22 Reasons To Exhibit At Trade Shows
While trade shows are not easy, they are many worthwhile reasons to exhibit. How many? In just ten minutes time (and without succumbing to the temptation of a Google search), I came up with these 22 reasons to lug your trade show exhibit down to the nearest convention center and exhibit:
Sales:
1. Generate sales leads
2. Close sales
3. Build relationships with prospects
4. Advance the sales cycle
5. Cross-sell existing clients
6. Meet spread-out buying teams at one time
7. Recruit new sales people
8. Recruit new distribution
9. Train new sales people
Marketing Communications
10. Build your brand
11. Re-position your brand
12. Increase awareness
13. Survey market awareness
14. Interview clients
15. Generate publicity
Product Marketing:
16. Launch new products
17. Survey attendees about new product ideas
18. Research competitor’s products and messaging
Executive Management:
19. Keep up on industry trends
20. Meet with key clients
21. Meet with key business partners
22. Profitably build the business
Think those 22 reasons are worthwhile? Then share the list with someone who needs to see it. Got your own favorite reasons that aren’t on the list? Then go ahead and add them in the comment box below. Even add other areas of the company that would be well served by your exhibiting program. There’s no reason not to.
Now that you have 22 reasons to exhibit at trade shows, get Tradeshow Week and Skyline’s latest White Paper research report, What’s Working In Trade Show Marketing, which has almost 100 tips from fellow exhibitors about how to stretch your budget and boost your results. Click here to get your 32 page report.
Filed Under: value of trade shows
About the Author: Mike is Skyline Exhibits' Director of Lead Generation and Industry Relations, with over 20 years of Marketing and Trade Show Marketing experience.
I think that many companies miss how participating in trade shows can substantially increase their ROI. My favorite thing to say when I’m on the phone with a potential exhibitor is:
“In terms of an advertising expense, you can’t beat it! You can place an ad in a magazine or newspaper, run an extensive campaign of television and radio commercials, or go crazy with guerillia marketing….but the FACT of the matter is, some may see you – some may not, some may pick up the phone and call – some may not….BUT, at an event like ours you are FACE to FACE with over 30,000 potential consumers that fall DIRECTLY within your targeted market!!! They can see, touch and examine your products, and more importantly your sales people get valuable time to pitch the product. I’m not sure of any other form of advertising that can get you that!!!”
I am good at sales, because I believe in what I do….and this statement is the heart of what I believe to be true!
Thanks for sharing your genuine belief in the value of face-to-face nature of trade shows. You’re an ambassador for exhibitions!
Certainly it is a good platform for exposing your products but as far as potential customers are concerned, you will get very less. eg, 1000 leads visited your stall, 30% are actually potential customers in which only 30% (90) would purchase your product.
Amit,
Exposing your products at the show is a good value for trade shows, but for most exhibitors, sales generated are more important. Using your example, if those 90 people purchasing your product end up buying 20 times more in dollars than what it cost to exhibit at the show, it would be a very successful event. Plus then you’ve also exposed the other 910 people to your product and have advanced the sales cycle with them.
Right you are! Trade Shows and events are exceptionally broad in terms of what can be accomplished for the host company. I teach a planning model related to what you are speaking of.
Trade shows, and customer events in general, produce two main accomplishments for the host company.
1) Business Development
This includes:
*Revenue Generation
Target Marketing
Prospect Development
*Revenue Retention
Customer Relationship Management
Growth on the Revenue Base
*Channel Management
*Supplier and Partner Management
Negotiation of more favorable terms
or arrangements
*Influencers and Regulators Management
Influence the conditions under
which business is conducted and
products are sold (associations,
standards bodies, etc.)
*Cost Savings through expense
avoidance activity at an event
2) Marketing Communications
*Press Management
*PR Activity
*Analyst Management
*Marcom Objectives
Brand Development and Reinforcement
Program Communications
Market Positioning
Product Launch
Loyalty
Community Development (social
networking)
Continuous Communications
Relationship Development
*Community Relations
These elements form the core of a robust planning structure that Skip Cox of Exhibit Surveys and I developed into an automated planning support and measurement tool. Information on that tool may be found on either of our websites.
Keep preaching the word that shows are about a lot more than leads and sales!
Ed Jones
President
Constellation Communication Corp.
ROI on Events, Event Measurement and Evaluation
http://www.constellationcc.com
Thanks, Ed! I enjoyed reading your much more though-out list than mine. It seems that generating profitable sales leads has to do the heavy lifting of justifying most exhibitors’ trade show participation. Yet the value of all your other activities is very substantial, and would be costly to duplicate outside of the trade show. It would be good to start any trade show planning meeting with your list in hand.
Thanks guys ,
I agree with all of you, we now looking for revolution in expo industry , through online exhibition, what do you think it will revolutionary step or not. Please tell me your view on it.
Rahul,
You ask a great question, one that will be interesting to see as it gets answered by the market over the next several years. I think that online exhibitions are providing good value, which is why in this tight economy they are growing. Companies can get access to educational content and vendors, vendors get access to leads, all at a lower cost than live trade shows. However, attendees prefer to meet vendors in person and see real products when evaluating them for purchases, which they can only do at live trade shows. The question is whether or not the lower cost will win out over higher quality, or if online exhibitions will end up as an adjunct to live shows.
On-line exhibition cannot replace convention center trade shows because it simply cannot accommodate the human portion of the equation. Using on-line means for educating prospects on offerings, delivering specifications and communicating “facts” makes sense and is well-received by most business people looking to maximize return on time invested in research for solutions they need.
Trade shows offer the emotional response (empathy for problems and enthusiasm for solutions) that humans factor into their buying decisions. You want to trust your vendor (“look ‘em in the eye”) to feel the assurance that the decision is right.
Combining on-line efforts with other marketing communication BEFORE the trade show can increase the effectiveness of the trade show face-to-face communication.
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