Music is one of the best ways to make your trade show booth exceptional in order to get noticed by convention attendees. There are several things to think about when using music as an attention-getter for your booth. You need to consider whether adding music will enhance, distract or just add noise to your booth. In a large indoor trade show, music may not be the answer. If it just adds to the cacophony of sounds, your potential customers will be turned off. However, if you can add music in such a way that it adds to the engagement and excitement of your display, it can be a great way to increase your brand awareness and trade show traffic. Let’s find out How to Use Music to Attract Trade Show Attendees!
How to Select Music for your Booth
Before you begin to select the music, think about the goals of adding music to your booth:
- Music should draw people to the booth.
- Music should enhance the display.
- Music should help customers enjoy or engage.
- Music should not distract or disturb.
- Get permission from show organizers.
If you can add music and accomplish these goals, you are ready to go.
Using music to sell your product or services is not the same as playing it at your home. You need a license to play most music in public or you can potentially pay a hefty fine. Artists earn a royalty when their music is played publicly. Therefore, you can buy a music license or you can put together royalty-free music to play in public. The exception to this rule is if you are selling music to the public, then you already have permission to sample it to customers.
Once you have decided on your music budget and whether you should invest in a license, you can start selecting the type of music to put on your playlist. Base your decision on your demographic, the theme of your booth and the type of interaction you desire. For instance, a tattoo booth might choose classic rock music as opposed to a children’s toy booth which would choose children’s songs.
How to Present the Music
There are several ways you can use music to draw attention:
- Use music in the background to provide a mood in the booth. This music can play softly throughout the day to offer a relaxing atmosphere or loudly to produce excitement.
- Use music during demonstrations or periodically to engage customers for announcement, quick dance or contest. These events can happen every hour and you can give attendees a schedule ahead of time. You can even post a sign that says “Next show at X o’clock”.
- Let visitors listen to music through headphones provided at your booth to de-stress or to learn more about your product. Offer music as a down-time activity in a corner of your booth or use headphones for ongoing audio presentations about your brand.
- Use music as comic relief for your presentation to a large group at your booth or in a meeting room.
- Create an electronic slide show with music.
Examples of Trade Show Music
- Create a party in your booth at the end of the trade show. Put on line dancing music for people to let loose after the long day.
- Use music in the background and offer chair massages to sooth tired attendees.
- Create a reading room or computer area in the corner of your booth for people to escape for a few minutes.
- Set up screens with headphones for short audio-visual presentations that won’t disturb any other conversations. Attendees can listen at their own leisure.
- Run demos every other hour and use music to heighten interest during the demo, help get a laugh or make your point.
- Set up a motion detector that will turn on your audio presentation if your visitor goes to a certain spot in the booth.
As you can see, music can be used to grab attention in several ways. It is up to you to figure out if it will help or hinder your goals for your booth at this year’s trade show. For more ideas, Creative Imaging Displays has you covered to make your next trade show a big success. Find great resources like How to Use Music to Attract Trade Show Attendees, Infographics, and small business tips on our company blog!
