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Research Center >> JoA

B2B Pundits Paint Rosy Picture for Tradeshows in 2008
Latest surveys point to growth in small events and executive seminars.
from AICPA Custom Media Solutions

You’d think that the recent plunge on Wall Street and the ever-growing popularity of the term “recession” amongst our midst, might slow spending and attendance in the trade show world. Not so, according to a slew of recent surveys of top B2B decision-makers and marketers.

BtoB Magazine’s latest survey, 2008 Marketing Plans and Priorities, of nearly 370 marketers found almost of half the respondents were increasing their budgets where executive seminars and events were concerned. Even though one out of four (27%) said they would increase their spending on trade shows, the new trend is leaning towards smaller events such as association shows, executive breakfasts and seminars. Says Laura Ramos, VP at Forrester Research, in B2B Magazine, “they told us one-to-one contact is still very important in the negotiated sales process that [is going on] in the b-to-b marketing and selling.”

This trend toward vertical rather than horizontal focus was also noticeable in the recent survey by MarketingProfs and Forrester Research who surveyed nearly 500 marketing directors and business decision-makers (BDMs). According to the MarketingProfs Insight survey, respondents use a wide variety of marketing tactics to accomplish their objectives. They tend to employ e-mail more often than any other tactic (84%), followed by PR (76%) and Tradeshows (72%). Aside from e-mail, search marketing (61%) and Webinars (52%) are the only other digital tactics that are used more than half the time. The survey also found, on average, among those who report using each tactic, tradeshows represent the biggest share of the marketing budget at 20 percent. The smallest outlays are dedicated to online video and blogs, both coming in at five percent.

Base = varies by tactic

(Source: MarketingProfs Research Insight)

And for those who still wonder why trade shows continue to be of importance, here's some more food for thought.

"Given my focus on innovation, I can offer four compelling forces that I think will impact the design and implementation of technology in the tradeshow world in 2008,” said Stephen Nold, President of Advon Technologies, a supplier to the event industry, as reported in WebMarketingIQ.

  1. More Money. The last three to four years have been good years for the Meetings industry. Many associations and show producers are flush with cash. Positive balance sheets are yielding increased investment in innovation. Despite predictions for an economic downturn in 2008, many meeting planners and show organizers will spend in the first quarter of 2008.
     
  2. Evolution of professional/business practices. True to many developing industries, the meetings profession is gaining more experts who bring know-how from the corporate world. The adoption of new best practices and the willingness to create knowledge resources will evolve industry benchmarks.
     
  3. More “outside the box” events. The Technology Entertainment Design (TED) conference is an annual event that brings together the some of the world 's most fascinating thinkers and doers who believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. It is an excellent example of a show outside of the traditional show format that is impacting the world in which we operate and is challenging the standards for event audiences.
     
  4. Web 2.0. Greatly over-hyped and much misunderstood, the greatest challenge with web 2.0 for show management is to NOT follow the herd and implement Web 2.0 technology tools just for technology 's sake."

So you’re either with the program or you’re not. Choice is yours!