5 Metrics to Help Measure Trade Show ROI

Trade shows present an excellent opportunity for companies of all sizes to showcase new products, gather feedback from current customers and move prospects down the sales funnel. Events are an extremely valuable investment for marketing teams, as 92 percent of trade show attendees expect to learn about new products and services in their industry at each show. So valuable, that according to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research’s 2017 How the Exhibit Dollar is Spent Report, exhibitor spending in the U.S. stood at a hefty $25 billion in 2017.

With that size of budget allocation, it’s safe to assume that CMOs expect a big return on investment. That assumption would be incorrect, though, as a shocking 70 percent оf еxhіbіtоrѕ set no ѕресіfіс оbjесtіvеѕ or goals fоr their trаdе ѕhоw exhibits, according to CEIR. That equates to 17.5 billion marketing dollars each year, and it’s money that revenue-driven teams cannot afford to waste.

With the competitive landscape only becoming more crowded, event marketers must find a way to measure and prove ROI if they hope to hold onto their budgets. There is a vast spectrum of indicators that can be used to measure performance. The raw data from events can be placed in context and used to establish crucial insights that can better the event in the future. Below is a list of five ways that event teams can show the impact of trade shows on the sales pipeline, leads, and ultimately revenue.  

1. The number of strategic meetings

Strategic meetings undoubtedly have an influence on the revenue and top line. With ROI being a big concern to CMOs, event marketers are often tasked with finding ways to maximize the number of meetings. The number of meetings secured at events and trade shows is often the fine line that dictates success or failure, because every lead brought in and every opportunity successfully converted ties back to the number of meetings scheduled.  

2. Influenced revenue 

Strategic meetings fulfill a number of requirements. They allow for building better trust, validation, confidence and, more importantly, informed decision-making. By increasing the number of these interactions at shows, sales teams are able to not only shorten sales cycles but influence greater revenue. By increasing the number of strategic meetings, sales teams can advance deals faster and therefore contribute increased revenue. A metric like revenue-generated-per-meeting helps in accurate attribution and setting measurable targets for event teams…[Read More]