Last updated: March 27, 2024
I love exhibiting at trade shows. I get excited by all the new connections and sales opportunities that they create.
But exhibiting at a trade show costs thousands of dollars in registration and equipment fees, plus dozens of hours of your valuable time.
So how do you design a good small trade show booth that gets results?
I’ll show you a bunch of ideas in this article that you can use to design your own small trade show booth. You’ll see:
- Six small 10’ x 10’ trade show booths
- Seven photos of trade show signage
- A few other ideas, including a great table wrap
Why listen to me: Hi, my name is Nick Gray. I’ve designed small trade show booths for both of my last multi-million dollar companies: Museum Hack (10×10 booths) and Flight Display Systems (10×10, 10×20, and even 20×20 booths). The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Businessweek, and other major publications have written about me and my companies. I’ve also attended over 25 trade shows in the electronics and business aviation industries.
Classification and Sizing
First, let’s talk specifics. What classifies a “small” trade show booth?
The most common size for a small trade show booth is 10’ x 10’, or ten feet by ten feet. This is the introductory-sized booth which many small business owners and first-time exhibitors will purchase.
We can also define a small trade show booth as anything with a depth of 10 feet or less, or approximately three meters. That would include 10×10, 10×20, and 10×30 booths – although a 10×30 space is pretty large!
For the purposes of this article, we’ll focus on 10’ x 10’ spaces, which I’ll refer to as a 10×10 trade show booth.
You can do a lot with a 10×10 booth space! I’ll show you some of my favorite examples of small businesses and what they’ve done in only 100 square feet.
Small Trade Show Booth Ideas
These are some of the best 10×10 stands that I saw. I hope they will give you ideas for your own trade show booth.
Beneath each of the photos I will list some important design elements that I’m observing.
High end: 10×10 with Lights, Monitor
10 Pound Gorilla had this 10′ x 10′ corner space trade show booth. I loved the consistent branding, lights, and logo placement.
- Bold and consistent red color
- Small self-mounted lights which attach to back sign
- Extra top logo bonus sign
- LCD monitor showing rotating slides. Note that this adds to complexity and cost of setup
- Small table stand at hip height
- Tall counter chair
Mid-range: 10×10 with Backdrop, Table wrap
This is a great example of a strongly-branded, aisle-middle small trade show booth. Bramport Supply used consistent branding across their lyrcra-like cloth sign and table wrap for a clean look.
- 10′ wide backdrop sign fills the entire width of their booth
- Table wrap is color-consistent and prominently shows logo
- Product samples are on display for hands-on table demo
- Two normal chairs (not pictured) for staff seating
More 10×10 Booth Photos
Here are several 10×10 trade show booths that I saw at the BiggerPockets conference in Orlando, Florida. They’re all using a variety of signage, table skirts or wraps, etc.
Mid-range: 10×20 with Backdrop, Table Skirt, Products
Airtext is seen here with an LCD monitor on top of their table, plus several products available for hands-on demonstrations. I like their table skirt and have provided links to where the purchased it below.
Basic: 10×10 with Lighted Pull-up Signs
Lonseal used this three pull-up signs to create a simple yet effective backdrop in their trade show booth. I liked how they signs were top- and bottom-lit to create a bit more of an impression. Each sign collapses into a small size that is easy to travel with and set up.
An even more budget backdrop option is to use these simple pull-up signs, like I had made for my book recently. This sign cost about $130 to print and included a carrying case. It is easy to travel with.
Luxury: 10×30 with Backlit Box Signs
This is the largest “small” trade show booth that I will feature here, but I wanted to highlight their backlit box signage because it looked so impressive at the convention.
Nuvite used a full-length box sign backdrop in their booth to feature their products and draw attention to trade show visitors. See these additional photos below for examples of how it looked.
Booth Layout
At least one side of your trade show booth will be open to face the aisle or walkway. This is your forward-facing side of the booth and where clients and potential customers will approach you from.
Trade Show Tip: Whenever possible, I prefer to get a corner booth location at a trade show. It gives me and my team more aisle access to be approached by prospective customers and visitors.
Typically, the back side of the trade show booth – the one opposite of the open side – is where the primary signage is displayed. This sounds obvious, but I wanted to mention it in case anyone is brand new to booth design.
Unique Signage
While expensive to purchase and difficult to travel with, this wall of five LCD monitors made an impact at the trade show. I’ve also included a photo of the back so you can see how it is self-supportive.
I took pictures of this company’s trade show sign and backdrop because it looked very professional:
Trade Show Brochure Stands
This is a collapsible, metal brochure stand that allows for multiple different handouts. It collapses into a small size and was relatively lightweight. I do not know the name of the manufacturer or where to buy it.
This simple tabletop sign is lightweight, easy to set up, and much larger than a standard brochure display. I estimate that the height is 30-inches tall.
Photo Booths: Good for Leads
My friend Nicholas Rhodes swears by having photo booths in your trade show booth. He says that they help to increase ROI and boost lead generation, or new business opportunities.
I like the idea of photo booths because they’re interactive (take photos!) and they add value (get a nice picture!). They also attract visitors to the booth. Your visitors and potential customers could get a fun image for social media, or even a new headshot they can use on LinkedIn.
We used photo booths at Flight Display Systems one year in a 10×20’ booth. We set up an area with a backdrop, hired a photographer, and then manually followed up with everyone to send them their high-resolution photo. I’d estimate that the whole setup cost us around $3,000 plus all the time and logistics.
Fun fact: You can also do a photo booth rental. That guy Nicholas that I mentioned runs Outsnapped, so he’s admittedly biased on the benefits of photo booths, but he’s a good guy and I trust him. Check out his article here: Trade Show Photo Booth Rentals: Make Your Event Unforgettable.
Table Skirt for Small Booths
A “table skirt” is the name for the table cloth or elastic wrap that you can place on or around the tables at your trade show booth. Getting a custom branded table skirt is an easy way to make your trade show booth look more professional.
As an example, here’s what Airtext did for their booth:
They purchased these from this website linked below, but I have no affiliation with them (feel free to buy anywhere you want).
- 6-ft. Fitted Liquid-Repellent Table Cover
- 6-ft. Liquid-Repellent Table Throw
- 8-ft. Fitted Liquid-Repellent Table Cover
- 8-ft. Liquid-Repellent Table Throw
Jonathan Pinson, General Manager of Airtext, told me the following: “I highly recommend getting a table skirt with the water repellent feature. We found that wrinkles in the skirt fall out much faster when you steam them.”
Conclusion
Setting up and exhibiting at a trade show can be hard and cost-prohibitive, especially for a small business.
But it can also be one of the most rewarding and sales-productive events that your company engages in.
I took all of these photos at the National Business Aviation Association’s annual meeting and trade show convention in Orlando, Florida in November 2022. Then I compiled them into this article in January 2023.
To see some other trade show booth photos, look at the ones I designed during my time at Flight Display Systems.
I hope that some of these ideas and trade show booth photos will help you think about how to reach new customers and design an excellent booth. Good luck!
Do you have any ideas or suggestions for this article? Maybe you have photos of your company’s 10×10 trade show booth that I should add? Send me an email and I will add them to this post.