Are Tradeshows Dead?
Without fail, the question comes up every year. In an interesting post on Digital Trends, Rob Enderle questions whether the largest consumer electronics tradeshow is even relevant any more. After just returning from CES, I’m skeptical that the mega, horizontally-focused tradeshow is going to last much longer. These types of tradeshows often become victims of their own success and so massive that they collapse under their own weight. While they definitely gather together the latest cutting-edge technologies, the exhibition halls are so immense that it becomes increasingly hard to navigate and fit in all you want to see as well as be seen.
For exhibitors, tradeshows cost a lot of money if you want to do them right, and the return on investment isn’t always obvious. The arguments against tradeshows are pretty straightforward and are all generally variants of:
- Information travels so quickly now that there are only a couple hours between what you see under non-disclosure and what you can read on Engadget.
- Shows have become so big that smaller vendors are often overshadowed, and attendees have a harder time finding the cool new things they are looking for.
- There are much more efficient ways to generate higher quality leads.
- Tradeshows are just excuses for parties for vendors, customers and press.
While all of these criticisms are valid, and I’ve certainly been to some memorable tradeshow parties over the years, I still think tradeshows can play an important role in a marketing plan. Tradeshows help Motion in three key areas:
Brand awareness and credibility
|Because of Motion’s focus on vertical markets, horizontal marketing isn’t a big focus for us. As a result, decision makers may not be as aware of our brand as we need them to be. A well-designed booth at an industry-specific tradeshow (NRF, DistribuTECH, HIMSS) really helps us build credibility in a specific market (retail, utilities, healthcare). We also partner with key software providers in order to build and demonstrate our credibility in and commitment to that market. It’s always rewarding to have someone come into our booth and say, “I saw your product in my software provider’s booth, and they said I should come talk to you.”
Enhancing our partnerships and market understanding
Industry-specific tradeshows are a great place for us to meet other companies that are focused on the same market in order to cultivate partnerships. Over the years, a number of Motion’s most effective marketing programs and collaborations have started with a discussion at a tradeshow. In addition, it’s a great place to meet with potential resellers and get a real-time view of how our competitors are positioning their products. We almost always come back from a major tradeshow with new ideas about how to better market our products and services.
Good sales leads
Traditionally, this is the driving force behind tradeshow attendance, and it remains the primary driver for us as well. The biggest challenge is separating the free t-shirt hunters and people looking for continuing education credits from the legitimate buyers. Again, our strategy revolves around focusing on industry-specific tradeshows rather than horizontally-focused ones. We never use contract workers to staff our booths; it‘s always a Motion employee or a trained reseller partner. As a result, we are able to have more in-depth conversations and are quite often able to leave with a number of very well-qualified opportunities.
We strive to make our events’ budget as impactful as possible, which includes taking advantage of every marketing opportunity available, such as:
- Pre-show mailings
- Virtual events and webinars affiliated with the show
- Speaking opportunities for us, our partners and customers
- Advertising in the event guide or magazine
- Lead nurturing programs for every lead we capture
- Post show mailings to the attendee list
Even in this era of social media and marketing automation, I know Motion will continue to invest and focus on industry-specific tradeshows. It’s a cliché to say that people do business with people they like, but there is a lot of truth to it as well. Most relationships need occasional face-to-face interaction, and tradeshows are a great way to renew existing relationships as well as develop new ones.
Mike Stinson VP Marketing
Motion Computing