Each year hundreds of thousands of companies, many like your place of business, venture to exotic locales, like Cleveland, or faraway lands, like Finland, to attend or exhibit at trade shows. And each year stories are written and white papers drafted on the benefits trade shows can harvest.
In an effort to save SLO Chamber members time exploring the benefits, we did the research, compiled the findings and packaged them neatly for your convenience.
Below you will find stats and percentages backing up the benefits and advantages to attending and exhibiting, and even a tip or two for what to do while you’re there.
Top 3 reasons to exhibit:
Name recognition:
- 88 percent of exhibitors exhibit to raise awareness of their company, the brand and what it is that they have to offer. In doing so they improve name recognition for their company, which is important for new and established companies. – The Value of Trade Shows, a white paper published by Skyline and EXPO Magazine
“Branding is a huge aspect of business success, especially in industries that depend on trust and reputation. Exhibiting at a trade show is a wonderful way to tell your industry that your company is serious, reliable, and large enough to afford its own presence at leading events and conferences.” – Peter Symonds, Smart Insights
Getting in front of the right people:
- 81 percent of trade show attendees have buying authority. Which means more than four out of five people walking the aisles are potential customers. – CEIR: The Spend Decision: Analyzing How Exhibits Fit Into The Overall Marketing Budget
Thousands of trade show attendees actually pay to visit the show, walk down the aisles, and then walk by your tradeshow booth. It would take many months of direct sales to equal the number of buyers you can meet with while exhibiting at a trade show. – The Value of Trade Shows
- 72 percent of exhibitors say they exhibit to get leads from new buyers and prospects. Trade shows are a major method for lead generation for business-to-business companies. Exhibitors bring back piles of leads to fill the pipeline of their sales force. Exhibitors can qualify the leads right at the show and move them farther down the buying cycle. – The Value of Trade Shows
Connecting with other businesses:
- 70 percent of exhibitors exhibit to build or strengthen partnerships and industry relationships. Trade shows are where an industry gathers, and it’s often the best time to forge and renew alliances with partners, not just interact with buyers. – The Value of Trade Shows
The 2019 EXPO at the Expo will take place on May 15 from 4 -7 p.m. and annually hosts more than 2,000 community members and business leaders.
Starting at 3:00 there is a vendor networking hour – designed exclusively for exhibitors to connect and build B2B relationships. A good strategy for this hour is to have someone in the booth space and another person out on the floor to maximize the networking opportunity before the doors open to the public.
Expo offers your business the opportunity to be creative and make a memorable impression on potential customers. This year’s theme, Chamber Land, allows businesses an opportunity to have a bit of fun while building team enthusiasm and energy, all while showing off some personality.
As an added exhibitor benefit, Chamber staff will be collecting business card information from guests and sending that information back to the exhibitors. This information is only shared with our exhibitors and is a great way to follow up with potential customers.
Interesting in exhibiting? There are still a few open exhibitor spots.