Investing in a trade show as an exhibitor is a costly deal which requires lots of time and effort, if done wrongly then it can cause heavy financial losses to your company in an environment which is rough for a businessman like you. This is why we decided to write this blog and enlighten you about 5 simple things that you should do before booking your stall in a trade show.
Here are 5 things you should do to decide the best trade show for your company:
1. Background Analysis
The first and most often ignored step of the show selection process is to study internal departments and scour industry information to understand the marketplace, where your company fits into it, and where the C-suite wants to be in the future.
This step is especially important for those new to a company, but it is a critical step even for seasoned exhibitors, as without it, they are operating on assumptions that might be old and outdated.
For example, conversations with sales and marketing teams might reveal frustration over the underperformance of a particular product in the company's portfolio, and there might be shows available that are more specifically suited to the target audience for that item. You might also find out that management wants to better position the company as a thought leader in your industry, requiring consideration of shows with speaking opportunities.
On the other hand, if company brass wants to increase visibility, an exhibit manager might consider exhibiting at a large number of shows with small booths, while if the company sentiment is to take on a particular competitor, it might be more appropriate to look for shows where competitors exhibit and go in big with a large booth space and sizeable sponsorships.
2. Survey Your Customers and Prospects
Whether you use a formal survey conducted by an agency or an informal questionnaire mailed by the marketing department, asking current and prospective clients about their intentions and behaviour regarding trade shows can net immeasurably valuable information.
The challenge is finding the right people – and enough of them – to gather reliable data. In addition to surveying an internal list of clients and prospects, you might be able to find other survey candidates via associations or show organizers in your industry that sell mailing lists of members or registered attendees.
A suitable sample size is necessary for any data that is collected to be meaningful. In general terms, several hundred replies are needed for a valid email poll, and 25 in-depth interviews are considered the baseline for credible feedback from focus groups.
Ask your survey or focus-group participants what shows they plan to attend, the nature of their buying cycles, and their general awareness of your company and its offerings. But the most critical question, according to Sequeira, is what level of interest the respondents have in seeing your company's type of products.
3. Create a Master List of Trade Shows
Once feedback has been gathered, assemble a list of potential trade shows, including those the company has previously attended, one's mentioned by current or prospective clients, and any unearthed during your research. This should include shows found on competitors' websites, association websites, and search engines specifically for the exhibition industry including 10times.com. mytradefairs.com, biztradeshows.com, eventseye.com, and tsnn.com.
Keep in mind, no single directory lists every single show (so use more than one), and the information supplied via these directories is often incorrect (particularly when it comes to attendance figures). The directories are usually not to blame, however, as they must rely on data submitted by show management, and it's not unheard of for organizers to pad their attendance numbers.
For this reason, Ian Sequeira, executive vice president of Red Bank, NJ-based Exhibit Surveys Inc. cautions against using directories to choose or eliminate shows. Rather, he suggests drawing from several to create your "exhibiting universe" on a spreadsheet without putting too much stock in the detailed information that directories provide.
This universe will probably contain far more shows than you'll ever attend, including marginal shows on the fringe of your industry that may or may not be beneficial, but it should include a comprehensive list of the face-to-face opportunities before you.
This spreadsheet should include spaces where you can add information collected during your research, such as growth or decline of a given show, whether prospective clients say they plan to attend, and whether or not competitors have historically exhibited there.
If there are shows on your spread-sheet that you know your company absolutely will not attend for whatever reason, they can be culled. This might include events in a geographic area that you do not service, shows that are organized by competitors, etc. But those that remain, including shows you currently attend, should go through the next steps of the process in order to earn space on your calendar.
4. Interview Organizers
To make an exhibition worth every second and penny invested, exhibit managers must interview show organizers, and the first question should be whether or not the show has been independently audited. Shows that are audited are the most transparent events in the industry because attendance and other figures are verified to be accurate by an independent third party. Trusting numbers provided by shows that are not audited is a risk. Despite its minimal cost, only about 70 of the estimated 10,000 shows in the United States have their numbers audited.
If a show seems promising at this stage, there will be other deeper questions, but these lay the groundwork for evaluating an event's viability and suitability for your company: total show attendance, net attendance (i.e., how many bonafide buyers were physically present, minus exhibitors, staffers, etc.), number of exhibitors, total net square footage of exhibit space (not gross square footage of the show), cost per square foot, and hours, days, and dates for the exhibit hall and educational programs. This is information that every show organizer should be prepared to provide, and Sequeira warns that exhibitors should be wary of any who can't.
5. Analyze Each Event
 |
| Source: Exhibitor Online |
The most critical step of your analysis is determining an accurate attendance figure, as all other calculations rely on it. If a show's organizer has only provided the gross attendance, Sequeira says the rule of thumb is that at least 34 per cent of that figure constitutes exhibitors. If organizers provide a figure for net attendance, then exhibitors have already been subtracted. But keep in mind that if a show is not audited, you will need to apply a litmus test to determine the validity of those figures.
A second important variable is traffic density or the number of attendees occupying every 100 square feet of show-floor space throughout the event. Calculating traffic density is a good way to both test the likely accuracy of a show's published attendance numbers and estimate whether an exhibit hall is bustling or boring. To find this figure, multiply the net attendance by the average number of hours attendees spent in the exhibit hall. Then multiply that by 100. If you don't know how much time attendees spent on the show floor, nine hours is a safe guess, though it may be as few as six hours for shows with less than 100,000 square feet or as high as 12 to 15 hours for shows with more than 500,000 square feet.
Next, multiply the total net square feet of the show floor by the number of hours that the show floor is open. Then divide the total from the first calculation by the total from this second calculation, and you have arrived at the average show floor density. According to research by Exhibit Surveys, the average traffic density at shows in the USA is 2.6, and densities much lower than that might indicate a show floor with less traffic than exhibitors would consider acceptable.
On the other hand, densities higher than 5 or 6 are generally a sign of number padding. To wit, even the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which is the king of U.S. trade shows (and is audited) only has a traffic density of 3.5. If a calculation for a show results in a density much higher than the U.S. average, Sequeira says, the attendance numbers provided are likely inflated, and you should weigh any additional calculations using that attendance figure sceptically.
Using the most realistic attendance numbers possible, determine how many of those attendees represent prospects who are interested in your offerings and likely to visit your booth. This is known as your potential audience.
If you or the organizer has already surveyed attendees to determine demographics, buying plans, and/or interest in your category of products or services, you're a step ahead of the game. If show management does not have such information available, make a guesstimate based on what per cent of the exhibiting companies are there targeting the same individuals with similar products, and figure your audience is about that same portion of overall attendance. For example, if there are 500 exhibitors at the show, and 50 of them are selling products similar to yours, it's a relatively safe bet to assume that roughly 10 per cent of attendees are interested in your offerings and likely to represent your target market. Then, multiply the show's total attendance by the per cent that comprise your target. For example, if 30 per cent of attendees represent your target market, and the show has 10,000 net attendees, your theoretical audience would be 3,000 people.
Comments
Post a Comment