Bob Milam, independent industry consultant, is a former EXHIBITOR Editorial Advisory Board member and a past All-Star Award winner, and a current EXHIBITOR Conference advisory board and faculty member. tradeshowbob@gmail.com

hen you think about it, we've all been hit with pickup lines at trade shows. A tagline on a booth's back wall, such as, "Widget Corp.: Making the World's Best Widgets Since 1896," isn't all that far from, "I'm Bill, what's your sign?"

The line I used to first convince my future bride to go out with me is lost somewhere in the wasteland of my mind. I'm guessing that whatever I said, she took pity on me and dated me anyway. But your exhibit shouldn't rely on cheesy lines or pity when you're courting attendees. Instead, by avoiding some basic mistakes and focusing on your strengths at a given trade show, your back-wall graphics should turn your booth into the handsome fella at the end of the bar with all the ladies gathered around, not the guy who nobody remembers.

Be Clear, Not Clever

If the first question you get from attendees is, "What do you do?" then your opening line needs work. When a guy at a bar asks, "Hey, are your feet tired?" a beautiful woman doesn't know if he's a shoe salesman, a podiatrist, or some guy about to finish the world's worst pickup line: "Because you've been runnin' through my mind all night."

At a trade show for the supercomputer industry, one company had its name and logo along with the phrase, "Inspire the Next," in big, bold letters. My immediate question was, "Inspire the next what?"

In addition to being a nonsensical statement (no one "inspires the previous"), it's the kind of marketing tagline that probably sounds great in the boardroom, but, frankly, means nothing to potential customers. Instead, a tagline such as "We Turn Inspiration Into Reality," might have worked better. People who work with supercomputers probably get inspired.

They would probably love an electronic gizmo that helps them test or analyze that inspiration until they can make something real out of it. So "We Turn Inspiration Into Reality" is probably more likely to resonate than the generic "Inspire the Next."

Don't Flub the Flattery

In the classic movie "Back to the Future," George McFly practices the pickup line he intends to use on Lorraine, planning to tell her that she is his destiny. What actually comes out is, "You are my density." Ouch.

If you think that's bad, you were obviously not an attendee of the Natural Products Expo a few years ago. The booth for my company had a slogan we were sure would be a winner plastered on its back wall: "Making Organic Solutions Easy."

Unfortunately, we stacked these words vertically in a foot-high font, so at the top you read, "Making," then on the next line you saw, "Organic," and below that ran the word, "Solutions." Due to our reception desk and a poor choice of colors, not many attendees could see the word, "Easy." Most attendees either asked what organic solutions we were making, or the dreaded, "So, what is it you do?"

The placement of your tagline is just as important as what you say. Your booth graphics need to be legible. That means nothing goes below waist level and your tagline shouldn't fall below shoulder level. You also need to pick high-contrasting colors that can be seen from a distance.

Save Something for the Date

One of the most common graphics errors occurs when companies feel the need to tell you everything on a back wall. The fine print is better left for a follow-up e-mail, a product-information sheet, or a flash drive you can hand out. Any text so small it cannot be read from the aisle is too small for your back wall.

In other words, your back wall shouldn't be a large-scale version of your product catalog with all the specs an attendee could ask for. Your graphics should attract people to your space, giving your staffers an opportunity to swoop in with all the details and relevant information.

Let Your Personality Shine

Attracting attendees is all about making a connection and building a relationship. Like in dating, that opening line should let them know a bit about who you are; otherwise, you might get a drink thrown in your face.

If you're the industry stalwart, mentioning that you've been providing products or services since the Eisenhower administration will support that fact. If you've proudly trounced the competition in consumer or industry surveys, let attendees know your company is a winner. And if your brand is all about the boutique approach, communicate that customer care is your specialty.

At the 2009 ConExpo show, heavy-equipment maker Volvo Construction Equipment North America Inc. had a large, green, circular sign hanging over its exhibit. The sign read: "It's a Volvo. It's Innovation. It's Eco-Friendly. It's Safety." The banner, which could be read from quite a distance, gave three traits the company was trying to promote, and attendees who saw the sign knew right away what they'd see in the Volvo exhibit: Green technology, something new, and an emphasis on keeping drivers safe.

Prioritize Your Message

So what's the right way to write your tagline? Well, at any given show, the audience should get a couple of basic things about your company from that tagline: your company's name, a problem you can fix or solution you offer, and the name of a product your company sells. Furthermore, your tagline should prioritize those three things based on which of the three you need attendees to remember about your company the most.

If you have a new product to introduce, that should take priority on your back wall, with the company name or the solution you provide coming next. Your company may be generally known among attendees, but if you're launching the latest in gizmos, it's the gizmo that should get top billing on your graphics.

If your company is new to this show or this audience, your company name should likely be prominent. After all, brand awareness is probably a primary goal for you at the show, so making sure passersby see your name or logo is of the utmost importance.

And if your company has a solution for a pervasive problem facing attendees, a benefit statement should probably take priority over other marketing messages. Most attendees go to trade shows because they have a need to satisfy or a problem to fix, and they're looking for a company that has the product or service to best solve their crisis.

Luckily, I got the girl. But if you don't want to rely on luck - or pity - to get attendees' attention, you'll need to refine your opening line to a clear, concise message that lures the customers you want to attract.e