PERSUASION, NOT AWARENESS

A few days ago I facilitated a long-range planning discussion with an Exhibitor Advisory Committee for a major trade show. The committee included a cross-section of their exhibitor base – large and small companies.

The purpose of the committee was to create and recommend new ideas for improving the value of the show for exhibitors and attendees alike. But while this particular discussion was for the event, each company in the room had a personal stake in the outcomes. We talked about traffic flow, categorization, priority points, and the value of the last day – all the typical topics.

At one point in the discussion, one of the participants raised his hand and asked the question that was probably on everybody’s mind. “All these topics are probably important, but my biggest problem is proving value. I’ve come to the conclusion it’s not possible to measure my Return-on-Investment at a trade show. What can we do to help my company and others prove the value of exhibiting at trade shows?”

There’s the rub, right? After he made the comment, I looked around the room and saw heads nodding in agreement. I asked how many people had the same problem and all but one raised their hand.

It used to be a simple task to measure ROI. Pretty much all trade shows originally were what we called “order-writing shows.” Corporations would aggressively prepare for the annual, or sometimes semiannual, industry gathering. They’d feverishly get prototypes of new products ready to introduce and they’d loudly promote show specials. Buyers would come ready to “write paper,” because they knew this was their opportunity to get the best deals of the year.

Trade shows are different today, but heck, that’s because business is different today. Communication is easier, cheaper, and faster than the days of relying on our WATS lines and the Postal Service. Corporations no longer wait until the annual trade show to introduce new products, and buyers are armed with more information and more choices of who to buy from.

But that doesn’t mean trade shows aren’t still the most powerful marketing tool available. What other tool combines face-to-face interaction with complete hands-on demonstration potential of any sized product and the one-stop competitive comparison opportunity? Trade shows are it.

But the question of value is still valid. To be sure, corporations still write orders. But not every corporation will write orders at a show. Most companies will say they’re at an event to generate new leads. But even that’s a moving target. How to you define a lead? Is it a brand new discovery with somebody you’ve never met? Or is it an encounter that moves an “on-the-fence” prospect much closer to making the final decision?

Hundreds of articles and many books, including mine, have all been written to guide corporations to more successful exhibiting. And in these books and articles, you can find literally dozens of ways to “measure ROI” beyond the typically order-writing and lead generating.

Unfortunately, many corporations have resigned themselves to saying that their participation at trade shows is primarily to “raise awareness” of their company and/or products. They don’t expect to write orders and may not even be there to collect new leads. But I’ve never heard of anybody cashing a check on awareness. And when budgets are tight, as they most certainly are right now, money spent on building awareness is a luxury few corporations can afford.

Trade shows are pure and simple sale and marketing tools. David Ogilvy, the founder of Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency, said there is only one purpose of a marketing tool – to persuade. He never created a campaign to “raise awareness.” His objective in every commercial, every letter, and every advertisement was to persuade the prospect to action.

And that’s what every exhibitor should be striving to do at every trade show. Persuade the prospect to action.

But what does that mean? To be sure, there is no one-size-fits-all answer for every corporation as to what they can accomplish at any trade show.

But, believe it or not, there is one starting point that’s the same for everybody. And that starting point will ultimately point to the exact right objective that any corporation can have at any trade show that can justify the not-insignificant exhibiting investment in time and money.

The starting point for your company and every other company is this: what are the overall sales and marketing objectives of your company? And that could be for the next 12 months or the next five years, depending on how far out you plan.

Once you know clearly what that objective is, you then work backwards to the specific trade show you’re planning for and then ask, “How do we use this event to impact those goals and objectives? How do we use this event to persuade our target market?”

If your company’s goals are to generate $20 million in sales in the next year, how can you use the show to accomplish that? If the objective is to grab an additional 3% market share over three years, how will the show help?

To be sure, connecting the top line objectives to objectives at a trade show require many other steps. Generating $20 million in sales, for example, requires knowing how much an average customer spends, how long your sales cycle is, how many new customers you’ll need, and then matching those answers with the demographics of attendees at the show. Once you’ve got those answers, you then develop clear objectives and a clear plan for how you will use the trade show to impact that $20 million.

Just like there are a myriad of corporations exhibiting at trade shows, there are a myriad of potential objectives. There simply is no one right answer for everybody. But there is one right starting point for everybody. Know your top corporate marketing goals and then work backwards until you’ve determined the exact right sales and/or marketing goal for the show.

©2002 Steve Miller