Show Me the Money: Maximizing Tradeshow ROI
Tradeshows are expensive, and everyone knows it. However, like with any other marketing initiative, show marketers aren't taking the right steps to maximize their return on investment. In this blog post, we'll outline the four key mistakes that booth marketers fall prey to when putting on a tradeshow. We'll also touch on ways you can improve your ROI through better strategic planning.
Let's start with the biggest mistake first:
1) Spending Too Much on Your Booths.
We've seen (and created) it all when it comes to tradeshow booths--from simple displays to elaborate, custom-built set-ups. While expensive set-ups can certainly increase your perceived value, they're usually not necessary and often not even a good idea. What's more important is your show budget relative to your ROI expectations.
While you can't always control the cost of your booth, you can structure your tradeshow budget and ROI expectations to fit within a certain range. When calculating your budget to create a winning tradeshow booth, start with what's reasonable. Consider that it's unlikely that you'll get as much traffic as the man who spent $50,000 for a 3x2 booth at his last show. Instead, think about the things you can control:
Top - Five Key Trade Show Mktg Mistakes
Focus on the numbers: having a professional graphic designer on-site will increase traffic (like x2), but it also increases cost.
Don't let the competition dictate your booth design - it's not why you're there.
Don't focus on the money. Focus on delivering maximum value to your target audience and maximizing impact with your message.
2) Doing Too Much with Tech-heavy Booths.
While nothing's wrong with having a digital display, trading cards, and DMX lighting, it's important to focus on what will best facilitate your brand and message being received:
Top - Five Key Trade Show Mktg Mistakes
Selling points : There should be one dominant point for you to focus on (i.e. a main message), not too many and not too little.
Top - Five Key Trade Show Mktg Mistakes
Audience: Make sure your booth's intended audience is properly addressed by certain elements, such as signage and messaging.
Top - Five Key Trade Show Mktg Mistakes
Doing too much with graphics can hurt the impact of your show--and most importantly, turn people off. You should focus on talking to your audience and making them feel like they're a part of what you're doing rather than covering their eyes with a bunch of pictures for four hours a day.
3) Less Is More: Investing in the Right Channels.
While we won't say that placing a big, flashy advertisement in the tradeshow guide or postcard is a bad idea, it's not the best use of your dollar. Instead, focus on the channels that will deliver you maximum exposure and return on investment. Be sure to follow these steps:
Top - Five Key Trade Show Mktg Mistakes
Know your audience : An overly-dull booth will turn off your target audience and lead to a lower ROI. Know who's walking into your booth, where they're from (geography), and what they want (sales).
Top - Five Key Trade Show Mktg Mistakes
Maintain consistency : From the way your marketing materials look to the way you give out business cards, everything should feel and look the same. This helps to establish trust and credibility with your audience.
Top - Five Key Trade Show Mktg Mistakes
Be consistent with advertising and press releases: Identify which media outlets will serve you best (direct mail, trade publications, press releases) and maintain a consistent approach across all channels. This is important because it tells your audience exactly what to expect from you at a single glance.
4) Not Setting goals and monitoring performance.
The marketing goal for a tradeshow is to increase awareness, generate leads, and ultimately close business. If you're not monitoring your progress toward those end goals, it'll be difficult to gauge the effectiveness of your effort. You should identify how many leads you've generated (sign-up sheets), how many people you've met and/or had an impact on (contacts), and how many sales you've made (buzz). Once you know that information, it's easy to make goals based on that data. Then, you can make sure you're effectively following-through on the strategies that helped produce your high-ROI tradeshow.
Top - Five Key Trade Show Mktg Mistakes
Have a back-up plan : If you're expecting one type of crowd, but go to the show and it's completely different, plan for something else to happen. Sure, it'll be less "flashy", but you'll still get your message across in a way that makes sense for your audience.
Top - Five Key Trade Show Mktg Mistakes
Always have a backup strategy ready if the company providing the room isn't doing its job: Hire an electrician beforehand to ensure that your power will work properly.
Don't just take these tips and make them your own. It's important that you first identify your needs and goals, and then make the appropriate changes to better match them.
5) Not Taking Breaks
After all the hard work, don't forget to keep an eye on your team as well. What do we mean? Well, even though everyone is excited about being at the show and they're ready to go all day long, you should still be making sure they're taking breaks. Even if that means only short breaks every three hours or so (we recommend having a designated meeting room for 5-10 minutes of quiet time). This will keep your employees and your booth running smoothly.
Top - Five Key Trade Show Mktg Mistakes
There should be a break room with a lounge area - and it should be on the quieter side of the convention center, away from the noise of traffic and construction crews.
Top - Five Key Trade Show Mktg Mistakes
Breaks also help you to touch base with your team members and get feedback about changes/improvements that can be made. You may find out that employees are getting bored during certain parts of the day, or have ideas for how to better present information during the show (or even better ways to reach your audience).
Conclusion
Tradeshows are a great way to get your brand out there, and they're also an opportunity to build relationships with the people in your target audience. However, if you don't take the time to prepare, you could end up throwing away a significant investment of time and money. By following good show preparation practices and avoiding these five key mistakes, we guarantee that you'll come out on top at your next tradeshow.