One big exhibition, or lots of smaller exhibitions?
I have just had a complete contrast in the space of a week or so of having exhibited at a large, costly exhibition (Ecobuild) with it's hotel costs, huge stand space and graphics etc and a small regional, but industry specific event with a pop-up stand and much lower costs
On weighing them up, I feel it may be time to experiment with doing say, 6 smaller exhibitions to a regional audience who are more directly related to our air-tight products, than the bigger shows which attract more people, who will find it harder to find you, and may be from an unrelated trade.
I also find that the smaller shows attract a more focussed, interested prospect, as they always have smaller numbers of stands, so the prospect has more time to spend with you, rather than rushing off to see everyone
Has anyone else compared One big exhibition outlay versus several smaller exhibitions and compared results?
Business Development Manager at The National Self Build And Renovation Centre
9 年Hi Andrew , I hope you don't mind me asking but I am in charge of stand sales here at the NSBRC. Would you be interested in meeting with me to look at possible options for you to display ?
Country Director GB & ROI at ISO-Chemie GmbH
9 年Hi all-thanks for the comments-Harvey, I have been to the NSBR site in Swindon-it is a fantastic place!
Managing Director at The National Self Build & Renovation Centre
9 年Hi Andrew, This is a really interesting post and I agree with those commenting so far that where you exhibit should depend on who your audience are, and where they are going. I run a visitor centre for people creating their own homes and we put on a variety of shows and events each year. We're a bit different in that we are a permanent venue, so our exhibitors are here all year round and use the Centre as a showroom. The question we always get is 'What is your footfall'. Its the obvious question - but I think the wrong one to ask. I can use our most recent show ' The National Self Build & Renovation Show' as an example. We saw 2,903 adults over 3 days (we don't include the 241 children, some shows might). This made for a great event, in fact it was our busiest ever show. However, most people, particularly at consumer events come as a couple. So actually, much more useful to you, and fellow exhibitors, is the number of bookings (or projects) through the door. (for the above event it was 1,508). But most importantly, ask 'what's the quality of the visitor'. 53% of our show visitors had, as a minimum, purchased a plot of land, so we're of great quality to our exhibitors. The Show generated over 15,000 sales leads. Ultimately, you have to do what is right for your business and try and assess your ROI (which ultimately is the key factor everyone is interested in). The difficulty is obtaining the data to be able to make a correct judgement - but it sounds like you are using your personal experience to come to the right decision. I'd much rather have a small number of great conversations in a day than 100 rushed ones where any business coming off the back of them is doubtful. Good luck with your future plans!
Associate Director - Offsite Construction Recruitment / MMC Recruitment
9 年We made a concious decision to support the more sector specific shows like Timber Expo as opposed to Ecobuild. Without doubt more enjoyable and more results.
Specifications Manager Internorm UK/ Passive House Designer & Trainer /AECB Approved Certifier
9 年I think your point is correct. You have a really technical product, that would not be in any way associated with the final retail customer. So, I would say that for some groups of products, the more expertised, therefore smaller the exhibition the better results may has.