their brands to life.

So how do you leaving a lasting impression?

For starters, the entire attendee journey needs to be taken into account, including where and how visitors engage with the brand. It's also about the takeaway. As a brand, you have two choices: leave visitors with a positive experience crafted by a company that values forming connections, or let them walk away feeling like your exhibit was just a line item to cross off a marketing plan.

When it comes to the overall design of an exhibit experience, these three important elements should be on the top of marketers' minds.

1. Sky-high branding. It's a bird, it's a plane. It's you! When you are bigger, sometimes you really are better – or at least visitors are immediately attracted to your booth.

At ComplexCon in Chicago, Reebok International Ltd.'s booth, an experience made to replicate a carnival, stood well above the other exhibits with visible branding higher than anything on the show floor. Conversely, CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. utilized an eagle soaring above with a distinct shape and contrasting color palette of white on red to make it stand out at Black Hat. It was not only eye-catching but also a strong representation of a brand fresh from a successful IPO.

For both brands, it was important to show strength and dominance amid new product launches, and the bold overhead branding manifested a "hear us roar" mentality.

2. Game on, people. It's one thing for your booth design to draw in visitors, but you also want to keep them there – and engaged. This equals more time for your ambassadors to share key messages, educate visitors about products, and ultimately turn prospects into customers.

Cybersecurity firm FireEye Inc. demonstrated a great use of experiential marketing at Black Hat. An intensely difficult and time-consuming puzzle game kept attendees in the company's exhibit for upwards of 15 minutes, during which time they were fed a steady stream of brand messaging. This game represented the difficult tasks that FireEye's products could handle, and it also allowed visitors to get a hands-on, up-close-and-personal sense of the brand.

3. Branding matters. Have you ever found yourself in exhibit and wondering, "Where am I? What company is this?" Yes, it happens. And it shouldn't.
Consistent branding throughout an experience – and the ability for visitors to recognize and know a brand regardless of seeing the company name – is a must. Designing a consistent approach to every aspect of the booth is one way to ensure your company is instantly recognizable. If you were to strip away all the logos and still have attendees be able to identify your company, that's a win.

Forcepoint is a cybersecurity company I saw at several events this year. Whether it was its simple touches of lighting or the architecture build itself, it was both easy to spot the brand through a sea of exhibitors and to get the sense that the company a force to be reckoned with in its industry.

Impactful exhibit design really comes down to this: Every step of the attendee journey is important. From hanging signs to giveaways, meaning can be taken from every element. How you choose to represent your brand sends a clear message to attendees about how much you are interested in connecting with them or not.

Focus on these three core elements, and you'll be on your way to demonstrating that your exhibit has a purpose and proving that you're here to deliver a thoughtful, engaging experience that ultimately keeps consumers interested in your brand. That's why you invested in a booth in the first place, right? E