Trade shows dieing a Slow Death – the future of Social Media
I have been watching the trends closely for 10 years and this is what I think: trade shows are in decline: there is less and less attendance, and more and more competition from online competitors: according to this article from Chicagobusiness.com:
“…conventions and trade shows are sustaining double-digit declines in attendance this year, squeezing local hotels, restaurants and other businesses that cater to conventioneers.
With the recession forcing them to cut costs, companies are sending fewer employees to meetings at the South Side convention center or not showing up at all. The impact is rippling through the local economy, which has lost 17,900 hospitality-related jobs in the past year, a 5.2% drop, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security…”
According to this article about the decline of large automated exhibitions:
“Large, central automation exhibitions used to be major events a couple of decades ago, attracting hundreds of thousands of attendees from all over the world. Today exhibitions are steadily declining because there are more effective ways to disseminate information and provide opportunities for customer and supplier networking.”
“..alas, those days have gone. Attendance at all the large automation exhibitions has declined to a fraction of former times. Attendance at the annual ISA exhibition has declined to about 15,000. The vendor to end-user ratio which used to be as much as 10 to 1 is more like 2:1 today and sometimes less (my estimates). Traffic is sparse, with forlorn exhibitors spending their time reviewing each others products and bemoaning hard times. To offset distance/travel problems, ISA came up with a solution – to have smaller, “local” shows. But this hasn’t worked – and the attendance at those is sparser.”
I agree with Jim Pinto in the above article he wrote for Automation.com, there is a mega trend away from large physical trade shows.
This is saddening to me, as I love trade shows, I love the energy, and it once was a viable way to sell products and services to, for instance, real estate executives.
However, realistically, the trend will continue; and those of us who once got most of our business from these shows must rethink our marketing plans.
Fortunately for me, I have always put all the business cars through a card scanner, and added them to my triple-opt-in newsletter, the Rothman letter:
Although it is not nearly as much fun as the trade shows that no longer cash-flow (as far as I know, I have not been to one for a while); I have been able to replace my income from the trade shows by sending out a newsletter at least quarterly and often monthly.
Opt-in-email marketing is very effective, especially when you have over 9000 prospects that you have met in person opting-in to read whatever you send, and it is much less expensive than a trade show: even if you must still attend the shows, building this list as I have from the attendees is a great way to leverage the investment and make it pay all year long.
A word of caution, though: the stuff you send out must be useful and i do not recommend touching basis more that once per month.
Now that I can reach literally thousands of people on linked-in, Activerain, and Realtown groups ( to name a few of many), I can sell right from here, but it is not nearly as much fun in my opinion.
All of business becomes more exact and competitive all the time, making it more important that ever that you have:
- Good branding
- Good Graphics
- A clear knowledge of who your prospects are and where to find them
- A follow up system to maximize results
- Opt-in (permission based) marketing is the way to go
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I think every industry was hurt in the midst of the recession in 2009, but I have only seen an increase in a need for trade shows. Being a trade show display supplier, our business has only grown. However, most companies have tighter budgets and are spending less on trade shows. I think many businesses will continue to cut costs, but most will also see how important trade shows can be to the success of their business (meeting potential customers and networking with other professionals).
Actually, I agree with all that, but I also think there is a continuing trend toward virtual commuting, and video conferencing technology has mad it possible.
Trade shows have always been a little spammed and often overpriced, where online connection are almost free. as the technology gap closes, so will the need to in person trade shows.
On another note, Kristen, think about how you found me and why you commented here, and you will understand this:
Your website is not optimized well. Call me for a free initial consultation you will not forget – you can plan now to be in the right place at the right time for the changes that are occurring in the market that you serve.
There has been a steep decline in all aspects of Trade Show Marketing. We all need to accept it!