I Need a Trade Show Booth. How Much Does Trade Show Booth Cost?

No brand is an island. It doesn’t matter if your company manufactures painting supplies, books airline tickets, or distills whiskey: your business is a facet of a larger industry. Participants at the trade show are expected to create new connections within the industry.

Regardless of your industry, there are high chances that your peers and contemporaries hope to make new connections within their field. Attending a trade show is a natural way to accomplish this.

Once you’ve decided to attend an upcoming expo or conference, you’ll have quite a bit of planning cut out for you. In short, it’s time for you to get down to work.

But before you book hotel rooms, select equipment, or hire staff, your team has one crucial task: create a realistic trade show budget.

Consider Everything

While making your budget, it’s essential to consider every little cost required for the trade show. Your marketing and finance teams must think sensibly about what is fiscally possible.

While planning your budget, consider the following:

What are our goals for attending this trade show?

From increasing brand awareness and generating leads, to networking with industry peers and scoring wholesale deals, companies attend trade shows for all sorts of reasons— what’s yours?

Where is the expo?

Attending a trade show doesn’t tend to be a local experience. While your company may be based in Wichita, your industry’s next trade show could be in, say, Las Vegas. This means that you need to factor in transport (for both your team and your equipment,) accommodation, and potential coverage back at the office. The space you select may take up a large portion of your budget and significantly influence how much traffic you may get. This can affect your ROI, so you want to pick a suitable location.

How much event staff will we need, and who from our team will be attending?

Think about who will be representing your brand at the show. Will members of your marketing or sales team be in attendance? If you are hiring new event staff, they will need to be properly and adequately trained.

How will you display your product? What sort of amenities and unique features will you require?

What would you want your trade show booth to look like in an ideal world?

Dream big, and then identify what aspects will bring your vision into reality.
While budgeting, you must consider these features, whether you decide to build an expensive booth or plan for some unique yet impactful designs like an “island” style display.”

To make your booth more engaging, the components like screens and monitors, branded giveaways and freebies, marketing materials, and specialty tech details need to be realistically considered for the space size and factored into your budget.

What Furniture will you require?

In this category, costs vary depending on what functions you want for your trade show display, booth size, and what type of aesthetic you are going for.

What Flooring will you choose?

Flooring has a vital impact on the look of your booth, not to mention the comfort of your booth staff. Flooring costs vary depending on the material and the size of your booth. For example, you will pay $3 to $5 per square foot for plastic or foam tile, while carpeting starts at $2 per square foot. On the other hand, you may have to pay over $10 per square foot for bamboo flooring.

Warehousing and Storage?

Your tradeshow exhibit will need to be stored before and after the show. Unless you have expertise in keeping trade show exhibits, it is ideal to have a company handle storage. These storage costs should always be considered when planning for a trade show.

What Materials will you Choose?

What material you choose has an impact beyond just the look of your booth. It is tempting to only regard the aesthetic without knowing the cost implications of your decisions on materials. For instance, size and shape are crucial! Many materials come in standard shapes and colors, so sticking to those can help you save money. If you are looking for special finishes, consider the price comparisons on standard options before making final decisions, it can help your bottom line.

What is your ideal budget?

According to some top industry players, your trade show booth should cost about one-third of your budget. This is quite helpful, as you can plan your budget efficiently without wasting money.

Ask yourself how much you can afford to spend on this trade show?

If the answer is $45k, you should be looking into a trade show booth design that cost around $15,000. You can begin to factor in everything else you need from a financially sound standpoint.

     A Booth for Every Budget

You can build a beautiful booth in your budget. Usually, trade show booth rental cost less. Once you have decided average trade show booth cost, then it’s easy to find dozens of layout options in a variety of sizes:

$10k-$25k

An allotment of 10-25k will present your team with plenty of options! With a budget in this range,  it makes the most sense to hire a 10×10, 10×20, or 20×20 booth. Some brands have even been renting two lower-budget 10x10s to open up their layout and increase their expo presence.

$25k-50k

A mid-range budget will allow for a myriad of size and dimension choices. A budget in this sphere can provide you with a 10×30, 20×30,20×40, 20×50,30×30, or 30×40 rental booth.

$50k+

A premium trade show budget means that your brand is able to rent and work with large displays:  30×50,40×40, 40×50, and 50×50.

Don’t Miss the Essentials

Regardless of your budget, you must consider a few aspect while renting a trade show display booth.

A genuine rental company should be able to offer their clients the following:

Well-constructed booths and equipment

A clear and straightforward quote

Displays and exhibits in a variety of sizes, dimensions, and style

The option to customize displays

Personalized services, like a project manager or on-site supervisor for events

Options for shipping, event installation, and dismantling

A Customized Booth Speaks your Brand’s Language

A trade show is an excellent way to show your prospects your products and services. Presenting your brand with a customized trade show display that is colorful and aesthetic helps your team with impactful storytelling.

It increases brand awareness, draws more prospects to your display, and allows for you to present exactly who you are to your attendees. It’s a common misconception that rentals can’t be customized, which, to be frank, is nonsense.  Of course, you can customize a rental display!

It’s true, not every idea that your marketing team dreams of might be possible with a rental; customizations that would damage or permanently alter your hired booth is off the table.

However, it’s entirely possible to create a unique and well-branded rental booth with the right team. Indeed, any reputable rental company will be able to customize your rental by using specialty graphic production, color schemes, and design details.

At Exponents, we offer end-to-end services for trade shows all around the United States. In our 35+ years of experience with 18,000 clients across the nation, we’ve managed to get the art of nailing expos down to a science.

We’re ready to partner up with your brand and share our expertise with you. We offer a helping hand, every step of the way.

From deciding on an appropriate rental to keeping you in the loop via 3D renderings and a dedicated project manager, Exponents will be by your side through the entire trade show process. Making your business shine is what we do best.

Get in touch with us today to learn more about how we can help you navigate your upcoming trade show.