Roundtable
“ You must understand their objectives right at the beginning of the journey , and then work through the whole process with them ,” she says .
She adds that this should not be restricted to the show days , but must be a 365-strategy .
“ It ’ s not about the two , three or five days of your event . It ’ s about the whole annual campaign . Once you really understand each exhibitor ’ s individual objective only then can you work with them towards that end goal , which is the results from the show ,” she says .
“ That could be the number of leads , it could be that they ’ re launching something , that they ’ re new to the market or that they are looking for more
“ The important thing for a new organiser is to know your niche . Once you develop that value proposition , you understand your community .”
market share . Whatever their objective is , we then break that down and establish what results would be good for them . What would be success for them ; how would they measure that ?
Willis adds that Easyfairs works with exhibitors every step of the way . “ A lot of it is pre-show marketing , so that they ’ re making their clients aware of what they ’ re doing at the show and why they should come and visit them ,” she notes .
“ We help them raise awareness to visitor data as well . We understand what this does , they ’ re looking to meet leads , we can then help them and prearrange those appointments . It ’ s a journey .”
Willis adds that it ’ s important to analyse exhibitor leads to ensure they are getting the most out the experience . “ We can look at the data from who came to the show and see if they met the right people ,” she notes . “ And if not , how can we help reach those people post-event , and if they did meet the right people , then how do we help them follow-up on those leads ?”
Willis concludes by saying : “ The important thing for a new organiser is to know your niche . Once you develop that value proposition , you understand your community .
“ It ’ s about embedding yourself within that community , understanding who the visitors are , who the exhibitors are and being a part of that general industry so that you can then deliver .”
Venue perspective All trade shows require a venue , but the relationship must be framed as partnership . Certainly , that is the view of Carlo Zoccali , Farnborough International ’ s venue director .
“ The most important element is how the organiser and the venue collaborate ,” he says . “ It ’ s all about partnership . That ’ s what we try and do with every organiser : to understand what their values are and to try and share what they ’ re doing with their exhibitors and visitors . We really must share the ethos .
Zoccali adds that , certainly in the case of Farnborough , the venue should be embedded in everything the organiser is doing .
“ Whether it be from a marketing perspective , a sales perspective and operations perspective ,” he says . “ You must work to forge a collaborative partnership , rather than just settling for a transactional deal between two parties .” EN
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