5 Key Metrics for Measuring Trade Shows

Trade show season is upon us and for those of us that are still going to them, you know that the costs to play aren’t going down. That’s why ROI and documented metrics are so important. I talked to Vince Tricomi recently to make sure his post from a year ago still was appropriate and he assured me it was, so I thought I’d remind us all of these metrics.

Vince Tricomi, VP, New Business Development at PFI Displays, explains ways you can maximize your efforts.

Most of you participate in various trade shows from time to time. If you do, you know that they can be very expensive and management is always looking for an ROI. That’s why it’s important for sales and marketing to work together to make sure they get the best bang for the buck.

Except for a lucky few who still write orders at trade shows, most exhibitors can’t tie a specific revenue-generation figure to their trade shows.

That’s OK though. Consider how marketers tie sales figures to a magazine ad:  They can’t, and that’s why they measure things like impressions, reach and awareness.

Trade shows offer plenty of measurement opportunities for the savvy event marketer. Some of these metrics are firm, others are calculated estimates, but they can be combined to create clarity into the effectiveness of any trade show program, large or small.

Here are a few of our suggestions:
1. Leads: 
a. Let’s get this easy one of out of the way
i. Don’t mess around with collecting business cards
ii. Renting a lead retrieval machine that loads your lead data on a flash drive is money well spent
b. SAVVY TIP: Break these leads down into A, B, and C categories for better insight into the show’s quality.

2. Cost Per Lead:
a. Take the total cost of your exhibit investment and divide it by the total amount of leads collected
b. Compare this to other marketing efforts to see how your show stacks up
c. SAVVY TIP: If you exhibit at multiple shows, this metric also shines light on the comparative effectiveness of each show.

3. Demonstrations:
a. If you’re launching a new product, consider giving one-on-one or group demonstrations
b. Count how many demonstrations you give and how many audience members listen or interact
c. If you’re doing multiple presentations each hour, you’re having a great show
d. SAVVY TIP: Find out from the VP of Sales an average cost of a trip for a sales person to give a demo at a prospect’s office. Compare that with the show’s average cost per demo, and suddenly trade shows look like a bargain!

4. Website Traffic:
a. Know the average visitors to your website before the show, and compare that to the visitors during and immediately after
b. Pay special attention to the pages for the products and offers you featured at the show
c. SAVVY TIP: Don’t forget that trade shows are about face-to-face interactions. Generating web traffic is a great metric, but for most exhibitors it shouldn’t be the main goal.

5. Press Mentions:
a. These hold special appeal, and therefore more “weight” as a viable metric, for all classically trained marketers
b. SAVVY TIP: With the abundance of trade magazines, writers and bloggers at every show, if you’re not getting mentioned, something is wrong; try setting up interviews and press walk-throughs well before the show.

6. Post Show Appointments:
a. In today’s hectic, time-starved business world, one of the hardest challenges faced by every salesperson is securing a face-to-face appointment
b. Commit the sales team to informing you of every show lead that generates a follow-up appointment
c. SAVVY TIP: You’ll have friends for life if your shows facilitate setting post-show meetings. Think creatively about a space in your booth dedicated solely to this endeavor.

Whoops; did that headline say “5 metrics?”  Consider the last one a bonus.  As you can tell, these suggestions are only the tip of the iceberg.  Please share some of your favorite, and most effective, metrics with us.

In closing, leading, full-service exhibit companies, like PFI Displays, offer innovative, easy-to-use software tools that will help you measure your shows—and do a lot more, too.

I’m sure you can add to the list and I’d like to hear ways your company is measuring the effectiveness of trade shows.

If you like this post you might like:

5 Ways to Improve your Trade Show ROI

New Study Shows Best Way of Reaching Manufacturing Professionals

Share this:

5 Ways to Improve Your Trade Show’s ROI

Most of you attend trade shows, and if you’re on the manufacturing end of things, you have booths. Trade shows are not an inexpensive proposition and you really want to get the most out of them. To that end, I’ve asked a friend of mine, Vince Tricomi from PFI Displays, to give us some hints on how to improve your ROI without spending any money.

Here are the suggestions:

With the start of trade show season, many companies find themselves examining how they can  revitalize their trade show exhibit ROI without depleting their marketing budget.

1.  Do Your Pre-Show Homework:
▪ Analyze last year’s “A-Level” leads, and get a list of this year’s attendees.
▪ Have your sales team start calling weeks before the show to schedule in-booth appointments.
▪ Consider other types of outreach, from social media to direct mail.

2.  Strut Your Stuff:
▪ Volunteer as an expert for the educational seminars at your trade show. You won’t be “selling” your company, but you will be building your credibility with the audience.

3.  Improve Your “Boothmanship:”
▪ Consider the body language of you and your staff.
▪ Avoid matching outfits that make attendees feel like they’re walking into a used car lot.
▪ Ban the use of cell phones in your booth space (that’s right, BAN them!)
▪ Practice an “elevator pitch” and make sure everyone working the trade show knows, understands and can communicate your company’s USP.

4.  Social Media is Your Friend:
▪ Use it to extend the show by building interest before, during and after.
▪ Special promotions during the show are a great way to drive additional foot traffic to your exhibit.
▪ Typically, show organizers have a hashtag for the show. See who’s using the hashtag and interact to let the audience know you’re there.

5.  Post-Show MEASUREMENT:
▪ This is the most important AND most overlooked way to radically increase your exhibit ROI. If you don’t know what works and what doesn’t, how can you evolve your trade show program?
▪ Within two weeks of the show’s end, gather all the company’s stake holders and discuss best and worst practices and what to target for next year.

We’ll talk in the future about setting measurable goals for each of your trade shows. Suffice to say, there are many more trade show metrics for success than just the quantity of badges scanned at your reception counter.

Share

Share this: