Time to assess the value of trade shows

When off budget costs are factored in, then trade shows are easily one of the top expense items on the marketing budget.

Just like display advertising many SMEs continue to support their industry trade shows even though for most they don't generate anywhere like the enquiries a web site does. Most exhibitions are expensive enough anyway given the 'arms race' mentality to out do (out spend) competitors. How often does the MD complain the sign is not big enough, so stands get topped out by giant banners or have them expensively 'flown' in from the roof so he can spot the stand location the moment he enters the exhibition hall. So apart from space costs, stand design and construction, electrical power, furnishings, free gifts, entry in the show catalogue and trucking which should merit lines in the marketing budget what about those costs charged elsewhere. Travel, hotels and entertaining can lump in a whole lot more, not to mention expenses where there is not much change out of a tenner for a daily styrene cup of coffee and a sandwich in a triangular plastic box. Then what about the products on display, they will probably be signed to a demonstration stock account somewhere and of course if there are over- lapping shows then you need twice as much stock, another stand, more staff. There is the more difficult-to-assess 'opportunity' cost of lost time from stand staff being away from their regular work, quite often actually booking orders from real customers who stayed in the office. Then there are all the incidentals to pay off from photographers to florists, union electricians and stocking up the hospitality bar of course. With so many companies needing to address a global market most industries can feel the need to exhibit at multiple shows around the world and many countries may helpfully offer more than one show. It is easy to see why exhibitions are both a big call on marketing budgets but also on time for planning, attending and breaking down shows.

So who goes? Well most trade show organisers will claim 'record numbers' but reality suggests that the share of the total population of the market sector is relatively small and many busy specifiers - busy because they have a lot of work on - can ill afford the time to attend. Exhibitors meanwhile have developed a club mentality thanks to plenty of opportunity for socialising in exhibitor lounges with the same people they meet in London, Las Vegas, Berlin, Dubai and the rest and are loathe to pull out for fear of negative perceptions and anyway quite like all the global travel. The big questions are how much does a lead from an exhibition actually cost and are there clear and measurable marketing objectives set for each show?

Thinking about b-2-b display advertising

For many companies operating in industrial, technical and scientific sectors display advertising in trade journals has been a popular marketing technique for decades. But is it still valid?

It is not uncommon for display advertising to be the biggest single item in the marketing mix because to run a campaign costs a lot of money. First there is the expense of design. To create a successful advertisement calls for more than putting a few words and nice pictures together – a good ad. needs a concept. The concept is what a creative director comes up with to ‘sell’ the product. It may also need original and creative photography, a snappy headline and succinct, to-the-point body copy. It is the originality and creativity that a good advertising agency brings that produces a successful advertisement and of course this doesn’t come cheap. Many companies have long since moved to graphic design agencies who lack the insight and perception of an advertising agency and simply churn out some artwork, albeit for a more modest fee. Then there is developing a media plan, negotiating and booking space rates, supplying artwork copy and of course handling payment of invoices. Not to mention fielding telephone calls from space salesmen. Unfortunately many companies who save money on creating the ad in the first place fail to produce a compelling proposition that will get noticed or a ‘call to action’ to generate response.

Even a modest campaign in the trade press will cost thousands that could buy a lot of other marketing. Many b-2-b companies spend tens of thousands on display advertising that is why it is such a high ticket item absorbing a big share of the marketing budget. At one time journals supplied sales leads from advertising generated enquiries, now I suspect few companies attempt any serious measure of response. Most seem content to carry on doing the same thing they have always done as a great and probably misplaced act of faith. At the very least display ads should provide a great call to action that is measurable, such as promoting a landing page specific to the advertisement or requesting specific information such as a white paper or guide.

Why not drop a couple of ads from the schedule and use that budget for trials of other forms of advertising such as Adwords and compare response. Oddly enough the same people who stick with display advertising expect better analysis from other, newer communications but quite like seeing their own ads published anyway. On the other hand one client mentioned they had discontinued subscriptions to all trade publications except one, as a cost cutting measure. What if a significant percentage of their target audience has done the same thing? And finally how often do people reach for a directory to search for a supplier? Exactly – so why advertise in directories that at best sit on a book-shelf when the first place to search is the Internet?

In summary it is time to totally overhaul the display advertising campaign. What is the display ad for and is it working? Is response being measured? Can online media deliver better results?

The marketing mix - should it change?

Successful b-2-b marketing uses a combination of marketing techniques that working together produce results. But do companies have the right mix? Are they bringing new online methods into the mix? Are they clinging on to old methods that no longer make an impact? In the next few blogs we will examine what methods companies are using, or could use and ask some challenging questions to evaluate present day suitability.

Because there are a growing number of marketing techniques that could be deployed, it does not mean they must all be used. The marketing mix is not a checklist that has to be completed. It is the skilful use of the right combination of techniques that are right for an individual company.

With marketing budgets under pressure our experience suggests that rather than re-think the whole budget most companies apply a percentage cut across the board and continue to allocate resource in the same mix as before. Many marketing communications budgets still have the same two high ticket items at the top of the list – ‘display advertising’ and ‘exhibitions’ – but are light on new online methods. Much evidence suggests that display advertising is in decline in the b-2-b sector. Consider the trends in the industrial media for example – card rates are heavily discounted, editorial pages are shrinking and filled with paid for advertorial from press releases, while publication intervals are increasing. Fortnightly publications are moving to monthly, monthly publications are producing amalgamated January/February issues and so on throughout the year. Meanwhile surveys suggest that fewer people look to magazines for information and recommendation or even read magazines, but turn to the Internet instead. This is reflected in sales lead analysis where few enquiries are attributed to publications as a source. Despite this, display advertising typically remains the top budget item.

Exhibitions might actually cost even more if the ‘off budget items’ were included - travel costs, hotels, entertaining, opportunity cost of staff away from their regular duties. Despite the claims of exhibition promoters, customers and prospects find it increasingly difficult to justify the time away from the office when they can discover all the information they need on the Internet and if they need a product demonstration then the exhibition environment is distracting at the best. But exhibitors have evolved a ‘club’ mentality as they migrate around the country and world, seeing the same familiar faces of people that are actually their competitors not prospects. Exhibitor lounges contribute to the club mentality and re-enforce the concern that dropping out of a trade show leaves the field open to competitors to benefit. Again sales lead analysis for exhibition-generated enquiries is at best disappointing.

Because the traditional promotional methods take up so much of the marketing budget it is difficult for new opportunities to get a look in. The next few blogs will put some of the sacred cows of marketing communication up for examination.

The changing role of data sheets

Product Data Sheets should provide factual product information, stripped of the excesses or over enthusiastic claims that sales brochures and advertising use to generate interest, excitement and aspirations to want the product. Their role tends to come into play once the specifier, customer or installer is already pre-disposed to recommend, buy or install the product. But if the technical and practical information contained fails to match the expectation raised by the promotional information that led to considering the product in the first place, then they can just as easily kill the sale.

For many companies Product Data Sheets now only exist as PDFs that visitors download from the company web site. So increasingly consumers of this information may have completely by-passed the type of material that promotes the product benefits, differentiates it from competitive offers and instead cuts straight to the details. In short the downloaded PDF may become a 'stand alone' item that together with the reputation of the company is instrumental in influencing the purchase decision.

Rather than lump all the Data Sheets together in a "Download Zone' it is helpful to provide some guidance to web site visitors to narrow the options down to a short list of products that will meet their specific needs. At one time this was done by using indexed ring-back folders for the company suite of data sheets, so users could use the filing tags to get to the appropriate section. Within this would be a range of data sheets for products suitable for that application or need, arranged in some logical order - say from a simple entry level product right through a range of product options to the top of the range, total capability version.

It is also helpful to provide a consistency in layout and scope of content to make it easy for users to make comparisons and know where to look for particular pieces of data between data sheets.

Finally, remember to brand the data sheet so that once downloaded from the web site viewers still know which company is actually marketing the product and of course ensure that it includes all the necessary contact information so that the sale can actually be closed.

Have marketers lost control of the message?

Controlling the message and protecting the brand has long been of paramount importance to marketers. But with the phenomenal rise of social media messaging it is being suggested that marketers have now lost control of the message and it is in the hands, or perhaps more accurately fingers and thumbs, of tweeters, bloggers and facebookers.

Some years back talking to the editor of the leading journal in the market served by a recently acquired client who had advertised in that publication for years, I was surprised at the question. "Of course I am very familiar with the brand, but tell me what does your client do?" Of course we addressed this to ensure that all marketing communications associated the brand name with a message or messages that positioned and differentiated the brand. Now it is being said that control and authority for communicating messages about your product is being handed to users. I have always suspected that most contributors to Trip Advisor who give negative reviews have had a poor experience and the web site offers a platform to express that dissatisfaction. Others enthuse extravagantly - in short the middle ground of people who were merely satisfied and found the experience OK seem less motivated to write a review. Many suppliers are now routinely inviting reviews of products, but can still retain control over what appears on their site as customer endorsements.

Social media detaches comment about the company from that control and they may not even see what people are telling each other about their products, so decide to join the conversation and at least be able to respond. One surprising statistic I have seen recently claims 75% of b-2-b brands Twitter compared to just 49% b-2-c brands. Our b-2-b clients range from enthusiasts to join this great new 'conversation' to those steadfastly clinging to the dated notion of guarding every scrap of product information they can reasonably hang on to. But for the adopters there is not much comment, more people busily promoting their own messages with the client's facebook a convenient medium to publish them.

What does seem to be emerging is the importance of using a mixture of channels to communicate the customers and prospects and social media is something else to add to the list.