7 Simple Ways to Improve Your Board Game Booth
Last month I attended UK Games Expo for the first time. It was a great weekend of meeting new people, attending seminars, and playing games.
As I roamed the trade halls throughout the weekend, I noticed the same recurring problems with booths. Regardless of the size of the publisher or how long they'd been around, there were a few common issues that kept exhibitors from being the best they could be.
With GenCon coming up and Essen on the horizon, here are seven simple ways that tabletop game exhibitors can improve their booths.
1. Think about eye level
In a busy trade hall of booths filled with tables, roll-up banners, and people, it's easy to miss important information. Step back from your booth and take a look — is the most important information at eye level where passersby are likely to see it? If not, you likely have a problem with people missing what you want them to know. Too often signage is propped up on a game table or taped to a counter where it's easily blocked. Before printing your signage make sure that you're making the best use of the prime real estate at the top and avoid placing important details lower down.
2. Signpost it
Signposting refers to guiding someone through something to set expectations and show what should happen next. Think about your local grocery store and how they direct you from bread to milk. Now think about your booth. Have you made it clear what you're selling? Booths tend to rely on the (often esoteric) game title to do the heavy lifting in setting the scene. Unfortunately, this rarely tells the viewer anything useful about your game. Think about including keywords like the game's genre, key mechanism, player count or style at the top. You'll be helping to signpost for the convention attendee — letting them quickly know if they're interested in finding out more.
3. Give me something to do
If you've ever been to a big trade show for another industry, you'll have seen the standard tactics. There's a reason they are so ubiquitous - they work! The trick is in adapting them to our niche hobby space. Demos can be great, but what if I'm already sold on your game, or there's no space (or time) to play a round?
You want your booth to be memorable, so give visitors something to do or take away. Is there something cool attendees can take a photo selfie with? Maybe you have some stickers or art you can give away. Why not try to gather some email addresses by having a giveaway prize each day for showgoers?
Here are some great fun examples from Frank West and the City of Games booth at UK Games Expo this year. Their focus at cons is on community building, which is a great takeaway for all of us.
4. Unify booth presence & differentiate product lines
This was a big issue with the larger stands with multiple games being shown. There was often not enough publisher-level branding to make the booth feel cohesive. At the same time, products were presented willy-nilly, blurred into each other making it difficult to know how they all fit together. For these larger stands, strong and distinct product lines should be presented as such. The more time you spend thinking about how to arrange your products, the easier time that someone new will have in exploring them.
5. Have a focus
Related to the above point, your booth needs something that is a priority to show the audience. I visited lots of stands where games from five years ago were kept on the stand in the same volume as the newest release. If you're lucky enough to have several classic or evergreen titles in your catalogue, by all means, show them off. But when lots of copies of an old unknown game are taking up valuable space, it actually detracts from your new release -- if the old game didn't go flying off the shelf, why should I want to play or buy the new one? Customers like to be guided along, so make it easy for them by giving your priority title(s) the most space and time.
6. Draw me in
I mean this visually and in terms of the human connection at the booth. Eye-catching signage or a cool display is great, but having someone on the stand to say hello and be willing to chat about the games is critical. I stopped by way too many booths where people looked bored or miserable and that's definitely not the vibe you want to get people excited about your games. Being friendly costs you nothing and should be something you screen for when recruiting your booth staff and volunteers.
A highlight of my weekend was meeting the folks from Cake of Doom who mastered both the visual appeal of drawing attention and being friendly and approachable. They also took care of item #3 on this list by giving me a business card with a code to sign up to their email list and be notified of their crowdfunding campaign.
7. Make it work for you
While the other tips on this list are about the attendee experience, it's time to think about yourself. Game conventions can take a lot out of otherwise very energetic people, so you need to make yourself comfortable. Start from the ground up -- what're you standing on? Investing in foam flooring or carpet will make those long days of standing a lot more bearable for you and your booth staff and volunteers. Make sure you've got a stash of water and snacks so that you're able to recharge without leaving the booth. If you're taking a lot of meetings at a convention, maybe it's time to find space away from the stand where you can hear each other, sit, and be comfortable. The difference between comfortable and uncomfortable staff is noticeable to convention goers, and you owe it to yourself to have the best time possible on your stand.
Like this post? Check out more of my show floor tips.
Travis Smith | Board Game Marketer | Gundalow Games
I’m a marketing communicator with a drive to help other passionate people succeed. With 20 years of marketing, public relations, and sales experience to share with you, I’m an ideal partner for your game project. So why not get in touch today?
