Exhibition Stand ROI Tips – 1 – Should You Exhibit?

Should you exhibit?

The new year has started with gusto and already the diary is filling up with the trade shows that you could attend and / or will be attending either as a delegate or as an exhibitor. This is the first of a series of articles looking at what needs to be considered by businesses large or small when exhibiting at a conference or dedicated trade show.

Exhibiting is expensive in terms of buying the space, transporting exhibition materials, travel and accommodation and more importantly people’s time out of the office. So how can you maximise the best out of your investment?

Marketing strategy and budget dictate whether you should exhibit at a specific trade show or not. Having an exhibition stand can be quite a daunting and expensive experience, especially for the first-time users and, if you are not prepared to use it and put the time and energy into it, then more than likely you will not get your ROI (Return On Investment).

When doing your research into the exhibition, you should ask yourself and the organiser the following questions:

Which exhibition is best suited to your requirements? Consider; budget, timescale, location, and above all, an exhibition which involves your target audience.
How successful has the exhibition been in the past?
The exhibition website will have an online review of the previous year. You can usually find exhibitor info in the exhibition directory.
How is the show promoted?
Look at the advertising profile of the exhibition – how much they advertise and where.

For instance there is no point attending a consumer based show, when your product is aimed directly at businesses / suppliers. Also whether you should go to an international, national or regional show is very much dependent on who your target audience is. Remember when you are there

You want quality leads over quantity of leads
You want engagement with you current clients and attract new ones
You want to influence the buyer
You want to maintain and maximise your brand reaching new audiences

They may seem like simple things, but all to often they are overlooked and could result in a really good opportunity going array. At Merklands we ask all out clients the two hardest questions – Why do you want to exhibit? & What do you want to achieve? Knowing these answers helps us to assist them in gaining the maximum ROI from their exhibition stand.

Calum McCallum

Managing Director

Merklands Events & PR

Note

Merklands Events & PR is a consultancy organising events and managing public relations for our clients. Merklands organises everything from business-to-business conferences and exhibitions to product launches and gala events. Merklands also advise businesses how best to use their resources and assist them to make the best out of their events and communications strategy for delivery. For more information on how we can help you please contact us.