How to Easily Know When a Trade Show Is No Longer Rewarding

No one likes going through a breakup. Sometimes the toughest ones are actually with tradeshows.

By and large, tradeshows are fantastic investments into your company’s future. They are a great way to get perspective on your industry, learn directly from customers and buyers and do plenty of great networking.

That being said, not all trade shows are the same.

Custom eSmart Exhibit Featuring Adjustable Aero frame, Slat-Walls, LED Lights, and Eco Board Header Graphics

Custom eSmart Exhibit Featuring Adjustable Aero frame, Slat-Walls, LED Lights, and Eco Board Header Graphics

Some, unfortunately, are little more than convention halls with a bunch of booths sitting around.

And you got your suit dry-cleaned for this?

If you’re unsure whether or not it’s time to throw your favorite trade show back, here are some telltale signs.

 

 The Attendees Are All Wrong

The reason you attend trade shows is because it puts you right in front of your market and gives you a great venue for engaging with them (you may also want to get away from the spouse and kids for a bit).

You don’t want to take your car parts to a trade show for boats, but you also don’t want to spend time in front of people who aren’t buying.

If you’re not getting in front of the right people, something is wrong. In fact, the number one reason exhibitors eventually walk away from a show is because it lacks quality attendees.

Deciding whether or not the attendees are right or wrong at a show is actually fairly easy. Click To Tweet

What do your best buyers currently look like? (Not physically, that would be weird.)

Find as many ways as possible to build a profile around them (this is something you should already be doing as part of your marketing approach) and then look to see if that kind of person is at the trade shows you attend.

Do you see your best buyers? If the answer is “No”, then it’s time to find out where they’ve gone.

 

Poor ROI

This one couldn’t be more obvious, but trade shows can sometimes be tricky where ROIs are concerned.

The first kind of trade shows are simply about how much you’re able to sell while at these shows – that’s simple to measure.

Many trade shows, though, aren’t about selling at the show. Rather, their focus is gathering a bunch of leads for the top of your sales funnel. If that’s the case, then you need to find a way to measure that!

Other exhibitors attend trade shows for networking, or to test the market with new products.If that’s the case, make sure you are getting decent networking out of it. Have you received good feedback about your products and/or services? Are people you’re meeting at these shows eventually buying down the line?

Again, not all of these types of measurements will be straightforward. Don’t be so naive as to think you should be making your money back right away from a tradeshow.

However, if you can’t think of anything good that’s come from a tradeshow (aside from getting out of the office for a while), then there’s no reason to go back.

 

Your Budget Could Be Better Spent

Something else you should do once you know your ROI is compare it across all trade shows.

You might find that some trade shows are worth more than others. Click To Tweet

Even if every show somehow gives you a positive return, it might still make sense to double-down on one and boot the other.

RENTAL Exhibit Visionary Designs Hybrid Inline

RENTAL Exhibit Visionary Designs Hybrid Inline

Let’s say you’re going to trade shows 1, 2 and 3 and you’ve found that each secure you a positive ROI. Great!

But, with some additional research, it might become clear that trade show 3 is not only the clear winner, but also has the highest percentage of attendees who look like your best buyers.

In this type of scenario, it makes sense to ditch either trade show 1 or 2 and reinvest that money into reaching even more people at the third one, where you know they’re more likely to help your bottom line. This is the one time it’s ok to play favorites.

 

Here are some additional scenario’s to consider as you evaluate which trade shows work the best for you:

 

1) Costs Keep Going Up

Sometimes trade show organizers do something really stupid: they kill their golden goose.

They’re like the trendy band that became famous and then decided they’d just keep playing the same hits over and over and over.

When a trade show organizer gets too comfortable, they may stop trying. And it will show.

One detail you’ll catch is that the price to attend keeps going up.

This isn’t to say that every trade show that charges more than they used to is no longer worth your money.

However, if it happens year after year and you’re not seeing corresponding results, tell them you had a lovely time and never go back.

 

2) Stagnant Approach

No matter what kind of industry you’re in, it’s going to change over time.

A lot of industries these days actually change pretty quickly.

You probably know it behooves you for your company to change along with the industry.

Sadly, not all organizers feel the same way.

You should always expect that a trade show you’re thinking of attending will have relevant speakers who will touch on current trends and challenges.

That’s one of the main reasons to attend. Many trade shows have a sort-of theme which, again, should be relevant.

If your trade show is going to have breakout sessions, they should actually bring something to the table, not just take up space.

If your trade show has the exact same people every year or the exact same topics, you have every right to be bored. And you have every right to tell them “no more.”

One really easy way to gauge if a trade show understands what they’re doing is checking their social media presence.

Lacking one may mean they don’t really grasp that things have changed.

It also means they may not be able to attract the future leaders of the industry, people you want to be in front of.

If they’re still using MySpace, you should’ve walked away a long time ago.

Some trade shows may lack the bells and whistles. If you’re being charged an affordable price, then that’s not a big deal.

However, if you’re being asked to pay premium prices, you should want premium services that are up-to-date.

 

3) The Excitement Is Gone

Just because trade shows are work doesn’t mean they can’t be fun.

In fact, they should afford you a nice break from things and plenty to enjoy.

Aside from the aforementioned bells and whistles, trade shows give you some unprecedented business opportunities (a cocktail hour doesn’t hurt either).

That’s why, if you no longer feel excited about attending a certain trade show, it’s probably not you, it’s them.

Some of you veterans may simply be burned out.

Perhaps you’re not excited about any prospective shows and it would make more sense to send someone else.

Recharge your batteries and see how you feel in a year.

However, assuming you still love the idea of going to other shows, any that begin losing your attention are probably best being thrown on the scrap heap.

 

4) They Don’t Ask for Feedback

Most shows should have an exhibitor advisory committee.

This is an efficient way for the organizers to get feedback from their customers.

However, there are plenty of other ways they could ask for feedback from exhibitors too.

The important thing is that they do.

What would happen to your company if you didn’t keep your ear to the ground?

That’s what you should expect to happen to any trade show that doesn’t gauge attendee interest.


When trade shows are run well, they are a tremendous asset for any company willing to invest time and money into making the most out of them.

It takes two to tango, though. If your trade show “dance partner” doesn’t seem to care whether or not you’re there, then it’s time to change partners, so move on and look for better opportunities. There are several tools for finding the best trade show near the bottom of our trade show resources page.

And if you’re shopping for some new duds for the dance (or great tradeshow displays for your next show), give us a call. That’s our field of expertise, and our trained trade show consultants would be happy to make sure you’re all set.

For more, check out why trade shows are important or what’s keeping attendees from engaging with you.