from it in search of deeper and more meaningful engagements – this includes from brands and organisations
• 31,000 registered trade shows are held annually every year with over 4.5m exhibitors and 260m visitors proving that they are still highly popular and relevant as a customer relationship tactic
• Ninety-one per cent of visitors state that their buying decision is affected by what they see at trade shows – both positively and negatively
• The cost of converting a sales lead generated from a trade show can be almost half the cost of converting a lead generated from other sourced such as referral or lead databases
• Fifty-one per cent of visitors buy from an exhibitor that they have met within 12 months of the show
• Trade shows rarely work in isolation and the digital and social media tactics available today are of massive benefit in maximising success at a trade show as part of an aligned marketing strategy (the subject of our next chapter).
CHAPTER 2
ARE TRADE SHOWS THE RIGHT TACTIC FOR YOUR BUSINESS?
All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.
—Sun Tzu, c. 6th century BCE Chinese general, military strategist and philosopher, The Art of War
In the previous chapter we provided you with some compelling evidence as to why trade shows remain a crucial part of the marketing mix even in this digitally engaged world Hopefully now you’re feeling enthused, energised and ready to get started on planning your next trade show. However, before you dive in and start investing your hard-earned cash in branded giveaways and bespoke animations to play on your 100-inch plasma screen, there’s another piece of the jigsaw you need to make fit – and that’s to consider whether trade shows are even the right tactic for your brand and your business. You might find it strange that in a book that strongly advocates the role of trade shows and seeks to inspire exhibitors to deliver better events, we’re even suggesting that trade shows might not be the best tactic. This comes from decades of working with a wide variety of brands and organisations that have spent tens of thousands on individual trade events that were never going to return much value. Before we get into the excitement and specifics of making your trade show brilliant, let’s talk about whether it even has the potential to be brilliant to begin with.
Where is your business now?
Before you invest in any trade show or event, or any marketing tactic in general, stop and ask yourself where your business is now and where it is going. If you’re the owner of the business, where do you want to be in the next 3–5 years and who are the customers and stakeholders who will help you get there? If you’re employed by an organisation, do you understand the corporate vision and mission and are you clear on where the business is looking to grow?
For example, imagine you’re working in a business that develops a product or service that will exclusively be sold online to the end user without the need for an intermediary wholesaler or retailer. Your business is based on an e-commerce model where the consumer visits your website or app to buy your product or service and can receive additional content and information about you direct to their inbox. You are the only provider in the market for your niche product and your target audience, while incredibly loyal, are spread across the globe. Having recruited a consumer, usually by referral from within their online community, they are frequent and high-value buyers and you build a relationship by adding value to their experience with you. Your ambition is to grow your current sales by extending your portfolio of services.
In this set of circumstances, it would be difficult to justify the cost of investing in trade shows as a marketing tactic. Certainly, a B2B event would deliver little value as your route to market is directly to the consumer and therefore visitors who are attending an event on behalf of their business would not be relevant for your specific growth objectives. A B2C event might have more potential if it were in a complementary industry but the relative costs versus the limited number of possible customers you might meet would make it a very expensive and low-value investment. Building online advocacy and enhancing the user experience would be far more relevant in these circumstances than a trade show would be. Understanding who and where your audiences are is a critical first step in deciding whether trade shows will be the right tactic for your business. Before even thinking about which trade show to attend, what your stand looks like and who’s going, ask yourself honestly if trade shows are a tactic that could reach an audience that can contribute to your growth aspirations?
Case study: ASOS
1. Organisation: ASOS – As Seen On Screen
Objective: To become the number one global online fashion destination for 20-somethings
Execution: ASOS delivered revenues in 2017 of £1.9 billion, exclusively through an online platform of affordable, trendy and authentic clothing ranges, aimed at 20-somethings but purchased by a much wider age group. ASOS’s success has been driven by significant investment in delivering a brilliant online user experience, supported by good customer service and seamless integration across desktop and mobile. Their audience grew up surrounded by digital and live their life on and through their devices. Although some advertising has been executed offline, with print and outdoor media, it is largely done online, where their audience spend most of their time. In these circumstances and with this objective it would be difficult to argue the merits of investing in trade shows with the possible exception of perhaps some consumer clothing and fashion events.
*Even despite this digital success, ASOS has been a victim of the consumer desire for a more in-depth and tactile relationship putting-out a profits warning 17th Dec 2018 based on slowing sales growth.
Are you ready to sell?
The key long-term objective of any trade show is to establish new relationships, or build on existing ones, in order to achieve profitable sales growth. But what if you don’t have anything ready to sell? Many new businesses, or existing businesses with a new product, rush to exhibit at their industry trade show with a few mocked-up samples and a rough product cost but without any thought to a solid route to market strategy. One of the most common complaints we hear from visitors is that they have found an amazing new product at an event, but they can’t actually buy it yet. Or they can only buy it direct from the manufacturer in either small or huge quantities which just aren’t appropriate. When you’re passionate about your product or service, and need it to start earning money for you, it’s tempting to get lost in the excitement and forget about the practicalities of getting your product to your customer. However, if you disappoint a potential new customer during the first interactions you have with them, it is much more difficult to rebuild that trust when you are ready to sell. As we will keep coming back to throughout this book, trade shows are not about what’s important to you or your business, but what’s important to your customer – and if you can’t make the transaction easy you might question whether you should wait.
This also raises the question of scalability. Trade shows attract a range of visitors with very different buying authority from different sized businesses. There is always the potential you might meet someone who wants to order more stock than you could ever produce based on your current capacity – how would you manage that conversation so that they work with you rather than taking your
