Feature
“If an exhibitor is able to attract
300 or so people to their stand,
then the question is do they
have the resources to be able
to follow up with them all
afterwards?.”
– Alison Church
“I guess it’s all about setting objectives,”
says Sherrard. “If, as an organiser, you allow
exhibitors to walk into a hall thinking that
they’re going to be walking away with 600
leads, they’re going to fail, and worse, they’ll
be operating in a negative atmosphere.
“If, though, you tell them that they can
expect, say, five leads, then they will try and
find another way to market themselves. We
have to strike a balance.
“As we’re all organisers here [at the
roundtable event], rather than exhibitors,
perhaps it’s worth reflecting on how to try
and qualify how long it takes to get a lead
onto your stand, and then working out how
many leads you physically accommodate.
“If your pitch stands at about 10 minutes,
and the show is open for eight hours a day,
you can manage six pitches each hour, that’s a
maximum of 48 pitches on a typical show day
– forget nipping to the loo or having lunch.
“It’s quite sobering. If you have four people
working your stand then we’re looking at
192 pitches. Fine, but if the exhibitor thinks
that they are going to get 500 leads out of
it, they’re going to fail, and we’re going to
struggle to sell that next time.”
Alison Church, marketing director at
Easyfairs, says that an alternative, technology
can help drive visitor-initiated lead capture.
“I think there’s something to be said for
the quality of the lead,” she says. “You can
tell exhibitors that if they’re going Hell-for-
leather then they can get 300 good quality
leads, but there is technology out there that
allows visitor-initiated lead capture. That
could include non-qualified leads. It’s a
balance: how are you going to get those leads,
how are you going to qualify them, and what’s
your follow-up?”
Lead follow-up is a well-worn path of
discussion among exhibition organisers, with
the average exhibitor generally following up
with only around 20% of leads.
Church continues: “If an exhibitor is able to
attract 300 or so people to their stand, then
the question is do they have the resources to
be able to follow up with them all afterwards?
Exhibitors are famously poor for following up
leads. I see this as a sales team responsibility,
to set these objectives.
“Crucially, this will form the base for a
successful re-book campaign as you will both
be able to determine their KPIs.”
Marketing packages
The table shared examples of the types of
programmes they run to give exhibitors the
best possible leg up when it comes to pre-
show marketing. The marketing manual is a
common tool provided by organisers which
aspires to give exhibitors advice on how best
to get their message out and outlines how to
make use of the tools and technology at their
disposal.
However, there seems to be little in the way
of post-show marketing, with an exhibitor’s
message lost in the malaise of the post-show
comedown and as attention turns to the next
one. Surely post-show marketing offers great
value?
Katie Leslie, operations executive at
Clarion Gaming, says it depends on the
portfolio. “We run five trade shows and
six conferences, so there isn’t really time
between events, she says. “As our events have
a similar exhibitor base, and the events are
stacked, there isn’t really the bandwidth in
personnel or the time to follow up
Lori Hoinkes, Fresh Montgomery
Juliet Trew, Informa Markets
Alison Church, Easyfairs
Michael Myburgh, Reed
Exhibitions
Lucy Green, ITE Group
Katy Leslie, Clarion Gaming
Stephanie Fleury, Clarion
Gaming
Martin Fullard, Representing
Exhibition News
Mike Sherrard, Mash Media
Matt Coyne, GES
Amy Jordan, GES
October — 37