Are Trade Shows Still Relevant In Today’s Digital World?
Today when people think of marketing, they think of Facebook, Instagram and Google. They don’t
think of TVs, newspapers and direct mails. These traditional marketing channels are out of the
question.
How about trade shows?
Have trade shows suffered the same fate as the newspapers and YellowPages?
The answer to that is a resounding no.
The trade show industry has been growing steadily over the years.
With this growth rate, it won’t make it into the news. You would need crypto-level growth rates to
make it to the front page of news channels.
You don’t see headlines going “Trade Shows Still Going Strong - 4% Growth Rate”.
You need headlines like “Trade Shows Skyrocketing At 67% Growth Rate. Billions Of Dollars
Invested.” To make it the front pages.
Luckily for business owners and marketers, this is an opportunity.
When a marketing channel becomes popular, their cost increases too.
Look at what Google Adwords cost before 2009 – less than $0.50! Today, you can hardly find any
keywords to advertise for less than $0.50.
For trade shows, the price per square metre has only increase in line with inflation unlike Google
Adwords where the cost per click has skyrocketed way past the standard 3% inflation rate.
This is happening to Facebook Ads too and it will happen to future ad platforms like Snapchat,
Twitter and Instagram.
Two key benefits to trade shows
Benefit #1 – You get to meet multiple decision makers
Imagine trying to cold call and schedule a meeting with these decision makers. It would take a long
time. You need to find their contact number, call them, get past the gatekeeper and get the decision
maker to allocate 30 mins of his/her time to a sales pitch. That is a lot of work.
During a trade show, these decision makers are walking around the show looking for the next
product and service to take their business to the next level.
All you need to do is approach them.
Benefit #2 – You get to meet journalists and bloggers
Journalists have a lot of influence because of their media presence. A TechCrunch post can bring you
thousands of customers and open up doors to a lot of opportunities.
Top bloggers and YouTubers are becoming increasingly influential. Some may even be more
influential than top journalists.
Gaming companies have noticed this and even started to pay YouTubers to play their games on their
YouTube channel as a form of advertisement.
When should you consider exhibiting at trade shows?
Trade shows are generally suited to businesses selling high ticket items. For example, aircraft,
caravans, and enterprise software.
Other businesses that do well in trade shows are consumer product companies that require a
retailer to stock their products. This includes FMCG companies and consumer hardware companies.
Retailers attend trade shows all the time. They need to look for the next hot product they can stock
on their shelves.
According to the CEO of Sphero, “one deal with a retailer can pay for the entire event many times
over. This has been the case for us every time we’ve exhibited.”
Summary
Trade shows are far from dead. In fact, the industry has been steadily growing over the years behind
the scenes.
Decision makers are attending these trade shows all the time because that is where they can get a
quick update on what is going on in their industry all in one location. Exhibit at a trade show,
approach potential clients and skip the cold calling process.
Ready to participate in a trade show? Check out swagbrands.com for stands, displays and giveaway options!
Author: Stan Tan - Selby's Australia