Creating a Trade Show Budget: Focus on Outcomes

Budget time is coming up. The guy from finance hands you a spreadsheet and says, “Okay, here are your current numbers. Give me your next year’s budget by October 1, but trim these numbers by 10%.” (You should be so lucky.)

Remember last year? You tried to explain how goals (big picture items) differ from objectives (measurable items) but you got deer-in-the-headlights looks from everyone. So you took the path of least resistance, gave everyone what they wanted, and left your budget vulnerable to midyear cuts because no one understands exactly what trade shows are supposed to accomplish.

This year, try another way, one that gives you control over the process, a method that is strategic and meaningful, that elevates you from a tactician to a real marketer in the eyes of your management. We call it the Outcome Model.

How Does the Outcome Model Work?

Begin by accepting that trade shows, like all face-to-face meetings, can drive meaningful, measureable business outcomes, and by focusing first on those business outcomes, you immediately add to your own value and to the value of your program.

Ask yourself: What meaningful, measureable outcomes do you want to achieve? for each show or event? for your overall program?

Aligning your outcomes with corporate and brand strategies is critical both for the success of your program and your ability to defend your budget. Your outcomes will be funded as part of these strategies so make sure you show the connection. You need to be known as an ally for sales and marketing. And, as an ally, demonstrating a return on the dollars spent for your programs is non-negotiable.

There are different ways to measure the return on investment of those budget dollars, some less tangible than others. One of the most accessible tools is ROI guru Terri Breining’s pyramid of “Five Levels of Measurement.” At the base of the pyramid is the most subjective outcome, the way people feel about your presence at the event; at the top is direct correlation between the event and the revenue generated. According to the principles of the ROI Institute ™, you need to collect the data at the lower level (the broad base of the pyramid) to make the higher-level evaluation meaningful.

Your outcomes may answer these questions, from the lower to higher levels:

• How do you want people to feel or remember your presence at a trade show or event?
• What do you want booth visitors or attendees to learn from your trade show presence?
• What actions do you want them to take?
• What challenges do you want them to solve with your products or services?
• How will you measure your investment against revenue?

Depending on your industry, you may want to assign a particular percentage of any given trade show audience as a target number that you want to reach.

Include Measurement Resources in your Budget

Do include money in your budget for the resources to measure these outcomes. These resources might include surveys, either at show site or after the show; lead capture and data matching partnerships; or something big, like building an internal infrastructure that bridges points of customer contact with the increase in the value of each customer through the corporate CRM program. Explore the investment your company needs to make in these resources, and explain the value of each option in your budget narrative. Inaction should not be an option.

Now it is time to determine what type of investment you will have to make in each event to achieve these outcomes.

1. Start by reviewing the shows you attended the previous year. Were any of them clearly
    disappointing? Are there new shows on the horizon that appear to be viable? Are there
    shows in your schedule where you should either have a larger or reduced presence? What
    will it take for you to achieve your outcomes at each show?

   One idea is to work with your suppliers to come up with a comprehensive annual program
   so that expenditures for predictable items such as exhibit properties, I&D, graphics, etc., are
   more or less fixed expenses for the year. You can also ask your suppliers for a range of
   scalable configurations for your properties, including using rental properties when
   appropriate. That way, say, if you attended NOTSOHOT Expo last year with a 40’ x 40’
   space and you decide to reduce your presence to a 10’ x 20’, you can immediately plug in
   the numbers.

2. Next, remember that you will reach your outcomes because of customer-facing initiatives,
    not because of what happens on the trucks carrying your properties to the show or during
    the process of moving your properties from the dock to your space on the show floor.
    Review your program for ways to reduce expenses that do not contribute to the impact on
    the target market. Include this reasoning in your budget narrative because you might be
    asked why you are renting a fabric canopy when you have a perfectly good overhead
    structure that can be hung from truss (at about ten times the cost of the fabric canopy).

3. Finally. review the show schedule for possible unique opportunities, such as product launches
    or special promotions. Make this part of your narrative, particularly if you are suggesting to
    increase investment in a particular show over what you have spent in the past. Once again,
    tie this to your expected outcomes for the show.

Differentiate by Show, by Audience

With the base-line costs in place for each show, you can now supply the differentiators that will help you meet your stated outcomes for each part of your exhibit program. List possible initiatives for each show, and be aware that there might be industry regulatory issues or show management rules that prohibit you from using one or the other. There are more enhancements than ever for providing a memorable experience for attendees when they visit your exhibit. When you are charting your course, plan according to the three traditional parts of an exhibit marketing program

1. Pre-show

2. At-show

3. Post-show

for each show you attend. If you attend a number of similar or regional shows, group those together and develop similar programs.

Pre-show initiatives are especially helpful to attendees who probably won’t stay for the entire show and need to hone in on exhibitors who can give them solutions. Options here are plentiful: you can use any number of social media initiatives, web-based personalization Purls (‘personal’ URLs), banner advertising on the show web site. The more you communicate with attendees before the show, the greater the chance you have of attracting your target audience to your exhibit. Give sales people invitations to hand out to their customers in the field or provide them with electronic invitations. Consider setting aside money for sponsorship opportunities but only if the sponsorship supports your outcomes. Tie your pre-show promotions to your company’s social media programs. Explore all the possibilities for reaching your target audience. Even if your targets are not attending a particular show, raising awareness can increase your company’s visibility and the chance to reach the top of the pyramid where revenue increases with a particular customer.

At the show you might invest in augmented reality, live presentations, touch screen media, crowd gatherers, premium items, or video. Perhaps you can offer hospitality or build in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, maybe a CSR program that your corporate leadership has already identified. Keep up the connection with social media; for example, Twitter is an incredibly powerful tool from show site. Use attendance to create video footage to post on the company web site. Although it is beyond the scope of this article to list all the possibilities available to you, there are many publications that showcase what is available. When in doubt, reach out to a trusted partner.

After the show, you can connect in a variety of ways with the people who visited the exhibit. Offerings such as virtual trade shows, web keys, augmented reality, or direct mail (including email), will jog their memories about your meeting at the show and help sales follow up. Again, learn about what is new and what is successful. Reach out to vendors you have met at industry networking events and ask about their new and recommended products and services.

Use Hard Numbers and Hard Facts

When you have identified marketing tactics for each show, make sure you do not get lazy about providing costs. Price every element you are suggesting, or present a documented range when you find disparity between suppliers. Part of creating a well-crafted budget is using industry benchmarks if they are available. When you have gathered this information, it is time to return to your outcomes.

• How does each show reach the feelings of attendees?
• What do you want them to learn in your exhibit and how will you teach them?
• What do you want them to do as a result of their visits?
• For which of their major challenges are you offering solutions?
• What agreed upon follow-up activities will you suggest to ‘hot’ prospects that will advance the sales continuum and lead to increased revenue?

Know the Audience for Each Show

Attendance figures for the year before should be available for each show; use them to justify the reach of your program. Pressure show managers to supply you with audited figures. If the show is not audited, ask why not. Attendance figures should also give you guidance about the size of your footprint for each show. So much is now available on line that you can assess what your participation should be simply by matching attendance records with the floor plan.

Provide a compelling narrative for each show, or groups of similar shows as well as for the overall program. This technique creates a mental picture for the people who approve your budget. It appeals to their imaginations as well as their desire to see concrete numbers. They can visualize attendees responding to the initiatives you describe and anticipate success for your outcomes. This is critical because so few of your senior managers are likely to have the time to attend shows on a regular basis.

Do not hesitate to break up the narrative text with visuals. Enlist the help of your vendors to supply you with renderings or pictures. Act like a marketer, like a leader, and present your budget in a way that is meaningful and engaging. After all is said and done, you might still be asked to break out your numbers and put them in a finance template, but only after you have presented your Outcome Model. Get your management excited about your program and make sure your outcomes are front and center when you are planning for the coming year.

About the Author

Jon Ellms is Vice President, Principal and Healthcare Practice Director at Access TCA.