In this blog post we are sharing a video and an article written By Ian Sequeira, the Executive Vice President of Exhibit Surveys. He stresses the importance of exhibitors continuing to use the face-to face aspects of event marketing for their businesses.
More thoughts from Ian:
It’s the perfect storm: the premier Convention in your industry lands squarely in the midst of a major recession.
Marcomm budget constraints, often the first on the chopping block, are looming or have already landed. And this exhibition, which likely represents a significant marketing investment, now requires a go or no-go decision.
Here’s why you should continue to exhibit, even in financially tough times.
For most markets, the value and effectiveness of exhibitions remain constant during recessions.
This Industry should be no different.
Exhibitions showcase specific productivity and cost solutions, and offer the person-to-person contact and hands-on demonstrations so important to products that require substantial investment.
There is no denying that attendance has dropped at shows across the board, but audience quality remains strong.
Exhibit Surveys has studied and tracked the effectiveness and value of exhibition marketing during recessionary periods since 1968, a span that includes five significant recessions.
In every instance, the key metrics that quantify exhibition value and effectiveness have stayed at, and in some cases exceeded, non-recession performance levels.
Exhibition performance metrics remain strong into the current recession.
The 2007 recession emerged in December and impacted all of 2008, with the crash of the housing bubble and the meltdown of credit. Nonetheless, current performance levels for exhibitions remain, once again, relatively unaffected. The following table compares the strong-economy years of 2006 and 2007 with the recession year of 2008.
- Total buying plans (% of attendees planning to buy one or more products as a result of the exhibition)
- Net buying influences (% of attendees who have the final say, specify or recommend the purchase of one or more major types of products exhibited)
- Final say (% of the buying audience who have the final authority to both specify and recommend actual purchase products and services)
- Average hours (attendee time spent visiting exhibits, over all industry and event spectrums)
- Total exposure (the percentage of your target audience attracted to your exhibit, and having an interest in your products)
- Attendee value (% of attendees who rate an exhibition as excellent or very good in value based on their investment in cost and time expended to attend)
Industry-wide, “Total Buying Plans”, although down from their peak in 2007, still remain at strong 2006 levels. This is one metric that will go down in 2009 as companies defer their capital expenses, and once again this industry is no exception.
Remarkably, “Attendee Value” of exhibitions in 2008 edges out the 2007 record level and is markedly improved from the strong 2006.
Most important here is that the reported value of exhibitions experienced by attendees continues to rise during this recession, possibly in part from the winnowing of lower priority visitors by companies sending attending teams. Exhibitor Value perceptions follow suit – a quality, motivated attendance usually produces satisfied exhibitors.
The cost of being a no-show
By not exhibiting, a company often can face negative consequences and a compromised post-recession sales picture. It’s far better to smartly downsize if budgets are limited, than to not be there; good pre-show marketing and pre-show lead generation programs can make even a downsized booth very productive.
Your absence, however, at your industry’s key event can lead to:
- Loss of momentum in branding, positioning, and messaging.
- A lapse of visibility can send its own message. The implications and suppositions as to why your company is absent may emerge as a negative undercurrent to potential customers.
- Missing a vital opportunity for personal contact to maintain your current customer base during a critical time.
For most markets, recessions are transitory, and represent their own unique exhibition opportunities.
By maintaining your market presence at a show, however, the inverse set of results applies. Your branding continues its momentum; your exhibit alerts the market to your financial strength and your staff connects face to face with customers and prospects.
Also, consider your situation, post-recession. Studies conducted during the 80s and 90s, affirm that companies that exhibit through recessions tend to come out on the other side with stronger positioning and increased market share.
Nothing replaces the value your company receives from exhibiting. Only at an exhibition will you benefit from the face-to-face, highly personalized exchange with customers and prospects, inside your booth, demonstrating your latest product and/or service. There is also the immediacy factor – meeting new prospects you haven’t been able to reach and who will be there to cultivate, post-recession. Finally, you have an ongoing presence to your market, when some of your competitors may be absent.
