Trade shows are an investment of both time and money for companies of any size.  Many exhibitors search for ways to increase the return on their trade show investment.  When was the last time you or your company measured its results from trade shows?  Not recently?  Never?  Don’t worry!  There are many ways to increase effectiveness from trade show exhibiting and they all begin with a plan.

1. Find the right show
How do you know if your trade show will be successful?  That depends on what you are measuring.  The first step to achieving better results from trade shows is to find a show, then set measurable and attainable objectives.

There are many ways to find shows and decide whether or not your target market will be at the event.  All it takes is a little research.  Call the show organizer and ask for statistics from previous shows such as number of exhibitors, total number of attendees, costs, etc.

2. Make a strategy
Now, decide what it is that you want to achieve.  The measure of achievement should be based on your goals.  Do you want to make sales at trade shows to measure your return on investment, or just gain leads for your database to measure your return on objectives? These are the core ideals to identify so that you can begin measuring your results.

3. It’s about the people
According to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR.org), 85% of the success at trade shows depends on the booth staffers.  The size of the trade show exhibit, the literature and the promotions are all secondary.  If a staffer leaves a poor impression with a prospect, no key chain or coffee cup will turn that impression around.  Therefore, it is important to train all staffers about your expectations as to what they should accomplish at a trade show.  They need to learn how to qualify prospects in a short amount of time.  If an attendee does not fit your criteria as a potential client, quickly and politely dismiss him or her.  When a prospect does fit your criteria, the staffer needs to know what to do next – set an appointment, send literature, schedule a conference call, etc.

4. Promotions need to be memorable
How many key chains or pens have you picked up at a trade show and where are they now?  They probably ended up in a trash can at the hotel and that means the promotion was not effective.  A promotion should be a memorable accent to your message, but not be overwhelming.  Pre-show mailings or e-mail campaigns can tie into promotions at the show to remind attendees to stop by your trade show booth.  Purchasing the attendee list prior to the show to select your top percentage of prospects is another great investment.  Don’t forget to contact your current clients that will also be attending.

5. Make a follow-up system
CEIR has found that 79% of leads generated at shows are not followed up on.  How can you prevent this from happening at your company?  It again starts with pre-show planning.  Create a plan for following through on leads.  It is important to determine how the information will be distributed, to whom it is distributed and how that information will be used to advance the company’s overall goals.  It is important to create a follow-through plan to utilize this new information and follow-up within a week before the contact at the show loses its effectiveness.

Trade shows require planning prior to, during and after the event.  The only way to ensure a higher return on your trade show investment is to plan all stages of the show.  Selecting the best show to exhibit at is the first step.  Booth staff training is a must for companies at all levels.  Proper follow-up should be part of the staff training.  Through a few focused steps, you can increase your return on investment!

Learn what other exhibitors are doing now to create their own trade show success, with the 32-page white paper research report, What’s Working In Exhibiting.  Get your free copy now by clicking here.

A crowd of potential clients can visit you at your trade show booth, a lot more than your sales people can visit in a day.

I often hear this question: “Help, please!  My trade shows are under attack from management!  What is the value of meeting a customer or prospect on the trade show floor versus in their office?”

Trade Shows Work

An estimated 110 million people attend more than 4,000 shows in the United States and Canada every year (courtesy: tradeshowsandevents.com).  How many clients or prospects can your sales reps see per day?  Maybe 3-4 or 6-7?

Consider a 20 total hour show with 10,000 attendees.  You have the potential to visit with up to 500 people per hour.  Even if you only meet with 5% of those attendees, you’ll end up with the opportunity to connect, face-to-face, with 25 people per hour.  To achieve the same level of success, one sales rep would need 20 weeks!

The Numbers

Trade show exhibiting, it’s a great value.  Consider the following numbers, provided by CEIR.org:

• For the past 10 years, an average of 81%-83% of visitors have some kind of buying power.
• The average visitor spends 9.2 hours at a 2-3 day trade show.
• 86% of your visitors will be new contacts.
• 77% of visitors will remember your company for up to 10 weeks.

• Cost per lead from show averages $212.00.
• Cost per lead from field averages $308.00.
• Cost per sale from a show averages $705.00.
• Cost per sale from the field averages $1140.00.
• That’s 38% less for a sale from a trade show lead!

How to Use This Info

I suggest you share these numbers with your management and accounting teams.  Then couple the information with your own statistics & measurement results, so that you can help everyone understand the importance of your trade show marketing program.

I’ve always admired Mark Twain. Some historians credit him with writing the first Great American Novels.  However, many people are not aware of his business endeavors and investments.  Twain was a very wise man and once said, “Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.”  In the 21st Century, where our world constantly changes and we face an uncertain economy in the months ahead, Twain’s statement holds true.  We can especially relate his thoughts to the trade show world.  It is important to understand how to evolve your trade show marketing program and after reading this article, you’ll know 5 ways to successfully exhibit in a down economy.

 1.) Evaluate your show schedule; don’t stop exhibiting.

Peter Starkel, from RemarkableBrands.com, describes “a well known reality in the marketing world [is] that you grow market share in a down economy and grow sales in an up economy.”  Starkel’s statement is especially accurate for trade show exhibiting.  It may be tempting to cut shows or minimize booths space in uncertain times, but now is the time to invest marketing dollars to build your market share.  So, don’t stop exhibiting, rather use metrics to evaluate your show schedule.  If you currently don’t have a measurement system in place, contact me for a list of commonly used measurement tools, such as cost per lead, return on investment, budgeting, visual reach, cost of live presentations and many more.  By implementing a trade show measurement system, you’ll be able to review your show schedule and determine which shows provide the best potential for an increased return-on-investment.

When is the last time you called 10-15 of your top customers to ask what shows they attend and why?  This exercise provides another measurement tool, which not only continues to build relationships with your clients, but also allows you to target or segment messages to specific markets.  You may begin to find other niches which would be profitable to pursue.

2.) Find areas to eliminate waste.

The green movement is not only good for the environment, but also for your trade show marketing program.  Through the measurement system described in the first tip, you’ll both evaluate your show schedule and find ways to eliminate cost.  For example, have you considered combining shipments to lower your drayage cost?  Or, have you shipped promotional items and literature to a staffer’s hotel room to eliminate drayage?  When is the last time you completed & submitted show forms before deadlines?  All of these small details add up, but can be a goldmine for cost savings.  If you’re short staffed, consider hiring an outside vendor to assist in completing these tasks.  Your cost savings might pay for their services and will allow you more time to focus on sales & marketing strategies. 

We all know that larger & heavier items cost a lot more to ship.  This theory is no different for your trade show exhibit.  If you’re still shipping a heavy, dinosaur of an exhibit, stop right now and start using a lighter, custom-modular solution that fits in smaller, fewer crates.  The cost savings in shipping alone may pay for the exhibit over the course of your show schedule and you’ll have the flexibility to update graphics or even add rental properties to increase your presence at shows.

3.) Train your booth staffers.

You already know that trade show floor space is some of the most expensive real estate around.  Have you also considered the actual amount of time your staffers spend with prospects at shows?  It isn’t much, is it?  Here is another area to eliminate waste: booth staffer training.  Do your staffers understand the expense required just to get them to that show?  Or, are they busy checking e-mail on their BlackBerries and making calls to family & friends on their cell phones?  By making them aware of this cost, you can then set goals for them to accomplish, helping him or her to become more effective.  Additionally, they’ll build confidence to reach out and engage prospects.  After practice, the advanced staffers will know who to not only engage, but when to disengage with a prospect that does not fit your target.  You can then send the best, most effective staffers to more shows and they’ll increase leads or gain better leads.  If salespeople staff your booth, why not even make it a competition to select staffers?  Again, you’ll get the best staffers and, after all, what sales person wouldn’t want to see more prospects in a day at a trade show, than just a few through field sales calls.

4.) Plan, plan, plan.

It’s always great to see a child unwrap a gift.  The joy is always short-lived when it comes time to assemble the toy with a set of unclear instructions.  Exhibiting without a plan is no different.  I’m not only talking about pre-show plans, but also at-show and post-show planning.  Without a clear understanding of goals and responsibilities, how will your team know whether or not they’re effective? 

Pre-show meetings should be the most-detailed, setting realistic goals, pointing out areas to avoid mistakes, training staffers and assigning responsibilities to follow-through after shows.  At-show meetings should not only be the shortest, but also focus on keeping up the rhythm and finding more opportunities while at the show.  Many exhibitors unfortunately skip the post-show meetings because, after all, there is a lot of work to catch up on when you get back to the office, not to mention all the new work generated at the show.  Post-show meetings should be detailed enough to quickly & effectively follow-through on leads.  The more time that passes without acting upon your new opportunities, the lower the chance you’ll have to turn prospects into clients. 

5.) Be the best.

Both the 1972 Miami Dolphins and 2008 Detroit Lions set National Football League records.  The difference is that of being the best (the NFL’s first perfect season) and being the worst (the only NFL team to lose all 16 regular season games).  While both teams undoubtedly worked & practiced very hard, the differences are quite obvious.  One team made a conscious decision to be the best by getting the best coach (Don Shula, the most successful head coach in pro football history, won a total of 347 games), the best players (six future hall-of-famers played for Miami in the 1970s) and did not lose sight of their goals.  At a trade show, you not only have one competitor, but a lot, even hundreds of competitors.  All of these companies have the same goal: attract prospects to their booth space, get their information and set up the next steps to make a sale.  How will you be better than all others so that you can get prospects to your space first and setup your steps to securing their business?

The choice is yours and now you’ll have to make a decision.  Will you use these 5 tips to exhibit successfully in the down economy?

Learn even more ways to exhibit successfully in a down economy.  Click here for your free copy of the Successful Exhibiting Strategies in Uncertain Times White Paper, which includes 16 proven methods for exhibiting better in a down — or up — economy.

Question: What do you consider an acceptable marketing cost/lead?

When working with my clients on their trade show marketing program, I project potential ROI using a calculation similar to the following example, which takes into account the total trade show marketing investment:

1.) Number of qualified leads generated: e.g. 100

2.) % of those leads most likely to lead to sales: e.g. 25% or 25 total

3.) % likely to close & generate revenue: e.g. 50% or 12.5

4.) Average value per sale: e.g. $10,000

5.) Expected sales volume: e.g. $125,000

6.) Total investment at this trade show marketing event: e.g. $16,250.00

7.) ROI = 7.69:1 or for every $1, $7.69 generated

8.) Value of a new client over 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 years?

In this example, $162.50 was spent per lead to generate a $10,000 sale. It is important to identify all expenses incurred, including space rental, shipping, drayage, travel, services, exhibit costs, graphics, pre-show promotion and post-show follow-up campaigns. You can then identify whether or not you’re spending an acceptable amount based on your average sale & projected sales volume. This amount will vary by industry and individual company.