The Trade Show Must Go On

Marketers who are eager to trim fat from their budgets should be wary of cutting events from their bottom lines, say some marketing experts.

Yes, trade show attendance is off in many industries. Case in point: The Spring Internet World trade show recently held in Los Angeles, widely seen as a bellwether technology event, had a 30 percent fall in booth sales from last year. But even as attendance dips, some organizers and exhibitors say that in hard times, events are the best way to spend marketing dollars. "Events and exhibitions are insulated from recessions" says Douglas Ducate, president of the Chicago-based Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR). "Research shows that over the last four recessions, since the 1970s, the trade show industry has stayed strong."

Why should events be spared from a marketer's budget-cutting ax? For several reasons, explains Joel Davis, general manager of @d:tech, a series of high-tech advertising shows based in Fairfield, Connecticut. "First of all, show booth purchases and travel plans are often made up to a year ahead of time," he says, "so cutting them from your budget won't have an immediate effect on the bottom line, because they're already paid for."

Also, events are a relatively low-cost venue for marketing and making sales, Davis says. "You can purchase a booth at a show and arrange for travel and people to work the booth, for less than ten thousand dollars" he says. "The booth will lead to hundreds or thousands of face-to-face interactions with highly targeted individuals." (A recent research report from CEIR says it costs 56 percent less to close a lead generated at an exhibition than a lead generated in the field--$625 vs. $1,117.)

And an exhibition presence shows that a company's brand is still viable. "Showing up at a trade show is a great way to let clients, partners, and competitors know you're still in the game," Davis says. "Not showing up is a good way to let them know you're not in the game."

Michael Bandy, president of the Trade Show Exhibitors Association in Springfield, Virginia, an organization of 22,000 trade show exhibitors whose members include Microsoft and Coca-Cola, says that as of yet, exhibitors have not cut trade show spending. However, Bandy admits, "the one sector of the trade show industry that seems to get hit the hardest during an economic slowdown is technology."

No Business Like Trade-Show Business

Don't blow your lines.Train for your role at the trade show booth.
TODD HIROZAWA OF Hewlett-Packard remembers exactly how the sale at the trade show was clinched. Prospective customers were gathered several ranks deep around a demonstration of a computer system at the HP booth. An IT member of the booth team, who had been trained to talk to people at the back of the crowd to make sure they didn't lose interest and drift away, struck up a conversation with a man behind the cluster of customers."It turned out he was the CEO of a major company, and it closed our sale with that company," recalls Hirozawa, a computer science graduate who moved from IT to become a "customer advocate." Hirozawa attends Events and entices customers to speak with HP's engineering and manufacturing people. "That sale was closed because of a technique that we learned in our trade-show training class."

Read More .....

There Are More Events Them Ever. WHY?

There are now more events than ever .Here's how companies can capitalize on this exploding channels .Its hard to beleive , but not all incremenral marketing dollars are marked for e-business. Good , old-fashioned events are garnering an increasingly larger slice of marketing budgets in the economy.


In fact, according to data from The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR), events are the third largest business-to-business marketing expenditure after advertising and promotion. In 1998 companies spent 17.3 percent ($12.6 billion) of their b-to-b marketing budgets on events, up from 10.7 percent in 1995. And 1.5 million companies exhibited at 4,500 events attended by 102 million people in the U.S. last year, according to CEIR. Those figures are projected to balloon to more than 2 million companies exhibiting at nearly 6,000 events attended by 125 million people in 2008. "Events offer a more efficient way to sell merchandise," says Doug Ducate, president and CEO of Chicago-based CEIR. "We have twenty years of research that events that companies exhibiting at events can bring products to market in half the time. Events speed up the selling process."Faster cycle times often mean increased revenues. And isn't that the goal of every sales and marketing executive?Too few companies, however, have mastered the art of exhibiting at events. Some firms still take the Field of Dreams approach: If you build a booth, customers will come. Not so. Companies successfully accomplishing their event objectives all have a specific strategy. They set measurable goals, generate quality leads, and keep their event staffs motivated. These exhibitors take their mission seriously and adhere to the following four basic principles of successfully exhibiting at any trade event:

Read More>>>>

Common Event Merketing Mistakes: Ten Tips On How To Avoid Them.....

The key to great exhibitingis MARKETING. But marketing is very inexact science that leaves room for a multitude of errors to occur.The following are 10 of the most common marketing mistakes that exhibitors often make. learn how to avoid them & you will increase your chances for successful event.


1. Have A Proper Event Marketing Plan

Having both a strategic exhibit marketing and tactical plan of action is a critical starting point. In order to make events a powerful dimension your company’s overall marketing operation, there must be total alignment between the strategic marketing and your exhibit marketing plan. Events should not be a stand-alone venture. Know and understand exactly what you wish to achieve - increasing market share with existing users; introducing new products/services into existing markets or into new markets; or introducing new products/services into new markets. This is the nucleus on which to build.


2. Use Direct Mail Effectively

A significant part of your marketing includes promotion — pre-show, at-show and post-show. Most exhibitors fail to have a plan that encompasses all three areas. Budget is naturally going to play a major role in deciding what and how much promotional activity is possible. Developing a meaningful theme or message that ties into your strategic marketing plan will then help to guide promotional decisions. Know whom you want to target and then consider having different promotional programs aimed at the different groups you are interested in attracting. Include direct mail, broadcast faxes, advertising, PR, sponsorship, and the Internet as possible ways to reach your target audience.

3. Use Direct Mail Effectively


Direct mail is still one of the most popular promotional vehicles exhibitors use. From postcards to multi-piece mailings, attendees are deluged with invitations to visit booths. Many of the mailings come from show management’s lists and as a result, everyone gets everything. To target the people you want visit your booth, use your own list of customers and prospects--it’s the best one available. Design a piece that is totally benefit-oriented and makes an impact. Mail three pieces at regular intervals prior to the event, starting about four weeks out, to help ensure your invitation is seen. Wherever possible, use first-class mail. There’s nothing worse than a mailing that arrives after the event is over.

Read More....

How To Choose The Right Event ?

With More than 9,000 Events & public expositions being held each year choosing the right one can be daunting task.

The difficulty of making those choices may be one reason why some companies do not exhibit at all. Making the wrong choice can be costly mistake.Yet there are many sources that can provide the information you need to be most productive for your company & yield the greatest return on your company exhibit investment. To determine if your company should exhibit in a particular trade event or public event, you need to obtain answers to two questions:

1. Will the people you want to reach be there?
2. Will the event management be an effective matchmaker?

A key source for the answers is the event management itself. But you can also get valuable input from exhibitors, attendees, industry associations, publications, and suppliers, such as installation and dismantle companies or service contractors.
Why do you want to exhibit?

Before talking with any of those sources, clarify your exhibit goals. Most exhibitors aim either to make sales at the event or to gather leads for post-event follow-up. If one of those is your goal, you might need to reach purchasing agents, specifies, users-or all of the above. But in your market, it might be more important to reach the presidents of small companies. Or you may want to recruit dealers, distributors, or manufacturers' representatives. Once you have your own objective in focus, you're ready to find out if a given event will help you meet that objective.

These are the questions that you should ask:

Read More ....