For SMEs, exhibitions and trade fairs are still key

Your exhibit stall will give you a perfect location for continuing the conversations.

It may be the era of technology-led disruption and digital media but SMEs will still find the good old exhibition and industry trade shows as some of the best options for B2B business growth. Such events where buyers and suppliers are in direct touch along with industry peers and experts will continue to prosper despite the last two years of pandemic-induced sabbatical.

Is there a better platform for in-person marketing and branding for a small and medium enterprise? Till recently, such events took up the largest chunk of B2B marketing and advertising budgets.

Given the strategic importance of these trade shows and events, one might assume that SMEs are very careful about their strategy for such events. Unfortunately most SME owners I spoke to or consult with do not even have a strategy! They just participate, as it is something they have to do because their competitors are doing it. Many of these owners do not evaluate ROI (return on investment) from such events and plan how to maximise the returns.

We keep advising our clients how they should choose trade shows that are relevant to their business needs and develop a strategy for increasing brand width through presentation, speaking and building relationships at the exhibit booth.

Most SMEs that participate in these shows and exhibitions plan nothing more than paying for the space and showing up. They need to plan and get the most out of these events. According to research, 76 percent of companies participating in a trade event consider these as the most effective.  This seems to be the highest-ranked activity on the list, above webinars (60 percent), case studies (66 percent) and white papers (41 percent). Other studies also show that B2B exhibitions rank second as a marketing and sales activity.

Unlike case studies or content marketing, this activity is a two-way communication, and that is perhaps why it is so powerful. It is a forum for building relationships with prospects and clients who one ordinarily never gets to meet face-to-face. What a business can get out of exhibiting at a tradeshow is directly proportional to how much it prepares prior to the event. Tradeshows are great for business but they are only as good as the strategy one has.

The first step to being successful with exhibitions is to be selective as to which all events to participate in. It is important to find one with not just the right audience but also the right business context. Some events are more of a conference nature and others more of exhibition. Go beyond just displaying your products but present them nicely. If your key people are invited to speak at a trade event, take part in a panel discussion, or participate as a breakout session expert, they need to ensure that they project your company in the right way so as to build its reputation. Afterwards, your exhibit stall will give you a perfect location for continuing the conversations.

The second aspect is how you present yourself as a company at the booth. Don’t be too flashy and expensive. More important is the approach, which should be simplistic in communicating what your company stands for and what you provide. A potential customer passing by your stall should be able to quickly discover what you are offering. In that short span of time, they should be able to make a decision whether you are relevant to them and worth spending time at. That way you also get only serious prospects who will not waste your time.

What separates the winners from losers at exhibitions is the strategy. You should set a plan for every stage of your engagement: pre-event, during the event and post-exhibition follow-up. You need to determine which reps should be sent where, how to generate awareness, how to engage with the visitors and prospects. Be clear on your goals from such participation, and remember, the biggest goof-up happens at post-conference follow-ups. Beyond collecting business cards, one needs to have a clear plan for follow-up and closures. Most clients we know do follow up with the hottest leads they have, as sales people smell blood and incentives. Hardly a handful of companies keep a plan for the cold and warm leads from the trade event. This should change.

The stall design should be customer-friendly, non-cluttered, and should allow easy interaction with prospects and customers leading to better conversations – the first step towards building a relationship. Face-to-face meetings are refreshingly the best to know the chemistry in this era of zoom and so is virtual media.  That is why trade shows are so great: When the executives are there to make connections and strike up conversations, they should look for those opportunities from prospects. That is why they get so much from these shows.

The mantra is to have a strategy and go to that to the right exhibition. When trade shows take up more than 25 percent of budgets in a typical B2B company, you better plan well. Don’t send your teams to participate without much direction and clear goals.