Nth Degree Trade Show and Event Marketing Blog

INTRODUCTION:

Exhibiting in a trade show or planning an event is an investment, and understanding what goes into it from a financial standpoint is crucial to managing your expectations and proving your ROI. According to CEIR’s report, The Marketing Spend Decision, the average spend per exhibition in 2014 was $20,000.

But where does that $20,000 go? How the Exhibit Dollar is Spent, a study on trade show exhibit spend also conducted by CEIR, defines the percentage breakdown of average exhibitor spending by expense category based on survey responses from 641 business-to-business exhibitors. See our trade show exhibit spend infographic below derived from this study to understand how the average trade show budget is spent.

If you’ve never planned a trade show exhibiting budget before or would like to refresh your process, we can help. Just click below to receive our exhibitor toolkit. It includes a trade show exhibit budgeting worksheet and other tools to help you further analyze your investment at your next trade show and truly understand its value including built-in formulas for your exhibit costs in terms of square feet and the cost per lead. Yes, your finance department may ask for this level of detail, so why not beat them to it and exercise your left-brain! This packet will help you make informed trade show budgeting decisions and run your trade show department like a boss.

It’s important to remember that the length of your sales cycle, your goals for exhibiting, how you rank leads and your sales team’s ability to follow-up on the qualified leads all affect the outcome of your investment in a trade show or event. And everything from your pre-show promotions to your trade show booth design are all pieces of the puzzle you have to consider. We’ve been helping trade show exhibitors for over 35 years, so feel free to post your questions here and we will try and answer them for you.