Stateside with Stephanie
Walking in your exhibitors ’ shoes
Stephanie Selesnick elicits some expert opinions on how can we improve the live experience
he Great Reset presents opportunities to improve the customer experience and ROE – Return on Everything – for our primary and most important stakeholder : the exhibitors . How do we go about it ?
To get some ideas , I spoke with UK-based Sophie Holt , managing director of Explori and US-based Joe Federbush , president and chief strategist for Evolio Marketing , an event strategy and measurement company and director of Explori North America .
The majority of exhibitors are hugely disappointed with digital exhibitions . As Joe said : “ Exhibitors are revisiting their spend , and most found virtual lacking . Results are mixed , and lacklustre at best .” Sophie ’ s comments echoed Joe ’ s : “ Benchmarks are quite low and digital is not super effective . In fact , 42 % of exhibitors surveyed are hostile to digital expos .”
Hybrid is a part of our now and future . But as Joe said : “ Ask 100 people what hybrid events are , and you ’ ll get 100 different answers and / or definitions .” I concur . Wholeheartedly . Done right , organisers can drive new engagement and successfully bring in new audiences – through engaging content and smart sponsorships ( more on that later ). But not as a trade show ( at this time ).
Back to Live and In Person . Small and medium-sized companies make up the bulk of every exhibition floor yet don ’ t receive proportionate attention by show management , who generally favour large companies . That ’ s a huge mistake and wasted opportunity . Most exhibition floor growth is through SME ’ s taking more space because they had a successful exhibiting experience the previous edition . It ’ s not from the big guys , who do not significantly increase their space or sponsorships year over year .
Some shows burn and churn exhibitors faster than billionaires going into space . According to Jefferson Davis , president of Competitive Edge , the leading exhibitor educator in the United States , “ If your show is renewing exhibitors at rate of 70 % or less , the yellow caution light should be going off .” He added , “ Strive for 85 %”.
That ’ s where the Great Reset comes into play . Millions of people have changed jobs and companies in the last 18 months . How can organisers take advantage ? Both Sophie and Joe gave their top suggestions . Unsurprisingly , they are spot on and not dissimilar .
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Left : 1 – Sophie Holt , managing director of Explori ; 2 – Joe Federbush , president and chief strategist for Evolio Marketing ; 3 – Stephanie Selesnick
Sophie ’ s suggestions : 1 . Exhibitor Training and Education . NPS Scores for both digital and live events notably increase with education and training – particularly if it ’ s done one on one ( especially for digital ). 2 . Measurability . Organisers are going to have to be more transparent . Exhibitors are used to receiving data from digital events and now expect it with live events . The trick is teaching them how to effectively measure live engagement data . 3 . Collaboration Leading to Cost Effectiveness . Organisers , suppliers , hotels , venues all have to work together for ways to cut the costs of exhibiting . Eigtheen percent of exhibiting companies want to save 50 % or more from spends in pre-Covid years . Many exhibitors have no idea what the difference is between venue , show and suppliers . It ’ s all rolled into one in their minds .
4 . ‘ Customer led , not Product Led ’. Adam Ford , Clarion Event ’ s CEO mentioned this phrase on recent Grip webinar asking , ‘ What can we do better ? Then design around that .’ What is the value-add your exhibition brings to its exhibitors ?
Joe ’ s suggestions : 1 . Consultative Sales . Exhibit booth and sponsorship sales are not transactional . Train your salespeople to make it a priority to know your show ’ s exhibitors ’ needs and goals . Everyone wants to generate sales leads and to see decision makers . Go beyond that . For example , if the exhibitor ’ s goal is to garner more leads , review your visitor category list with the client to determine which are of interest . Then help the client figure out how to be successful in targeting those segments . 2 . Better Align Sponsorships with Exhibitor Objectives . If it ’ s lead generation , then the sponsorship should have a ‘ call to action ’ driving visitors to the exhibitor ’ s booth . If it ’ s
20 Issue 4 2021 www . exhibitionworld . co . uk