Most “competitor walks” are just adult trick-or-treating.

Swag is entertainment.
Strategy is advantage.

Competitor scouting is absolutely worth doing—if you study the right things.

Because copying the look is easy.
Copying the conversion is smart.

The Point

Competitor booths are lessons—if you look for the right things.

Most teams don’t. They come back with:

• a bag of giveaways,
• photos of backlit walls,
• and a vague feeling of “we should do something like that.”

That’s not scouting. That’s sightseeing.

What Most People Do

They copy:

• giveaways,
• booth aesthetics,
• furniture,
• flashy screens,
• whatever “looked busy.”

But busy isn’t the goal. Conversion is.

What Works Instead: The 5 Things to Study

1) Clarity (the 3-second test)

Stand in the aisle. Don’t walk closer. Don’t squint.

Ask: Can I tell what they do in 3 seconds?

If you can’t, that’s a problem—even if their booth looks expensive.

Look for:

• category clarity (what are they?)
• outcome clarity (what do you help people achieve?)
• audience clarity (who is this for?)

2) Proof

Claims don’t convert on a noisy show floor. Evidence does.

Look for proof like:

• customer logos,
• metrics and outcomes,
• case study snapshots,
• “before/after” visuals,
• demo screens that show results, not features.

3) Offer

A booth without an offer is just a billboard.

Ask: Why should someone engage right now?

Good offers are specific and low-friction:

• “Get your ___ score”
• “Book a 10-minute demo”
• “See the results in 2 minutes”
• “Get the checklist/template”

4) Flow

Booth flow is a funnel.

Watch where people:

• stop,
• start conversations,
• exit.

Then ask: What’s causing each behavior?

Flow tells you what the booth is actually doing—not what the team hopes it’s doing.

5) What Makes People Stop

Most stopping behavior is a pattern interrupt.

It could be:

• a headline that punches through,
• a strong visual proof element,
• a demo that “reads” from the aisle,
• an unusually clear offer.

This matters because “stopping” is step one of conversion.

A Smarter Competitor Walk: 15 Minutes, Real Insights

You don’t need hours. You need a repeatable method.

Here’s the version you can run on-site—tomorrow.

Do This Tomorrow

1. Walk 5 competitor booths and write down their headline + CTA
2. Capture one thing they do better and one thing you do better
3. Decide one improvement for your booth tomorrow

That’s it.

Small changes compound fast when you’re making them during the show—not after.

Get the Free Competitor Walk Scorecard

If you want a printable / mobile-friendly version of this framework, grab the scorecard here:

Download the Competitor Walk Scorecard →

competitor-walk-checklist.pdf

competitor-walk-checklist-v2.pdf

Purple Rule

Don’t copy the look. Copy the conversion.