Successful trade show exhibitors will tell you that a key factor for their success is to increase the number of quality attendees that visit their booths. In an effort to increase their ROI, and therefore the odds that they will return to the event, they turn to the organizer to increase the number of exhibition hours, not schedule key sessions in competition with exhibiting and to co-locate the food or beverage service in the hall. While all are helpful there is one area that is sometimes overlooked – access to the registration database to support…
Email Marketing
If your company hosts trade shows and exhibitions, exhibitor retention is a very important part of your strategic plan. The cost of exhibitor attrition is high with estimates from Competitive Edge placing the cost for a show with 450 exhibitors and a retention rate of 75% at well over $250,000 on average. The cost goes up dramatically if the attrition rate approaches 40% as in some events or if the departing companies are the large anchor exhibitors. Whatever the show organizer can do to enhance the exhibitor retention rate will have a significant impact on…
I read an article by Mike Blackman, Managing Director of Integrated Systems Events, regarding the value of an event’s registration data. I found it very interesting and thought I would share it: Tread carefully when considering whether to rent or sell your attendee data to third parties, says Mike Blackman, managing director of Integrated Systems Events. “Big data.” It’s a phrase that entered into common usage a couple of years back, when it seemed the only companies seriously bucking the recession trend—at least in the Western world—were those engaged in the acquisition, processing and subsequent…
There are traditional sponsorship opportunities that show organizers have been successfully using to boost their show revenue for years. These include sponsorship of badges/lanyards, show directory, banners, and signage to name a few. These avenues are not going anywhere, but as technology evolves more sponsorship opportunities present themselves. The key is finding new opportunities that benefit all stakeholders (organizers, attendees and exhibitors). Below are a few examples that have benefits to all parties involved: 1. Apps – I was at IAEE’s Expo! Expo! show last December, and it seemed that every other booth was a…
We hear from many trade show organizers that their attendees are growing increasingly wary of exhibitor email blasts. Some have given up altogether and simply do not allow exhibitors to send any emails to the registered attendee list. Recent technological advances have given rise to a number of alternatives organizers are using that include social media mentions, listings in the trade show APP du jour and one-on-one meeting scheduling systems. The latter offers a lot of benefits for the attendee who knows who they want to see but also requires effort on the attendee’s part.
I recently talked to a show organizer who provides lead retrieval to his exhibitors for free. He said they want to provide a higher value experience to the exhibitors. When I asked him how he does it, I expected to hear that he hires someone and covers the bill. I was shocked to hear that he handles the whole process on his own. He starts by printing all of the attendees’ contact information into a QR code on the badge. He said the technological side of printing the badges is not too difficult.
I read this last week from Laura Donovan, a social media expert at The Word Pro. I thought it was interesting and she said I could share it. Has anything like this ever happened to you on LinkedIn or Facebook? Why Your LinkedIn Posts Have Disappeared Last week, when my colleague posted to one of her groups on LinkedIn, the comment disappeared. Then she noticed that when she posted anything to any of her groups, nothing published. When she clicked on “Your Activity” under her picture in one of her groups, she found that her…
I just read this article on the TSNN website about their predictions for the top 10 event technology trends for 2014. What do you think? 1. Organizers will seek integrated solutions – As technology becomes more prominent within the event industry, customers will have higher expectations of the services that their suppliers provide, and seek integrated solutions for registration, online mapping, mobile apps and audience response. 2. Windows Phone will be the heir to BlackBerry – While many consumers are using iPhone and Android devices, corporate IT departments have been much slower to progress. This is partly because of…
I speak to a great many convention, expo and trade show organizers. A recurring theme of these conversations is the merit of sharing the registration list with exhibitors. Some do but most don’t and for good reason, which was explained to me yesterday by an individual that runs a number of conventions. In the past, they have always given away the attendee list to allow for exhibitor email marketing to the attendees. They trusted their exhibitors would use the list only once and this was the easiest way to allow them to send emails. Up…
When I first exhibited at a technology trade show in 1987 it was not uncommon for the show organizer to give exhibitors access to the attendee list to send direct mail to attendees before the show. In fact exhibitors without household names who did not use direct mail, use telemarketing or hire some expensive traffic builder to reach out to the registered attendees usually had disappointing results. Magicians, Harley Davidson drawings and the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders were big draws at the technology shows back then. Then came email and it opened up a whole new…