February 2005
From quantity to quality

With attendance on the rise, show organizers turn their attention to attracting a higher caliber of attendee

By Heather Kirkwood


Ninety-four percent of show organizers report attendance at their shows is either holding steady or on the rise, and with this boost of confidence in attendance, show organizers are increasingly focusing their attention on attracting a higher caliber of attendee, according to the third annual AttendTrend survey of trade show organizers conducted by the Frost Miller Group and Jacobs Jenner & Kent.

As in past years, the data reveals it doesn’t pay to skimp on the marketing budget, yet this year organizers are expressing a greater interest in the strategy behind their marketing plans. Relationship marketing, or marketing efforts that work to establish a personal relationship with a prospective attendee, continue to be the most effective forms of marketing. But as relationship marketing has increased in popularity, the difference between growing shows and declining shows isn’t whether they employ relationship marketing — but how and to what degree.

The AttendTrend™ survey, a study of attendance marketing best practices, is conducted by telephone and surveys 500 major show organizers throughout North America. This year’s survey explored not only attendance growth trends, but also how marketers are promoting shows to attendees, as well as how they think about marketing within their organizations.

While it can be helpful to compare how growing shows market differently from shrinking shows, Wayne Jacobs, President, Jacobs Jenner & Kent, advises organizers not to lose sight of their own unique audiences when reviewing the survey’s findings. “We may survey hundreds of shows, but those shows are from a broad array of industries. When it comes down to it, the best marketing decisions are the ones made to fit a show’s specific audience and needs.”

Changing marketing challenges
With the increased focus on the type of attendee coming to the show, the No. 1 marketing challenge for organizers has shifted. In 2004, show organizers ranked attracting VIPs as the most difficult marketing challenge they face, up from third place in 2003. Increasing overall response rates ranked as the most difficult marketing challenge in 2003, but it’s fallen to fifth place in 2004, reflective of the majority of shows with steady or increasing attendance.

“New-found concern about persuading VIPs to attend marks a shift from wanting bodies in the aisles to wanting somebodies in the aisles,” says Jacobs.

The struggle to increase international attendance ranked second on the list of marketing challenges, perhaps not a surprise considering the complications many attendees from overseas face when trying to attend U.S. shows.

Bob James, Managing Director of the Frost Miller Group, says that many show organizers have stopped trying to develop new international attendees, choosing instead to cull through old databases and show lists in search of international attendees with a history at the show. “It seems as though the only way to travel is to have a history of traveling,” he says. “It can be easier for international attendees who have gone to the show in the past to get the necessary visas.”

Another obstacle, beyond the control of marketers, is the need for many international attendees to travel to U.S. embassies or consulates for personal interviews to secure U.S. visas, thus increasing the amount of time attendees must take to come to an event.

The third ranked marketing challenge in 2004 is attracting buying teams, up from sixth place in 2003 — yet another indication that show managers no longer are concerned with just getting attendees to their events, but rather attracting the power buyers exhibitors crave.

How growing shows market
Shows with growing attendance have a different attitude about attendance marketing than shows with declining attendance, according to the survey data. In 2003, growing shows were increasing their budgets at higher rates than shrinking shows. This year’s survey, however, investigates how growing shows are investing their marketing dollars differently than the shrinking shows.

Growing shows, says Jacobs, are placing a greater importance on the following:
• Understanding audience needs, wants and desires
• Event branding and image
• Relationships and coordination with exhibitors and trade publications
• Overall planning and strategy

In addition, Jacobs says growing shows are more aggressive about using a full spectrum of marketing tools — e-mail marketing, marketing research, direct mail, etc. 

Growing shows also use some marketing mediums more than shrinking shows. For example, 82 percent of growing shows uses advertising to help promote the show, while only 33 percent of shrinking shows do. While 38 percent of growing shows reported using outside marketing firms, none of the shrinking shows do. Fifty-five percent of growing shows used exhibitor-sponsored promotions to build attendance, while only 30 percent of shrinking shows do.

Relationship marketing is still the mantra of the growing show, however, this year the data reveals that shrinking shows are also incorporating relationship marketing into their marketing plans. But they’re putting less emphasis on these marketing techniques than growing shows.

Growing shows use Web advertising frequently, a trend the study’s authors hope to study further in subsequent research. The growing shows also use public relations and e-mail frequently. Jacobs says both of these point to relationship marketing, a proven component of growing attendance. E-mails, he explains, tend to be associated with efforts to achieve a one-on-one relationship between a potential attendee and the show. Unlike direct mail that’s often targeted at a job title, e-mails by their nature have to be targeted to an individual. Additionally, when Jacobs explored what growing shows considered to be public relations, it tends toward promotions aimed at individuals, not just blanket press releases.

Conversely, the shrinking shows use public relations with the greatest frequency, yet their efforts, according to Jacobs, don’t always involve personalized communication. The next two marketing tools used most frequently by shrinking shows are Web advertising and print advertising — neither of which is a marketing tool directed toward an individual.

The vast majority of growing shows, 90 percent, report an increase in reliance on advertising in the last year. Seventy-five percent of growing shows report an increase in reliance on e-mail marketing, public relations and Web advertising. Likewise, shrinking shows report an increased reliance on direct mail (83 percent) and Web advertising (83 percent).

Overall, show organizers report the most effective methods to attract attendees to their shows are public relations, direct mail and print advertising.

Honing the message
Another new development is that shows have shorter marketing windows in 2004 than in 2003. In 2003, 68 percent of shows began marketing a year or more before the show, but in 2004, 67 percent of shows have a marketing window between six and 12 months.

In 2004, as in 2003, show organizers report that the “promise” that most motivates attendees to come to a show is the prospect of seeing new products (71 percent) followed by the ability to network (24 percent) and seminars and conference sessions (14 percent). Jacobs points out that with so much industry consolidation in the last few years, many attendees find themselves with new job responsibilities or in new industries. For these attendees, the educational value of an event is an extremely strong lure.

Of course, relationship marketing is more than how the message is delivered. It’s also about the opportunities show management gives attendees to connect with an event in a personal way. The most popular relationship marketing or value-added services shows offer attendees are: continuing education/CEUs or CMEs, show co-location and free meeting space for buying teams.

Finally, this year’s research found that show organizers are becoming ever savvier about their marketing plans. When show organizers were asked to think about which areas of emphasis should receive the most attention when they review how to improve marketing efforts, a better overall strategy ranked the highest, followed by developing a better understanding of attendees and available audience research.

That’s great news for the industry, says Jacobs. “Successful shows, shows that are growing, are being run like businesses. They’re healthier.” He estimates attendee marketing budgets are growing around six percent, but even better, that money is being spent with great strategic care — creating stronger events, and thus a stronger industry.