Nearly 40% of B2B marketers’ budgets in 2011 were spent on trade shows, according to a recent survey of 300 industry executives by the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR).

While the 39.2% allocation was down slightly from the 40.2% allocation in 2010—it is up from 33.9% in 2009 and 35.8% in 2008. Even more significant: B2B exhibiting dollars soar against all other channels. Trade magazine advertising, the next biggest channel, garnered only one-quarter of the money that exhibitions commanded, with a market share of 10.5% in 2011, according to CEIR.

“This is a very powerful figure that underscores the vote of confidence in the value of the exposition channel for business-to-business [groups],” says Nancy Drapeau, CEIR research director and author of the study. “It affirms the power of face-to-face marketing.”

Participants in the 2011 survey, “New Insights on Trends in Marketing Spend on Business-to-Business Exhibitions,” had annual revenues of $10 million or more and held at least one B2B exhibition in the previous two years.

Another statistically significant change in 2010 and 2011, Drapeau notes, is that even as the marketing dollars pie has grown smaller, exhibitions’ share of the pie either held steady or increased. (See chart, right.)

Following trade shows and magazines, the next three biggest marketing channels in 2011 were trade publishing online marketing (7.6%), general online marketing (7.0%) and general event sponsorships (6.1%). The remaining seven categories range from event sponsorships, with a 5.6% share, to telemarketing, with a 1.1% share.

However, actual spending per exhibition in 2011 fell to a median of $17,708 from $18,500 in 2009, a 4.3% decline. “For show organizers, that means marketing budgets have shrunk. Exhibitors are doing more with less,” Drapeau points out.

This, according to Drapeau, has made it critical for show organizers to:
       •    Know exhibitors’ objectives
       •    Succeed in helping the 95% of exhibitors that want to generate sales leads and build  product/company awareness
       •    Project a “Must Attend” image, whether it is a national or a regional event
       •    Target the small cadre of exhibitors that are increasing budget, while at the same time
       •    Seek the business of smaller companies with the potential to grow

As an example of the latter, Drapeau points to the National Association of Broadcasters’ StartUp Loft that it is planning for its April 2012 NAB Show in Las Vegas. There, a select group of new and emerging companies in the media, technology and entertainment space will showcase a product or service brought to market after Jan. 1, 2011.

Drilling down even further, to ask exhibitors how they allocate their exhibition dollars, CEIR found that the biggest spend is on booth display/booth space (39%), followed by set-up and furnishings (21%), booth staff travel (15%) and on-site promotional materials (6%) and on-site sponsorship (5%).