Spotting emerging trends and new tactics which can be successfully employed is something marketers spend a great deal of their time watching out for. Trade shows are a major component for generating sales revenue and establishing new business relationships, which is one reason why the sector has weathered the recessionary environment so very well. However, a major trend which has emerged in response to the recession has been a shift from companies wanting to make an impact at exhibitions, to delivering the cold hard business necessity of generating cash.

Managers have been taking a long hard look at the ROI generated by all of their activities, with the emphasis on cutting out costs wherever possible from their budgets. This has had a direct impact in terms of cutting budgets for trade show displays, and making existing assets work harder and for longer. Given the nature of how trade exhibitions are booked and paid for by exhibitors has meant that the industry has been sheltered from the impact of cost cutting at companies. It is usual practice for space at a show to be booked up a year, or even more, in advance, so companies have tended to continue with their exhibition schedules and cut costs wherever else they have been able to.

The recession has thrown trade show ROI into sharp focus. Ten years ago, it would have been typical to use show metrics which measured how many people were “touched”, for instance by how many marketing brochures got handed out. Today, it will be much tighter and concentrate on how many attendees were qualified and how many grade A hot prospects were generated.

Decreased attendance by attendees at shows has caused concern that with dwindling numbers the ROI would also decrease. In fact the reverse has been found to be the case, caused by the concentration of attendees going to shows who are there with a serious intention to buy. The metrics for attendees who come to shows and leave with a positive buying impression of exhibitors has increased, as has the base metric of attendees who intended to buy at the show anyway. In essence, as companies have cut back costs, so the budget for sending staffers to shows has also declined – those that do get to go to the show are there because the company sees a positive benefit in doing so, and this has mean fewer attendees but more of them are there to transact business.

International trade shows have emerged as a growth segment of the industry. This is a response to the federal and presidential directives to increase US exports by 100% – a doubling of US exports – within 5 years. The imperative is easily understood, as the developing countries penetrate into US markets ever further, eroding the US manufacturing base and hurting company profits across the board.

There is also a greater convergence between show marketing and mainstream marketing efforts and strategies. There is simply no fat in company budgets for wishy-washy marketing justification to exhibit at a show anymore. Exhibitors are coming to shows with much tighter and cleaner offerings, which are focused on what he company does and how it benefits customers. This means exhibitors have had to readdress their fundamental objectives for following their trade show strategies, and for those companies who have engaged in proper research, planning and preparation, there is a clear upturn in the ROI numbers coming out of the arena floors.

www.MonsterDisplays has all you need for trade show exhibiting. Visit our section on retractable banner stands.

http://www.monsterdisplays.com/ has all you need for trade show exhibiting. http://www.monsterdisplays.com/retractable-banner-stands-s/78.htm our section on retractable banner stands.

Author Bio: www.MonsterDisplays has all you need for trade show exhibiting. Visit our section on retractable banner stands.

Category: Advice
Keywords: Business, Advertise, Marketing