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Never judge a book by its cover
Throughout the year I attend many UK and international trade shows in the printing sector and beyond. As always, from an exhibitor's perspective, the question is how to measure their value. In today's increasingly complex marketing world, footfall alone is no longer a sufficient measure. The same can be said about magazine circulation numbers and page counts.
The secret is plucking genuine sales opportunities from the mass of marketing suspects with greatest efficiency. Naturally, numbers are important but so is quality. I hate the thought of genuine customers failing to reach suppliers' exhibition stands due to hoards of tyre-kickers. Likewise, a minimum number of visitors is required to push sufficient customers into the sales funnel.
There is no silver bullet but exhibitors and advertisers do have access to some useful tools, starting with audited exhibition visitor figures and magazine circulation numbers. Using this data it is possible to visualise the opening diameter of the sales funnel. Next come visitor and reader profiles, indicating what proportion of the initial figure is likely to appreciate your offering. Finally comes timing, the value of your offer, and luck. The result is a steady drip of sales.
Stir this all together and you soon realise why the UK is blessed with some 14,000 easily identified, advertising funded, magazines and newspapers. The same applies to thousands of exhibitions. Enjoy the read and I look forward to seeing you at the next show.
Jon Barrett
Editor
