Only Do Great Tradeshows
Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief
Mark Freed, Vice President, The Digital Signage Show (next event this year 15th to 16th October 2008, Javits Convention Center, NYC and of course next year 6th – 7th May 2009, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, NV) has written an excellent email, which made us laugh in the office, especially after some customer discussions we have been having this week (and indeed Jorge who is on his way to Madrid at the moment will continue to have).
I am sure Mark won’t mind us reproducing it here…
As companies focus more strategically on where to spend their marketing budgets, marketing vehicles must ensure they deliver a strong enough ROI. As trade show organizers, we are witnessing fading print and online publications and events. What has also become abundantly clear is that not all trade shows are created equal. Some will deliver the quality and quantity of qualified buyers, others will not.
To help you avoid a bad investment we recommend four basic qualifiers before you spend precious marketing dollars:
- Are there qualified attendees? Who will you really meet with? How does the show ensure that? Most trade shows allow anyone to enter, making it harder for you to identify and engage those companies that are ready, willing and budgeted to buy your products and services.
- Are the Event and Marketplace growing? Find out how attendee registration compares versus previous years.
- Do exhibitors return year to year? Find out what percent of exhibitors return from at least the last two years. If the ROI is not there then exhibitors don’t return, period. Ask to see the current and past exhibitor lists to compare.
- Get the list of attendees. Are your prospects really coming? Ask for an Excel file of titles and companies who actually came. Don’t believe pie charts and graphs – believe the true list. You have a right to see the file of actual attendees from the show organizer. If they are proud of their roster of attendees they will gladly share that with you.
He then goes on to say “ONLY do GREAT Tradeshows!” and explains, very well in fact why KioskCom Self Service Expo and The Digital Signage Show are Great Tradeshows.
Very clever, very good!
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