When it comes to trade shows many businesses hesitate to take part in the event because of two major reasons:
• Failure to generate desired results
• Potential waste of time and money
It definitely is quite a bummer when the trade show results are nothing as marketed and described by the organizers. It would be really nice to find out what to expect out of a trade show and how to deliver exceptionally well and stand out from the rest.
To understand whether your investment in the event was worth it or not, calculating trade show ROI is crucially important.
Steps to calculate ROI on trade shows
If you and your colleagues decide to take part in a trade show, your boss would be interested in one and one thing only – the Return on Investment. Failure to provide him with satisfying answers will definitely send your proposal to invest in a trade show straight to the trashcan.
Even if you are an entrepreneur and want to give your business more recognition, opting to participate in a relevant trade show is the answer. But before you make this handsome amount of investment, you need to know what you would be getting out of it.
Even though there are certain factors like networking, leadership and track that also matter, ROI still tops the list as all of the other factors are totally dependent on the Return.
Track Event ROI
To track whether the investment in the event was worth it or not, you can involve one basic formula to calculate the entire thing.
(Gross Profit – Relevant Marketing Expenses)/Marketing Expenses
Here a positive figure above 0 represents a profit whereas the figure below the number zero is deemed as a loss. This can help the interested parties calculate an estimated if not, an accurate figure of what will be the return if the business decides to participate in the Trade show. The gross profit is the total profit with no deductions of taxes or whatsoever.
Marketing Expenses
For the fellows who feel like they need to understand marketing expense; a sum of all the expenditures that were involved in the marketing strategy of one particular marketing campaign. The overall costs are all the costs that were involved in the marketing aspect of a business.
Relevant Leads
One of the most major reasons why we participate in a trade show is by gathering leads. To target audience who can be potential customers, it is important to participate in a trade show relevant to the business. This way you can have consumers of a particular product and service interested in what you are offering them.
Set a Target for Leads
The full potential and ability of a team are derived when they are given targets and deadlines. To generate leads and convert them into customers even though involves luck but, there are also tactics and a target-orientated approach that needs to be followed.
Set yourself and your team targets for a set number of leads. This will allow you to participate with full potential and can also play a positive role with the return. The number of leads that the company can gather during the trade show also contributes towards the trade show ROI. Usually, a figure of 5% to 10% leads out of a total figure of 100% is considered successful as most businesses tend to keep their expectations a bit low and let’s face it; you cannot make everyone like your product but if you do, by the way, you just hit the jackpot!
Tracking of Leads
During a trade show, keeping a track of the leads is important. To keep a track of all the leads that have been generated so far, using a virtual or more computerized approach is considered to come in handy. A CRM can help in storing information as well as details for the leads that have been gathered for a longer time.
Sales Prediction and Calculation
Setting you up with strategies that not only plays an important role in the lead generation but also with the sales and helping the business gets some income in the house. A sales sum can be predicted depending upon the number of people who will be attending the show and from there how many would be interested to purchase the actual product or opt for the services.
Generally, out of the 5% to 10% leads gathered, 2% to 5% of sales are considered as a good start and a good return from the number of leads that were gathered. The estimated costs are a great way to keep you on track while maintaining a close relationship with the goal as well as the targets that were set to meet success. This practice allows everyone to contribute to the entire marketing process at the trade show.
Importance of a Trade Show
Admit or not, trade show does come with a certain number of benefits that can help your company or team in the longer run.
• Competitor Analysis
The greatest benefit is of having your competitors under the same roof as you. Marketing experts have associated the competitors as your greatest teachers. Trade shows offer a perfect opportunity to learn from competitors and outgrow them without exploiting their privacy policies and data protection.
• Trend Analysis
Trade shows offer perfect opportunities to businesses and give them the information they need on what the customer wants and what is trending in the current market.
• Brand Expansion
Trade shows help companies develop their brand and associate with professionals and customers who might be interested in the product/service.
• Training Opportunity
Allow your employees to learn from trade shows and towards the more professional aspects of the business and how to run marketing from the pros of the industry.
Conclusion
Trade shows might be tricky when it comes to dealing with costs but if you can maintain the cost and set goals before the show, some opportunities can help your business expand and generate income along with a positive ROI that will contribute towards the profit of the company.
Trade Show Booth guide created by The Exhibit Company, Inc.
