A look at realistic numbers involved in obtaining return on investment
Yes I know you’re going to the show because you’ve always been to the show. And yes I know that others will be asking where were you – if you don’t go. And I also know that some executive way above you committed to the show and has handed you the hot potato – and you’ve got to make it tasty – but does it add up?
With all marketing, statistics need to be considered – from the legendary half a percent response which you get from unsolicited direct mail to exhibitions – and whatever they are supposed to yield. I have to say at this stage that it’s not all about quantity – it’s about quality as well (it’s not only about sales leads, it’s also about listening, market research, networking). But the numbers need to be considered. Do they match? Read on.
On the one side there is your business plan. On the other your marketing plan to deliver the business plan. Within your marketing plan there should be a programme of Live Marketing activity. This is usually aimed at managing and nurturing your existing customers, but more importantly these days acquiring new clients.
Is it enough to say “well we’ve always been to Expo Blank – our competitors are always there – our customers expect to see us there – and it’s always a great networking event”. Is that enough? So for your business plan and your own requirements let’s assume that you need 10 new customers to meet your targets for your next quarter, half year, or full year’s figures.
It has to be said that any lead generated from a trade show is a warm lead, as opposed to unsolicited direct mail, telemarketing, emails etc., In my experience, you’d normally need to apply a conversion rate figure of 5:1 to calculate the number of meetings or appointments needed before the prospect will sign a trial order with you.
That means following the show you are going to have to allocate resources to conduct at least 50 follow ups. And these can range from one or two to convert some prospects to customers, and maybe a dozen or more to convert others. Anyway, the figure is 50.
My experience in B2B tradeshows would indicate that you should discount three quarters of the leads that you get on the stand. That means that you are going to need 200 qualified leads in your bag when you leave the trade show to generate just 50 interactions later on. And by the way all these 200 prospects need instant follow up to stand a flying chance of getting to the next stage.
So there we are 200 leads to qualified prospects… Qualified? How? Well it would be safe to say that you need to present your credentials to about two and half times this number
over the two or three days of the show to see if what you do, and more importantly what you can do for the prospects is on their radar. Yes, I’m taking of a figure of around 500 presentations to qualified prospects.
But there’s that word again – qualified – how do we know before they come on the stand if they fit our criteria? Our profile? Our idea of a new long term client? Well, only by qualifying them before they come into your space. So here’s another meaningful number – you are probably going to need to talk to around double that number – yes – around 1,000 people who pass by your stand just to see if they are worth pursuing. It’s pointless spending time with unsuitable visitors.
You need to consider, even before you go to the show, who the unsuitable visitors are; students? Retired colleagues? Job seekers? Your own senior management? Existing customers?! Your suppliers? Prospective suppliers? General sales people? The message is the same; you need to politely move them on.
So you need a process, a system, a plan, to engage with around 1,000 passers-by, bring 500 qualified prospects into your space for presentations to end up with around 200 qualified leads who have said they want to see you again, to generate 50 post show interactions, appointments etc., to end up with 10 new customers. Got it? Got it? It can be done. But you can’t do it by talking one to one however many hours there are in the exhibiting day – you need a different approach – call The Exhibiting Agency.
Now we need to flip the coin and decide whether the show you are planning to attend can deliver the appropriate numbers. If you need 1,000 visitors to pass by your stand simply to engage with them, where should your stand be located, how big should it be, and who should do the job of engaging with the passers-by themselves?
The big answer is that you need to interrogate closely your organisers. You may be attending a broadly based trade show, or a conference which only allows you access to the potential prospects at registration, coffee, lunch, and tea. And this may be over one or two days only.
To verify that the whole picture adds up here is a shortened version of a conversation I with a conference organiser on behalf of one of our clients:
JB: “How many registered delegates do you expect to get?”
Organiser: “We are expecting just over 2,000”.
JB: ”How many of those would you expect to drop out on the day?”
Organiser: “Around 20%.”
JB: “So we are taking around 1,600 attending delegates. And how many of those will be present over the whole 3 days?”
Organiser: “Around 70%
JB: “OK, and how many of them do you estimate will eat in the exhibition area?”
Organiser: “In the past we have catered for a maximum of 700 or so.”
JB: “So the others leave the building during lunchtime?”
(Organiser nods)
So you need to do the numbers. In any event you need to ask yourselves how many stands can a visitor visit in a day, properly, how many messages they can absorb and why should they even come past yours.
Depending on the number of exhibitors you might have a passer by number ranging from 5% of total visitors to 50%. But again you should apply the numbers. An average tradeshow with say 150 exhibitors, and 5,000 visitors would typically drive around 1,000 past your stand and that could work for you. But from the above illustration – which is based on real life of course – you can see in many cases the numbers just don’t add up. You’ll not be able to engage with enough people to deliver the number of presentations, leads, interactions, to drive out new customers whose value will add up to a respectable return on investment.
Of course The Exhibiting Agency would be happy to review the numbers for you and come up with a plan to guarantee that you achieve your objectives. But you’ll need to revisit many of your traditional exhibiting techniques. Still if these techniques are not delivering the right results what have you got to lose…..?