Measure the R.O.I. at Trade Shows

You’ve undoubtedly been to a trade show this year, seen all the latest, and you’ve decided you need to share with your clients and prospects all you’ve learned. Your clients ask, “So what’s new, what’s cute or what’s novel”. “Well there’s this”, you respond, “Sorry we’ve done that”, is their response. “Well huh, have you tried this”, you retort, “that won’t work, our competition did that last year”, sound familiar?

First, if you’re doing your job, you will be asking some very direct questions, prior to making a presentation of product, packaging and method of distribution. With over seven-hundred thousand plus items from which to choose, picking the right “thing” is nothing more than a crap shoot. As the person in charge of their, brand and trade show events, you should have questions like these before presenting one single thing:

• What is the purpose of this show?

• How many people will be attending?

• Are they all your buyers or clients?

• How many prospects vs. clients will be there?

• What is your objective by attending?

• What do you hope to accomplish with the promotional products you select?

• Have you ever evaluated your return on investment (ROI) from your shows?

Every year more and more “products” are being introduced into the market and after a while they all blend and begin to look the same. What if a program was developed that helped you generate a true (ROI) return for their trade show investment?  

During my tenure as a promotional products consultant, I was absolutely amazed of how ineffective most marketing managers were at effectively managing the “results” of their trade shows.

Did you know that, if done correctly, promotional products can easily be used as a channel to measure your success or lack thereof at a trade show?

Several years ago, while attending an apparel show I stood and watched as two very attractive women stood at the end of the trade show booth and stuffed shirts into a bag and handed them out to a long line of drooling men.  I stood there in amazement because their sale pitch was nothing more than a smile and a, “…there you go, see ya…” and so they went. Never did one recipient hear a sales pitch, they never stepped foot into the booth, a business card wasn’t even requested in exchange for the shirt sample, but when the shirt stock was depleted I heard one of the young women say to the other, “…wow! that was a great show; we gave out over one-thousand t-shirts…”  Did I miss something?

• What was the purpose of the shirt?

• Was the recipient the key buyer/decision maker?

• Do they even sell shirts? 

• Were they an embroiderer? Screen printer?  

• Who were their clients?

• What was their sales volume?

• What products have they used in the past?

• Did they know ANYTHING about the quality difference? Availability? Cost?

• Or, were they there shopping for their kids or grandkids? 

(Don’t laugh; I had a gentleman tell me that at a show) “…I’m shopping for my grandkids, I don’t sell this stuff, my son does…can I get another one for ‘FREE’?” 

Companies spend thousands of dollars a year on promotional items to use as giveaways at a trade show, but to what end? Do you, as their promotional products consultant ask? I mean, really ask. Most don’t. It is incumbent upon you to have the right questions in order to deliver the right solution for your clients to maximize the success of their show. Promotional products programs developed for trade shows that have a form of measurement built in, have a far greater chance of tracking ROI then just handing out product like the company described above.  Here are some excellent qualifying questions that will help you determine a baseline from which to start:

• Does the show management have an overall theme?

• Do you have a theme that coincides with the overall show theme?

• What are your specific objectives for doing the show? 

  • Just need to be there because the competition is there?

  • Launching a new product?

  • Increase sales?

  • Develop leads?

• Who is “your” target audience, specifically?

• What is the demographic profile of your ideal client?

• How many of your target audience will be there?

Not everyone that attends a trade show is your client. Point blank. Trade show statistics state that roughly 12% of show attendees are your potential buyer, and this is true for various reasons:

• Do they want what you offer?

• Do they need the product or service?

• Can they use what you offer?

• Can they afford the product or service?

• Do they have the ability to pay for what’s purchased?

Let’s look at a scenario:  Assume your client’s company sells electronic scissor lifts to the construction trade, they are attending a show and need “stuff” to give away. You believe you have been asked all the right questions, the show management has informed them that the projected attendance for this show will be approximately 2,000 buyers. That said, they have budgeted $2,000.00 for trade show logoed merchandise to hand. Now in doing the math that means you need something around a dollar. Do you honestly think that they’ll attract their KEY buyers with a dollar Item? Ask yourself, what IS the purpose of the gift you plan on giving-away? You’ve searched out the “newest gimmick”, but is it the correct product to gain the results your client is looking for?  

Several years back a client came to me and wanted seven-hundred dollars worth of thirty-nine cent pens. The purpose was to flood the show to everyone that attended. After discussing the show stats, and the challenges they faced in the past we unveiled a few reasons why they should reconsider what they were thinking. In the past, they had given a ton of product away with little to no response. They noticed that more times than not people just came by the booth to pick-up the show freebie, they were not able to qualify the individual but rather spent the majority of the time at a show handing out stuff and not focusing on the real task at hand, getting information in the potential client’s hands.  

It was agreed we would try a different approach this year.  We explained that if you feel something must be given out to everyone - that is to say, to satisfy the “scoopers”, then make it inexpensive. It was decided to do imprinted wrapped mints, and 3,000 pieces were ordered. In addition, the client selected leather business cards cases and these were placed under the table and only given out to someone who spent the time to hear the sales pitch. After the presentation, the presenter would say, “…thank you stopping by, let me give you a token of our appreciation for stopping by…” the product had been gift wrapped to give it a more personal appeal. If walkers-by saw the gifts being given away and requested one, the salespeople were instructed to invite them in first, if they refused, then they were told they were interested attendees only. The client managed to spend only 75% of their budget but informed us that they had experienced a 60% greater success rate at this show and were able to take one less person (savings) and their follow-up was more succinct and effective. 

Ask yourself, will a person who is buying a $20,000.00 scissor lift need, want or care about a one-dollar item?  Who knows? However, let’s look at it another way, same scenario, but using the 12% statistic. There will be 2000 buyers attending the show, if 12% of those buyers, that’s two-hundred and forty real buyers, that – want, need, can afford and have the ability to pay for that scissor lift. If get the majority of those buyers come through your booth, has it been more cost effective? If you divide 240 (12% of 2000 attendees) that gives you a budget of $8.33 per recipient and you can do a lot more with that budget than you can with a dollar. That $8.33 cents can be used for pre-show invitations, a nicer gift at the show and a follow mailer, which is consistent and is theme driven, you can evaluate your criteria and see the measurable results:

• Send out 240 pieces/invitations

• At the show 120 buyers came in as a result of the invitation (50% response rate)

• You take your leads and do the needed follow-up and…

• Of the 120 buyers, 60 buyers purchase (that’s 25% of the 240)

• If you then divide the $2,000.00 by 60 actual purchases that means your cost to reach (C.P.O.M. cost per objectives met)  and sell each buyer was $33.33 each; now given in this case the average cost of this model scissor-lift is $20,000.00 x 60 = 1.2 million in sales

Would you spend $33.33 to gain a buyer of a $20,000 piece of equipment? To get a firm number on the total trade show costs and the true ROI you would need to obviously include 

ALL of the associated trade costs: drayage, booth rental, electric, shipping, meals, lodging - etc. etc.; divide that number by the total number of purchasers and there is you’re true ROI of your trade show experience.

A more involved program was presented to my firm by an up and coming Internet Service Provider.  The client was attending the COMDEX show in Las Vegas and they wanted to make a serious splash with the show attendees. They were interested in getting their name on everything possible and to also create a mystique about the company. The company hired the comedic team of Penn and Teller, they created a mock auditorium on the show floor, behind a black curtained drape. The people they wanted to come to their booth (their 12%) were invited via a custom made personalized laminated press pass, along with custom lanyards. These were pre-mailed to the recipients with the specific time to stop by and see a thirty-minute show.  Each participant was instructed to be there at the booth 20 minutes before show time or they would lose their seat, this was done so they could make their presentation prior to their seating. Knowing that their target audience had a liking for Chinese food, (something about tech people I guess) they had 5,000 branded chopsticks made with their name and booth number imprinted on them. They were given to every Chinese restaurant in the area FREE to use during the week-long show. In addition, thousands of taxicab receipts were printed with the company name and number along with booth information. These were handed out FREE to all the taxi companies to use during the same period. The chopsticks and receipts really drew tons of prospects, the Penn and Teller show, posters, press passes, lanyards and custom t-shirts were a tremendous draw to their booth. The client reported that of five-hundred special invites that were sent out over 92% of the recipients visited the booth, and more importantly were wearing their special press pass around the show floor, giving more exposure to my client. The whole program created such a buzz and envy among the other show attendees; so much so that many came by to see if they could get in and of course several seats were left available for qualified walk-ups.

Remember, you can determine the cost per recipient; cost per response met if you know your market and track the success. Remember too, measurement at the Penn and Teller show was determined by the attendee having to wear the press pass. As a side note that badge was specially hole punched to say that the person already attended. Not managing your show in this manner will cost you thousands in wasted dollars. You take the 2,000 leads (by the way you won’t get that many), you collate, post, send out literature and information and follow-up to all those people, what does all of that cost?  Sadly no one measures to this extent. Imagine if you could be the catalyst to help your clients drive a more profitable and a more productive show. The next time you set out to help promote your client’s next trade show, look beyond the product, ask germane questions which help uncover the ultimate opportunity. Encourage your client to track the overall cost per recipient & cost per objective met by helping them build in a form of measurement, in order to determine the real ROI and ROO from their trade show. 

Go beyond the product, think outside the box, and help them experience the best show ever.

Until next month, Continued Good Selling- CQ