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tephen Murtagh
S has spent a lifetime working in the exhibitions industry . In 2017 he set up a training organisation called The Exhibition Guy . Based in Dublin , Ireland , Murtagh has travelled the world training and forming strategy with stakeholders at every level of the industry . He has helped organisers to launch new shows and grow existing ones , has worked with stand contractors to help them better understand their client needs and , arguably most importantly , helps exhibitors get the most out of their investments .
All too often , those exhibiting at shows fail to adequately prepare , be that through misunderstanding , underestimating the opportunity , or most commonly , not setting realistic , tangible objectives . How , then , can you make a trade show or exhibition work for your business ?
Catie Owen : What do realistic ROI objectives for exhibitors look like ? Stephen Murtagh : When I talk to a client , I ask : ‘ what ’ s your objective for exhibiting ?’ They either have one , or they have 25 . Having lots of objectives sounds like a good plan but it ’ s not in reality , because you ’ re spreading yourself too thin .
The key thing I say with regards to what an objective is : three is the key number . In the trade show industry , you don ’ t normally see a return on your investment for six to
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18 months . If you just set revenue as your objective , chances are you are going to leave the event and say , ‘ it didn ’ t work , I didn ’ t get the business I wanted and it was a failure .’
When we start focusing on three objectives , we may achieve two of them at the show and the other one , which could be revenue , will come later .
One objective could be meeting 10 new customers , and another could be meeting a new distributor of your products or brands . When we do this , the thinking shifts from the mindset of ROI to ROO – return on objectives .
CO : What should exhibitors be doing before and during the show to maximise ROI ? SM : First , you need to have a one to two-page written plan for exhibiting that should cover sales , marketing , and operations .
For sales , it ’ ll cover : what are we selling ? How many sales will you aim for each day ? For marketing it ’ ll ask how you ’ re going to promote yourselves both online and offline . For operations , it ’ ll cover who is bringing what items , and who is building the stand . When we do that , we have a plan for exhibiting .
At a show , people will decide within four seconds if they ’ re going to stop on your stand . So , the next part we look at is engaging visitors . On the day , it ’ s not about the sales piece , people come to exhibitions to buy , they don ’ t necessarily come to be sold to .
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“ When we start focusing on three objectives , we may achieve two of them at the show and the other one , which could be revenue , will come later .” |
When a person walks on a stand , we ’ ve no idea who they are . No idea about their budget or anything like that . During the show we need to build relationships much quicker to maximise ROI afterwards .
CO : Which key metric should exhibitors focus on to calculate ROI post-show ? SM : You should be looking at somewhere between a five- to six-times return from exhibiting . When you take average sales and say , ‘ I need to talk to 10 people at the show , and if I talk to 10 people , I ’ ll get two new clients ,’ that ’ s 20 % conversion rate .
Therefore , because the number of hours that you ’ re at an exhibition is finite , the most important metric is the number of meaningful conversations that we have . This is because 30 % of the average show ’ s
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