Have you attended more tradeshows than you can remember? Have you spent more than 25% of your marketing budget on tradeshow sponsorships? Have you been bullied, blackmailed or bribed into supporting the sponsorship of a tradeshow by a sales rep or executive even though you felt it would be a complete waste of time, resources and budget? If you answered yes to any of these questions then you may be suffering from tradeshowitis.
Tradeshowitis can be the bane of every marketing professional looking to migrate to a stronger inbound strategy. According to Wikipedia a tradeshow (or trade fair) is…
“an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products, service, study activities of rivals and examine recent market trends and opportunities.”
There was a time when tradeshows were the only way to get everything you needed to better know the latest on landscape, players and innovations of a particular industry vertical. Thanks to the internet and advances in webcasting technologies, this is no longer the case. Nowadays, you can actually gain access to more information, experts and timely information in real-time then any physical event could offer. Unfortunately, the perennial cry from sales seems to always be…
“We have to sponsor <insert tradeshow name here> because everyone of our competitors are exhibiting and we will be missed if we aren’t there!”
Usually I would suggest running away from every request to sponsor a tradeshow, however, there are times when tradeshow sponsorships do make sense:
- Launching a new company or product
- Looking to attract technology or reseller partnerships
- Looking to attract strategic investment
- Hunting for potential acquisition targets
- Fostering the possibility for a liquidity event (public offering or potential acquisition)
Bottom line is that you should choose your tradeshows very carefully. Know upfront why you are sponsoring this event, what you intend to accomplish, and how you will measure success.
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