What is a Trade Show?
A definition of a trade show would be that it is a popular specialized marketplace event that gathers together companies in a specific industry to simultaneously display their products or promote their services for the purpose of getting new clients, widen their market reach, generate sales, establish industry contacts and business networks, and get a glimpse of what other similar companies are doing in terms of their products, services, and marketing strategies. Unfortunately, that definition barely covers what a trade show truly is. There are four main areas that help define what a trade show is.
The first thing a trade show does is allow businesses to demonstrate and display their products and services to potential buyers who have a special interest in buying these items. It allows attendees and exhibitors to get into the details of a project a company may currently have or be projected to have in the near future.
The second aspect of a trade show is that it allows exhibiting companies to meet face-to-face with potential buyers of their products and services. It is the quickest, most effective way to get your business in front of multiple potential buyers concentrated in one place. The meetings become opportunities for business matching, where buyers can meet with multiple suppliers and sellers to find the right company to purchase from. Companies are able to demonstrate products and services, then interact with customers to get immediate responses and feedback to their items. These face-to-face opportunities accelerate the selling cycle by matching the buyer’s needs with a seller’s ability to fill those needs. It also provides an experience for the buyers. Most people make their purchasing decisions from the experiences they encounter, and these experiences cannot be replicated through any other venue. Trade shows help turn a company’s position of mind into position of market, which builds and secures a share of market for the exhibitor. Meeting with attendees and other exhibitors offers the opportunity to network and make additional contacts. Lastly, it allows you to show attendees who your organization is, what it stands for, and how it values the human side of business.
The third aspect of a trade show is that it is a major marketing tool. They are one of the best marketing tools available for businesses today as it incorporates the product, people, promotions, and placement of those products together at one time and place. It incorporates almost every marketing medium in reaching the targeted selling environment. Trade shows are also a vehicle for advertising and publicity. Each booth is a three-dimensional ad for the exhibitor. Each item from the booth back wall and electronic visual equipment to the giveaway items and flyers are advertising for the company, products, and services.
Lastly, the core value of exhibiting at trade shows is their efficiency as marketplaces for matching buyers who have a demand for a product with sellers who can fulfill those needs. The compacted time frame and concentrated location are cost effective and convenient for both exhibitors and attendees. In this tough, competitive business environment, exhibiting at trade shows has become essential for every business sector. In these down times, exhibitors are able to meet with buyers who have real needs and budgets, but still have less competition for their attention.
Why is it important to exhibit?
What are the two main things that drive sales? Marketing and promotions, and trade shows are one of the best marketing tools available. Overall, trade shows are incredibly valuable in gaining knowledge about yourself and your competition, interfacing with vendors, suppliers, and customers, and developing new clients and sales opportunities.
When the economy suffers, marketing is one of the first areas cut. Businesses consistently follow this protocol even though most respected marketing experts recommend putting money where the return is. Cancelling your marketing efforts in bad times can only hurt sales. Many small and medium-sized businesses believe that exhibiting at a tradeshow is out of their league because of misconceptions about how only large companies have large enough marketing departments with large budgets, the trade show booth is not affordable, they don’t know how to design a booth, they don’t know how to transport and assemble a booth, or they don’t know how to work a show. The only real considerations that companies should analyze are the budgetary impact of booth space rental and the correlation of the focus of the show to their company.
Most markets and businesses are having tough times in this down economy, but the companies that continue to market themselves are the ones who capture the largest share of mind when the economy turns around. Buyers best remember the companies and products who continue to stay visible, and those buyers are more likely to remain loyal purchasers in the future. In a study by Yankelovich/Harris, researchers found that most executives acknowledge the importance of keeping abreast of new products and services in their industry, and continuing to invest for the future. They also found that advertising during these tough times creates a competitive advantage. Their study revealed that 86% of executives polled stated that seeing a company’s advertising during down times made them feel more positive about the company’s commitment to its products and services. Most importantly, it also keeps those companies top-of-mind when purchasing decisions are made. The Harvard Business Review states, “Advertising is an anti-recession tool. It should be regarded not as a drain on profits but as a contributor to profits, not as an unavoidable expense but as a means of achieving objectives.” With trade shows being such an impactful, concentrated form of advertising, companies are finding a high return of investment by exhibiting.
There are multiple advantages to be gained from exhibiting including gaining competitive intelligence, meeting buyers and generating leads, meeting the press and other members of the distribution channel, and most importantly, to sell. Gaining competitive knowledge by visiting competitors’ booths can help you learn about both other companies and yourself. You are able to gain knowledge on how you compare to the competition, how they do things, what makes them more or less successful, and what the competition thinks about your product. By visiting other booths you can get literature on suppliers and distributors in your field, see new market concepts, and have yourself put on mailing lists to continue to get information. Meeting buyers and generating leads is one of the most important advantages to exhibiting. It allows you to talk face-to-face with prospects, current customers, and even past customers. Exhibitors often invite current customers to visit the booth to revitalize relationships and to show them the newest products. Exhibitors are also able to generate leads quickly. They can meet with 100’s to 1000’s of prospective clients and display their goods in the span of just a few days. Leads from trade shows cost 50% less than those from field calls due to travel costs, fewer numbers of contact points, and less time to reach the lead. Another advantage of attending shows is the ability to meet the press and other members of the distribution channel. Trade shows are the greatest opportunity for companies to get press coverage. The payoff of the articles written in trade publications is the possibility of thousands of information requests and future orders. Lastly, the most important advantage to exhibiting is sales! In a recent study, 90% of respondents indicated that they found trade shows to be a very useful form of gathering purchasing information. Almost 50% actually made purchases or signed contracts while attending the show. Most attendees plan to buy one or more products, and those purchases are influenced by the companies and products they see at the show.
Essentially, if you aren’t at the show, do they know you offer the product or service they need?
How to make the show successful
To make the most of exhibiting at trade shows, you must plan for the show and set goals and objectives. The stronger your plan, the more goals you are likely to achieve with a higher return. Four areas that serve as cornerstones for setting show objectives are increasing sales and reinforcing market share, increasing the share of customer, introducing new or updated products, and positioning or repositioning your organization, brand, and products.
Before the show, you must set measureable goals and a quantitative method of measuring those goals. Four areas that can be measured to analyze the success of a trade show are the revenue generated, the cost savings, the customer-relationship management, and the promotion impact at the show. Determining the areas that are important and the target outcome in those areas can help you evaluate the true return on investment.
Although every show in your field is significant, choosing the right shows are important to yielding the highest return on the investment. To save travel costs, stay close to home. For many companies, local and regional shows offer the best results for the time and money invested. Another option is “online trade shows” where you are able to “virtually” display your goods or services to the online visitors. This allows you to still openly talk with visitors to your booth and set up virtual meetings and demonstrations. By using this form of trade show exhibiting, the initial labor output is slightly more to set up your “booth”, but you save tremendous time and money by not having to travel or ship items to a location.
Trade shows are an important and vital part of every company’s marketing plan. They allow the exhibiting company to present their product, service, and company to a captive audience in a compact area and time frame. By continuing to be visible to current and potential customers during these down economic times, it projects your company to the forefront of those buyers’ minds now and as the economy improves.
FreightCenter knows how important it is that your exhibit gets to your trade show on time and intact. Let the shipping experts at FreightCenter.com help you get your booth and materials there quickly and affordably. FreightCenter contracts with trucking companies that are trade show endorsed and experienced in the pickup and delivery of exhibit materials. Some of the benefits of shipping through FreightCenter are discounted rates, no waiting time charges, knowledgeable service professionals, and time specific guarantee options.
Make your trade show appearance the success that you deserve at the low rate your budget demands. FreightCenter’s experienced staff is dedicated to taking care of all your shipping needs so you can focus on the show, not getting there. Visit
FreightCenter.com or call 800-716-7608 for more information about their trade show and exhibit transportation services and to get a free quote.
