Trade show stands: five mistakes I keep seeing (and how to avoid them)

A comment on a LinkedIn post got me thinking about trade shows. More specifically, trade show stands.

I’d just been to Automotive Management Live. It was a good event. Busy, well attended, plenty of interesting conversations.

But the stands… ohhhh, the stands.

I've attended trade shows for over two decades, both as visitor and exhibitor, and I’ve had a mild obsession with stand design as a result. Trade shows are expensive, time-consuming and exhausting, so your stand needs to work hard for you. Some companies get this absolutely right. Others fall into very familiar traps.

Here are five I see at every trade show.

1. The “AI everything” stand

AI this. AI that. AI everywhere (or whatever the latest tech or trend is).

Buyers don’t care that you use AI. They care whether your product solves their problem better than the alternatives.

If a non-AI product gives them more time, saves them more money or removes pain from their day, they're choosing that one every time.

Calling everything “AI-powered”, without explaining why it matters, doesn't help anyone understand what you do.

What to do instead: talk about outcomes. What changes for the customer because your product exists. If AI plays a role, fine, but it shouldn’t be the headline.

2. The “so… what do you actually do?” stand

This is the stand covered in acronyms, jargon and phrases like “enhance efficiency” or “leverage insight”.

It all sounds impressive. It also tells me absolutely nothing.

If someone has to ask three questions just to understand what you sell, you’ve already lost them. Trade shows are busy. People move on quickly.

What to do instead: explain what you do in plain English. One sentence. One clear benefit. If you can make it memorable, even better.

3. The logo lottery stand

These are my favourites. Multiple competitors, all offering very similar products, all with near-identical stands.

I often think: if we swapped the logos around, would anyone notice? The answer is usually no. Unless you’re in one of the marketing teams.

What to do instead: focus on what genuinely makes you different. Not everything. Just the one thing customers consistently say you do better than anyone else. Then own it.

4. The graffiti wall stand

Every feature. Every button. Every possible use case. All at once.

This usually happens when everyone wants their opinion included and nothing gets removed. The result is a wall of information that overwhelms rather than attracts.

These are also the stands you avoid in case the team talk as much as the graphics do.

What to do instead: lead with benefits, not features. Detail can come later, once you’ve earned someone’s attention.

5. The gamification stand

Putting mats. Dart boards. Scalextric. Video games.

All great fun. All completely unrelated to what the company actually does.

You get a busy stand and a stack of "leads", but most of them won’t remember who you are or why they spoke to you in the first place.

What to do instead: if you use a game, make it relevant. If you’re a data business, turn your data into a challenge. If you’re a reporting business, make storytelling part of the experience. The activity should reinforce the message, not distract from it.

A final thought

Trade show stands aren’t about looking busy or ticking a box. They’re about starting the right conversations with the right people: simple messaging + clear benefits = a reason to stop and talk.

And for balance, I should say this: I’ve been responsible for most of these mistakes myself at some point (plus the odd typo...). That’s how I know how easy they are to make.

If you’re planning events this year and want your stand to actually work harder for you, this kind of thinking is exactly what I help founders and teams, so get in touch before you fall into one of these traps.