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Maximising benefits for exhibitors

The Exhibition Association of Southern Africa (EXSA) recently ran a Digivote feedback exercise among their members. Some of the issues raised will, among others, be addressed as focus areas for EXSA’s exco in 2003.

Market intelligence is the first focus area. 35% of the members are of the opinion that ad agencies and marketers did not understand the role of exhibitions in the marketing mix. More than half of those who voted believed there was a need to educate marketers and ad agencies about the importance and effectiveness of exhibitions. Attention will be given to raising the profile of EXSA and the standard of professionalism and service in the industry. A third focus area will be increasing research in the industry so that meaningful growth can take place.

The goals of EXSA reflects important goals for exhibition organizers. As marketing budgets shrink, the days of simply selling a stand to a company are past. Exhibition organizers have the responsibility of educating exhibitors and ensuring that the benefits of exhibiting are maximized for every exhibitor. This implies a shift in the service standards and professionalism in the industry – a move from selling exhibition space to creating a long-term relationship that benefits both exhibitor and organizer.

Research shows that 80% of visitors to trade shows are personally involved in buying and that 29% only see sales representatives at exhibitions. The Centre for Exhibition Industry Research the recently conducted a survey and results showed that more than 90% of visitors rated exhibitions as the most useful source of gathering purchasing information. This is because they can examine and evaluate competing products all at one location. As a result, more than 75% of the visitors find new suppliers and obtain quotes with 26% of them purchasing products whilst at exhibitions.

Marketers, whether or not they know these statistics, require solutions to overall marketing goals. Exhibitions must be regarded as a vital component of business as a whole, not just part of the marketing mix. Suppliers, self-selected buyers, purchase influencers, consultants, competitors and the media are all brought together in an interactive, direct face-to-face environment.

Effective organizers can offer solutions. This, however, means educating exhibitors, investing in long-term relationships with them, finding out what their goals are and helping them to realize those goals. There are benefits to such a partnership. Firstly, long-term relationships mean long-term exhibitors. Secondly, ensuring exhibitors meet their goals means the exhibition has achieved its goals and has set the platform for the next exhibition. Thirdly, it creates an environment in which exhibitors provide feedback, ideas and suggestions on how to create an even better event.

Here are a few practical ways in which organizers can support exhibitors:

• Help exhibitors evaluate exhibitions, analyse audience profiles and choose the right exhibition.
• Assist the exhibitors in clarifying their marketing goals and relating the achievement of those goals to the opportunities at an exhibition. The goals may include immediate sales, brand building, educating customers, getting media coverage, obtaining high-quality leads, launching new products or up-selling and cross-selling to existing clients.
• Make available past audience data to assist exhibitors in setting targets.
• Brainstorm sponsorship opportunities with exhibitors and help them to maximize their budget.
• Inform marketers that 83% of the most successful exhibitors, in terms of leads collected and business generated, are those that advised their prospects and customers of the show beforehand.
• Give exhibitors access to the show logo to use in advertising and promotion.
• Allow access to the list of pre-registrants.
• Provide names and contact details of the editors that are writing show previews. Assist exhibitors in ensuring maximum press coverage by letting them know of press releases going out and opportunities to get a mention. Any promotion the exhibitors do for their own presence at the exhibition will benefit the organizers as well.
• Make sure that exhibitors know about and make the maximum use of the Show Press Office and steer the right journalists to the right exhibitors.
• Stand-staff are vital to exhibition success. Assist the exhibitor through knowledge sharing and advising them of the training courses available for stand-staff.
• Some visitors are there to find exhibiting companies to act as distributors or agents. As far as possible, introduce these visitors to the right exhibitors.
• Exhibitors should be informed of and encouraged to utilise networking opportunities. Promote the use of the exhibitors lounge as a vibrant place to gather information about the show, the industry, the competition and to generate inter-exhibitor business.
• Assist exhibitors in following up to all show visitors by making the visitor list available.
• Get exhibitors’ suggestions for improving future events. The input from the exhibitors is invaluable to find out what worked and why, so that it can be done again, and to avoid that which did not work.
• Inform everyone of exhibition successes both during and after the exhibition.
• Educate and assist your exhibitors in measuring their exhibition success.

It is likely that marketers who properly measure exhibition success will realize the benefits of exhibiting relative to other media and exhibit more. Measurements will help organizers and marketers justify the investment and report the returns generated. Results will make it easier for exhibitors to choose the best shows for their product or service and help organizers target the right people for their exhibition or tailor the exhibition for maximum benefits for the exhibitors. Measuring the success of the exhibitor helps both exhibitor and organizer improve with each exhibition, as they can see what works and what doesn’t work.

EXSA has made available an excellent booklet called Exhibitions – the X factor of Marketing, with many excellent tips on how exhibitors can plan and run their exhibition for the maximum benefits and measure the success of their exhibition. The booklet can be downloaded from www.exsa.co.za. It contains a measurement matrix of 21 marketing goals that can be achieved through exhibitions. The goals range from sales, customer relationships and media relations to brand building, channel support and market research. Assist your exhibitors to maximize their return on investment by educating them about these goals and sharing concrete know-how on how to do it. Help them to prioritise their goals, because although they are likely to be surprised at how much was achieved, not all 21 goals can be achieved in a single exhibition spanning a few days.

Specialised Exhibitions (Pty) Ltd has a exhibition marketing plan available on their website www.specialised.com. It includes an indepth plan to get the most out of an exhibition and a ten point check list that exhibitors will find useful.

As organizers educate marketers and share in their efforts to attain their goals, a learning environment is created in which organizers and exhibitors become partners. This creates a new paradigm of service excellence, professionalism and success. As both organizers and exhibitors work together to set goals and measure success, the information and knowledge required for meaningful growth is captured.