Hello to All,

Welcome to the second year of Trade Show Tips e-Newsletter.  Thanks to you, we have enjoyed a very successful beginning.  Whether you are a regular reader, or new to our ranks, I am sure you will find something useful in the material we've selected this month.

This issue features two topics: the rationale for measuring your results, and some guidelines for choosing shows that show-off your company.  Both contain some nuggets of wisdom that will help you get your job done better.

Enjoy...and read it here,

Marc Phibbs - Vice President, Marketing

Measure Results and Keep Your Budget
By E. Jane Lorimer

While reviewing some recent industry research, I found some powerful information that I'd like to share with you.

According to research conducted by Blackfriars Communications of Maynard, Mass, companies expect to boost their marketing budgets 20% this year over last. Even though the economy is not yet what I'd call 'robust,' it indicates a higher business confidence than in recent years. When companies begin to boost marketing, it drives sales again and that will boost the economy.

Here's the meat on the bones - Blackfriars also determined that companies that measured marketing results spent about 90% of their marketing budgets in 2004 while companies that did not measure, spent 67% of their marketing budget.

I suggest the difference in what was spent (kept in the budget) is because marketing managers who measure to support investment decisions can justify spending more of their allotted budgets and those who don't measure will walk away from marketing avenues, thus leaving part of the budget unspent or have it arbitrarily cut midyear.

Tradeshow Week Executive Outlook research found 49% of exhibitors still don't track or measure ROI or ROO within their trade show and event programs.

It you have to fight for your share of dollars and/or to keep your budgets (and your own salaries!) for trade shows and events, start measuring results. It will make a difference - not only in gaining and keeping budgets but also in strategic placement of funds.

E. Jane Lorimer, Managing Director
Lorimer Consulting Group - Denver, CO

With more than 9,000 trade shows, choosing the right one can be a daunting task.

Yet there are many sources that can provide the information you need to choose the shows that will be most productive for your company, and yield the greatest return on your exhibit investment.

A key source for the answers is the show management itself. But you can also get valuable input from exhibitors, attendees, industry associations, publications, and suppliers, such as installation and dismantle companies or service contractors.

Before talking with any of those sources, clarify your exhibit goals. Once you have your own objective in focus, you're ready to find out if a given show will help you meet that objective. One of the first questions you should ask: Who attended the show in the past?

Show brochures generally trumpet the number of attendees at the previous show. But what does that number represent? It's more important to know who is attending, than how many. Ask for the attendee profile. The demographic data a show manager provides can help you evaluate both the audience and the show manager's research.

Comprehensive data is gathered by computerized registration systems used at many trade shows today. Those systems record attendee's company name, size, and location; the individual's job title, buying authority, purchase intentions, budget, and timeframe. Look for the facts behind the generalities.

Then again, if you want to keep it simple, ask 10 customers which shows they go to. If you hear the same show name repeated again and again, you know where to go!

Skyline Exhibits
3355 Discovery Rd
Eagan, MN 55121
Phone: 800-328-2725
www.skyline.com

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