Before you plan your next appearance at a trade show, talk with your marketing and sales team about how to measure trade show effectiveness. Trade shows are excellent ways for businesses to promote their brand, keep an eye on the industry landscape, engage with customers, and connect with other professionals. However, without clear, measurable goals and a concrete plan to achieve them, you might not get as much of a return on your marketing effort.
If you develop your trade show advertising with Oser Communications Group, you will benefit from detailed analyses of multiple data sources on the effectiveness of your campaign.
Metric #1: Sales
When you go to a trade show, your objectives should further the ultimate goal of boosting sales in the short and long term. Before you leave for the trade show, you should have baseline data on how well your products and services are selling. Consider all possible sources of revenue.
Track your sales daily during the event, and fine-tune your approach if you are not meeting daily targets.
Once you return from the trade show, continue to track sales and revenue over the following weeks and months. If your sales volume, adjusted for seasonal variations and other factors, does not increase, you might need to examine your sales funnel and sales process to understand why the trade show did not impact your bottom line.
Metric #2: Leads
Knowing how to measure trade show effectiveness means going beyond short-term profits to determine whether a trade show exhibit succeeded in setting the stage for future sales and business relationships.
Keeping a record of the visitors to your trade show booth is a good business practice because it helps you plan follow-up engagements with them. Information about attendees lets you evaluate your interactions with potential customers and identify factors that influenced trade show success or failure.
Arrange to meet with contacts while they are at the trade show and follow up with them afterward.
Metric #3: Feedback
Conduct surveys of trade show attendees, social media followers, and subscribers to your e-mail newsletter if you have one. Find out whether trade show attendees found your presentation interesting and whether it influenced consumer intentions to buy or learn more about your product.
Use trade shows as an opportunity to measure your brand’s positioning in the mind of your consumers. Note how competitors attempt to position their brands and turn that information into actionable marketing initiatives.
Metric #4: Social Media Engagement
An appearance at a trade show is a public event that should be part of your overall marketing strategy. Promote your trade show experience through social media channels and observe interactions with your social media followers in the lead-up to the trade show and throughout the event.
Get the Most from Trade Show Advertising with Oser Communications Group
Oser Communications Group can help you discover how trade shows benefit businesses and how to use trade show appearances to raise awareness at different points in the sales cycle. Call (520) 721-1300 to learn more about how to measure trade show effectiveness.
