Effective Trade Show Marketing on a Budget
Budgets are under a great deal of pressure; there is restricted money available for campaigns but at the same time, there is an even greater need to do more with less. How do you maintain and improve on your marketing effectiveness when clients are harder to sell into and when you have half the budget you had last year?
That’s an acid test situation!
An initial broad approach is to revisit your planning and research. The more you invest in planning, the better the potential outcome for the budget. Focus on shows and activities which have generated positive ROI based on past experience. Cut out the extraneous, optional extras you can do without and identify just what the mission critical aspects of the campaign really are.
This may mean cutting out poorly performing trade shows you traditionally attend; it may mean you try new tactics and strategies and move into new areas to exhibit. By now, you should understand you are going to be moving well out of your comfort zone, but therein lies the real point; with a tight budget you have no choice but to get creative.
You have restricted options for cutting costs with trade show management. The way trade shows are contracted for means there is a substantial lead-in period – it is not unusual for a trade show to be booked up a year in advance. You can cut costs by sharing the space you have booked with someone else who is looking to exhibit, and you can cut out the optional extras that you don’t really need. Again, this comes back to taking a cold hard look at what you really need to get the job done.
Ultimately though, exhibiting is not about spending money; trade shows are money spinners and should be viewed as profit generating centers. Focusing on Return on Investment (ROI) will maintain your profitable momentum and ensure you retain a strong focus on the bottom line – this is not an exercise in customer relations but a strategy to deliver substantial, bottom line performance to the company profit and loss account.