TRADE SHOW EXHIBITION PART I of III

To Go or Not to Go, That is the Question.

Part one of a three part series about deciding the benefits having a booth at a trade show and how to get the most out of your attendance.

We know that budgets continue to be cut and it is not always easy to know where to best wield the ax. Considering costs for travel, space rental and booth design/build, trade shows can be a tempting target to lop off, but before chopping trade show presence out of the budget too quickly, consider the benefits a trade show investment can bring to your company. Merchant Circle, www.merchantcircle.com offered a summary of statistics on trade show attendance:

• 83% of the attendees have some kind of buying power.
• 85% of decision makers say attending trade shows saves their company time and money by bringing vendors together under one roof.
• 79% of the attendees say that attending shows helps them decide on what products to buy.
• 91% of attendees say that trade shows impact their buying decisions because the competition is in one place allowing for comparison shopping in real time.
• 85% of an exhibitor’s success lies in the performance of the staff.
• People to people medium where the quality of communication is critical, ineffective staffing equals ineffective exhibiting.
• Trade shows cost 38% less than sales calls.
• Trade show visitors will tell 6+ people about their experience.
• 81% testify that trade shows help attendees become aware of new products and services.
• Trade shows are the #1 business-to-business marketing spending to support sales beating out specialty publications, internet, promotions, and PR respectively.
• 91% of attendees tell us they get the most useful buying info from trade shows and events.

While trade show attendance has dropped in some fields and countries, it is not all bad news. Trade Show Week, www.tradeshowweek.com indicated a slight drop in attendance in consumer shows in the USA from 2007 to 2008 (down 1.3%) but this drop has slowed from the previous year’s drop.

If you attend more than one show, one option can be to consider cutting out smaller shows and focus your efforts on important shows. While less tangible ask yourself, if you are not available, who will they be buying from instead who is at the show?

Ultimately there are many factors to weigh when budgeting for a trade show, but having a clearer understanding of the benefits will help you to make a more valid decision.