Attendees talk to one another during every trade show, and you can use this fact to your advantage to generate more traffic to your trade show booth. In order to generate buzz around the exhibit hall, there needs to be something special about your trade show display or your promotional items (in other words, give attendees something to talk about).

At a typical trade show, a company might give away 1,000 promotional items that each cost $2 to buy and brand, which brings expenses on trade show giveaways to $2,000. You could create much more buzz for the same cost by giving away 5 promotional items that each cost $400. Most modern trade shows provide exhibitors with card readers and attendees with cards, which allows exhibitors to keep better track of who is interested in their products. Tell every visitor you see that every 200th attendee to have their card swiped will receive the $400 item, and you will certainly see a surge in interest to your trade show booth.

If possible, you want to have everyone at the trade show working to promote your booth. If you want to use this type of strategy, I would recommend purchasing a hanging sign as well, because you will need the increased visibility from across the trade show floor if you’re looking to generate attendee buzz.