veryone knows the trav-el industry as a wholehas suffered in thisrecession. Business trav-el is down; leisure travelis down; and the “AIGeffect” (the bad publici-ty about American

International Group’s widely criti-cized gathering at a resort nearCalifornia’s Laguna Beach at thesame time it accepted the federal government’s $85 billion bailout, andits effect on the meetings industry)didn’t help the numbers in 2009. Arecent survey done by Meetings &Conventions Magazine reported that52 percent of respondents said thatthe mass-media backlash againstmeetings has influenced their compa-nies’ decisions not to hold events.

But many question the wisdom of

the cutbacks. David Grossman, writ-ing in USA Today, says, “I loathe meet-ings. That’s one reason I left the cor-porate world… but I know meetingsare essential to facilitating commerce.Businesses must travel and hold meet-ings even in a recession, or perhapsespecially in a recession, in order tosurvive and thrive.”

Henry H. Harteveldt, travel analystfor Forrester Research, writes that,“We are social beings. There are emotional as well as rational benefitsof face-to-face meetings. Nothingreplaces two business people buildinga professional relationship in person.”

So what about trade shows? Arepeople still traveling to, exhibiting at,and attending exhibitions? Accordingto the Center for Exhibition IndustryResearch, by the third quarter of2009, net square feet at shows was

down 16.2 percent, revenue wasdown 22 percent, and the total num-ber of exhibiting companies wasdown 13.4 percent from 2008. But,interestingly, attendance at shows wasonly down 2.5 percent. In short, yourcustomers are still there. Can youafford not to be?

More than half of the businesstravelers surveyed by meetingsmean-business.com said that 5 to 20 per-cent of their company’s new cus-tomers were the result of trade showparticipation. An Oxford EconomicsUSA study sponsored by U.S. TravelAssociation and Destination & TravelFoundation showed that corporateexecutives reported that trade showsand conferences offer the secondhighest ROI for business travel, sec-ond only to customer meetings. Inthe same study executives gave the

18 HSMAI MARKETING REVIEW • SPRING 2010

on the show floorThe importance of face-to-face interaction…and the value of trade showparticipation in your sales & marketing budget. [KATHLEEN T INDELL]

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following reasons for continuing toexhibit and attend shows: industryeducation, vendor networking, com-petitor insights, networking withprospects, and, of course, seeing cus-tomers. And according to a SimmonsMarket Research Bureau study, 91percent of respondents ranked tradeshow participation as “extremely use-ful, higher than any other source.”

Chuck Salem, president ofUnique Venues, says the economyhas caused his company to look care-fully at the ROI of trade shows.“We’ve been very methodical aboutwhat is working, and in 2009 weeliminated a few we’d been going tofor years, but we added four newones, increasing the total number ofshows this year,” he said. “At many ofthe shows, we see the same peoplegoing year after year and looking forus, and if we’re not there it’s noticed.It’s not wise to drop off the map.” In2009, Salem says, people were anx-ious and fearful, so it’s not surprisingthat some shows saw a decline. “Weheld back last year, too, in a lot ofthings—cut everything BUT market-ing and exhibiting.”

“Trade shows have always beenimportant to us,” says PamelaSherfesee, vice president of saleswith the Colorado Springs CVB. “Wehave to maximize our leads, but ourbest leads come from trade shows.We have to pick and choose andwork that much harder in this econ-omy. It’s critical to measure the costper contact, and by this measure,trade shows are better than othermeans, including visiting clients. In2009, we did about 20 shows, downtwo from the previous year, and we’lldo about the same amount in 2010,both regional and national shows.We have to go where we can get thebiggest bang for our buck. We don’twant to take away our basic plan, butjust tweak it for budget reasons.”

“Evaluate your show schedule, butdon’t stop exhibiting,” writes Michael

82%of visitors to trade shows have buying authority

20 HSMAI MARKETING REVIEW • SPRING 2010

Provided by Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR)

STAGGERING STATS77% of qualified attendees at events are potential new customers for exhibiting companies.

82% of visitors to trade shows have buying authority.

54% of visitors travel more than 400miles to attend an exhibition.

An average trade show creates a traffic density of 2.3 visitors for every 100 square feet of space.

A visitor will spend an average of 8.3 hours over 2.3 days visiting exhibits on the show floor.

26% of exhibition visitors represent companies comprised of 1000+ employees.

34% of exhibition visitors have not previously attended an exhibition.

39% of visitors attend the same exhibition at least two years in a row.

“Audience Interest Factor” – measure of how many visitors on average will visit a booth and one or more competitors of that booth – is 80% across all sectors.

82% of visitors are interested in products marketed at exhibits.

34% of visitors are likely to recommend a product or brand seen at the exhibition.

87% of purchasing decision makers find national exhibitions “extremely useful.”

89% say that exhibitions keep them up-to-date on the latest trends in the industry.

88% say exhibitions save company time by bringing many vendors under one roof at one time.

86% say shows help their company make decisions about what products and services to buy.

84% say exhibitions provide an opportunity to discuss problems/ideas with professionals in their industry.

83% say they rely on exhibitions to keep up on important trends and new developments.

62% say shows actually save company money by bringing many vendors under one roof at same time.

Decision makers rank national trade shows as giving the highest ROI, over trade publications, sales calls, user groups, consultants, etc.

Two-thirds of visitors to trade shows place a high level of importance on face-to-face interaction during the pre-purchasing stages of the buying process.

Visitors are apt to be more receptive to marketing messages and images associated with an event than they are to those presented via other methods.

Experiential marketing often goes beyond short-term effects to generate a longer term brand value.

Trade shows have both direct and indirect benefits, generating interest and awareness, as well as incremental sales and profits.

SPRING 2010 • HSMAI MARKETING REVIEW 21

Flavin for Skyline Trade Show Tips(www.skyline.com). “Use metrics toevaluate your show schedule…such ascost per lead, ROI, budgeting, visualreach, etc.” Planning and strategy iskey, and so is following up on yourleads, but you must make the invest-ment of the time and the money toget the return.

Dr. Jeff Tanner, Dean ofHankamer School of Business atBaylor University, quoted in a WhitePaper by Marc Goldberg and E. JaneLorimer writing for Skyline Exhibits,said, “In downtimes, you want to putyour money where the return is.Instead, most people chop what iseasiest to cut, without thinking aboutthe return it gives. It’s like raisingchickens. If you kill a chicken, youcan eat it once. Let it lay eggs andyou can eat a lot longer.”

Goldberg and Lorimer continued,“Reduction in costs is generally astop-gap measure to overcome theimpact of slower sales. But what drivessales? The answer is marketing andpromotions. It’s a well provencycle…. Exhibitions work becausethey are face-to-face. They workbecause adults are visual learners.Exhibiting is a visual medium—theexhibit, products, the graphics, collat-eral material and promotional prod-ucts are visual elements. Buyers arealso experiential. Trade shows andother face-to-face events provide anexperience.

“Simply stated,” Goldberg andLorimer advised, “trade shows buildand secure share of market, put aface with a name, and tighten thesales loop when it comes time tomake purchases.”

The statistics back this up.According to the Center forExhibition Industry Research (seeSidebar—“Staggering Statistics”), 77percent of qualified attendees atevents are potential new customersfor exhibiting companies, and 82percent of visitors to trade shows

have buying authority.Mark D. Thompson, vice president

of marketing for Irving, Texas CVB,talks about their decision to exhibitat HSMAI’s Affordable Meetings®

National in Washington, D.C., inSeptember 2009. “We faced both arestricted budget and the need tospread the word about our new con-vention center and a new regionalmeetings initiative, the ‘DFW MeetNow Promise.’ Ultimately, the deci-sion came down to a couple ofthings…the large number of plan-ners the show attracts, and collabora-tion with other DFW-area CVBs tohave an expanded booth presence,yet share in the costs to do so. Andwe were right to do so—we receivedseveral very productive leads andRFPs that more than covered ourexpenses to be there.”

Part of the pre-show strategizing,and ultimate success, includes decid-ing what your goals are when youexhibit. Linda Hwong, account exec-utive for Marriott International,described their decision to exhibit ata Washington, D.C., show: “We estab-lish relationships with meeting plan-ners, and drum up opportunities forour hotels in the short term, and getthe word out on Marriott’s globalsales strategy for the long term.”

A big part of your potential suc-cess at shows, and your final ROI,depends on you, not the show itself.Mark Thompson talked about pre-show and post-show strategy when heexhibited at HSMAI AffordableMeetings®. “Before the show, wepushed messages to planners aboutour new convention center in devel-opment—to those planners who hadregistered for this show as well as toall of our own planner contacts inthe D.C. and Chicago markets,encouraging them to register andattend the show. Post-show, we largelyutilized direct sales efforts for target-ed follow-up. We did follow-up withsome digital outreach, but the key,

and most productive element, wasthe sales efforts of our staff.

“I would recommend to exhibitorsa few key things about their onsiteapproach,” Thompson continued.“Some are pretty basic, but it’s amaz-ing how many folks I see in boothsdoing ‘cardinal sins’ we all know toavoid. Not surprisingly, these areoften the very people who feel likethey didn’t see strong results from ashow. The most basic would be mak-ing sure those who are staffing thebooth are professional and engaging,and follow the basics of booth eti-quette/Tradeshow 101. Making surepost-show efforts remain strong is

READER RESOURCES

CAMPAIGNSHSMAI Meetings Mean BusinessCommunications Tool Kit

U.S. Travel Association Meetings MeanBusiness Campaign

Convention Industry Council’s “FACETIME. It Matters.” Campaign

Keep America Meeting

ARTICLES/STUDIESGroups & Meetings: Enough Is Enough,PhoCusWright FYI

HSMAI Releases “Meetings MeanBusiness” Resources To Help Address “AIG Effect”

U.S. Travel Association UnleashesCampaign to Defend Business Meetingsand Events from Politicized Attacks

The Return on Investment of U.S. Business Travel study

MORE

HSMAI’S AFFORDABLE MEETINGSHSMAI's Affordable Meetings is the pre-mier exposition and conference wheremeeting and event planners, propertiesand suppliers come together to do busi-ness. Over 3,000 meeting and event plan-ners attend the three annual shows look-ing for quality resources to enhance theirmeetings and events.

important, as too many folks justattend a show, pop up a booth, talkto some folks, and return to theiroffice without any follow-up.”

According to Michael Flavin,writer for Skyline Trade Show Tipson www.skyline.com, “79 percent ofleads generated at shows are not fol-lowed up on. Trade shows requireplanning prior to, during, and afterthe event.”

Says Pamela Sherfesee from theColorado Springs CVB, “It’s impor-tant to get out there and be consis-tent, let people know we’re still here.My advice to exhibitors is pretty oldschool—back to basics. Have a planand keep working the plan and beconsistent.”

Advice from other exhibitorsstresses the importance of planning.Find out who is attending the showand reach out to them. On your

booth, use text sparingly—it shouldlook more like a billboard than abrochure. Train your staff, and useyour A-Team—this isn’t the time totrain the new employees by throwingthem in the deep water to (wo)manthe booth alone.

Lacy Gibson, director of sales atHampton (Virginia) Convention &Visitor Bureau, offers, “The HCVB hasone in-house sales manager and onehotel sales manager man the booth.We never leave the booth unattend-ed—you may miss an opportunity.”

Linda Hwong with Marriott says ofa recent show, “We had the samefour people attend both days of theshow. This enabled us to carry onmultiple conversations and was easierfrom a financial impact. Eachexhibitor attended the conferencesand lunches. Our goal was to touchas many people as possible, get the

word out, and drum up opportuni-ties for our hotels in the market.

“We did a pre-show solicitationannouncing a drawing and give-aways at our booth,” Hwong contin-ued. “We also did post-show delivery(by hand) of awards to recipients aswe were able.”

One trade show exhibitor said shefelt it was important to attend theeducational sessions offered at shows,not only to network with customersbut also to help better understandcustomer challenges and tailor yourown responses to overcoming them.

Finally, Chuck Salem withUnique Venues shares his “credo”as the best advice for approachingtrade show exhibiting and market-ing, borrowed from well-knownmarketing expert Keith Monaghan:“Tough times never last, butresourceful marketers do.” n

22 HSMAI MARKETING REVIEW • SPRING 2010

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