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May 2005
From the Editor: Proving ROI can cut both ways
I attended the Exhibitor Show last month and it’s an experience I would recommend for show organizers (or TS2 for that matter). Why? It was interesting to hear firsthand what keeps exhibitors up at night. Of course, I heard the usual complaints about drayage and rising costs. But it always surprises me that many exhibitors don’t measure ROI from shows — AT ALL. I’m talking BIG companies. Publicly traded companies. International companies. Multi-billion-dollar companies.
The average exhibitor spent nearly $700,000 on trade shows in 2004, according to Exhibitor magazine. With such a hefty line item, how is it possible that corporate management doesn’t know or care whether it’s worthwhile? But that may be about to change.
ROI is becoming one of the most important issues facing marketing departments. Following recent corporate scandals, accountability and measurable results are key corporate initiatives across all industries.
And it’s clear that exhibitors want to — in fact are eager to — prove their value to their bosses. They want to have quantitative not qualitative results when it comes to setting their budgets — and getting raises. But, many are clueless about where to begin, and quite frankly, it’s not easy. And they most simply don’t have time. One exhibitor told me she’s a one-person trade show department, and her company exhibits in 125 shows a year. She simply has no time for strategy.
One exhibitor wanted to know how to measure branding, which is his key objective. Another talked about the disconnect between sales and marketing. And another is frustrated with sales reps who don’t follow up on leads.
But measurement isn’t going to happen overnight. For HP, which exhibits in 400 shows a year, it took two years of planning and presenting and then getting corporate backing and support to launch an extensive measurement program last year, with the help of Exhibit Surveys Inc.
Today, the company measures operational performance, business objective performance, alignment with corporate objectives and functional issues. HP can tell you the cost per attendee, conversion rates of show leads to sales and the number of impressions at the show. HP measures qualified leads, purchase intent, cost per lead, audience demographics, attendee budgets, buying interest, brand awareness, brand perception, media exposure, and much more. HP is certainly on the leading edge of this trend, but at least exhibitors seem to be headed in the right direction.
Proving ROI can cut both ways, however, much like audits, performance measurements can’t be explained away. More than ever, we’ve got to be delivering the right attendees with the right budgets and buying authority in the right numbers. And rather than wait for this measurement trend to catch up to your show, you might consider helping your exhibitors jump-start the process. One in-depth attendee survey from you could provide demographics, budgets, purchase intent, brand awareness and brand perception from all your bellwether customers. It’s not enough anymore to produce a great show. You need to prove you produced a great show.
Danica Tormohlen, Editor
dtormohlen@ascendmedia.com |
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