The ROI Tool Kit can be used for both pre-show planning as well as post show assessment.  The focus of today’s blog post is on the post show feature, an ROI assessment of your last show.

To obtain your access to the ROI  Tool Kit, please go here.  You will need to sign up as a member to utilize it.

There will be 14 questions you will need to answer so that the powerful analytic can do its job and produce the ROI on your show.  Some of the questions are simple, like the name and dates of the show.  And there are a couple of questions you will need to contact the show organizer and gather that data, like the net attendance figures.

Below are graphics from the Tool Kit which shows the information that must be gather for it to function correctly.  This is a sample piece.  Skip Cox of Exhibit Surveys formulated this example around Linux World.

The 14 questions in the first graphic produce the results in this second graphic.  And in this example, the results are wonderful.  Wouldn’t the boss like to see results like this from the money invested at a show?

On this site, under the Resources Tab (above) you can listen to 2 webinars I conducted with Skip Cox on the Tool Kit.  These webinars cover both aspects of this Tool (pre-show and post show).  The total time on the webinars is about an hour and a half.

Now if you are under a time crunch and need help producing an ROI assessment using the Tool Kit, I have a new service which might be of interest.   Click on the tab above, ROI Analysis.

Let me know if I can be of any assistance during this process.  Contact me at joycemckee (at) letstalktradeshows (dot) com.  In a future post,I would like to highlight the results you have achieved.

This article is brought to us by  Ian K. Sequeira. He is the Executive Vice President for Exhibit Surveys.

It’s the perfect storm: the premier Convention in your industry lands squarely in the midst of a major recession.

Marcomm budget constraints, often the first on the block, are looming or have already landed. And this exhibition, which likely represents a significant marketing investment, now requires a go or no-go decision.

Here’s why you should exhibit at this show.

For most markets, the value and effectiveness of exhibitions remain constant during recessions.

This Industry should be no different.

Exhibitions showcase specific productivity and cost solutions, and offer the person-to-person contact and hands-on demonstrations so important to products that require substantial investment.

There is no denying that attendance has dropped at shows across the board (and this show will be no exception), but audience quality remains strong.

Exhibit Surveys has studied and tracked the effectiveness and value of exhibition marketing during recessionary periods since 1968, a span that includes five significant recessions.

In every instance, the key metrics that quantify exhibition value and effectiveness have stayed at, and in some cases exceeded, non-recession performance levels.

Exhibition performance metrics remain strong into the current recession.

The 2007 recession emerged in December and impacted all of  2008, with the crash of the housing bubble and the meltdown of credit. Nonetheless, current performance levels for exhibitions remain, once again, relatively unaffected. The following table compares the strong-economy years of 2006 and 2007 with the recession year of 2008.

• Total buying plans (% of attendees planning to buy one or more products as a result of the exhibition)
• Net buying influences (% of attendees who have the final say, specify or recommend the purchase of one or more major types of products exhibited)
• Final say (% of the buying audience who have the final authority to both specify and recommend actual purchase products and services)
• Average hours (attendee time spent visiting exhibits, over all industry and event spectrums)
• Total exposure (the percentage of your target audience attracted to your exhibit, and having an interest in your products)
• Attendee value (% of attendees who rate an exhibition as excellent or very good in value based on their investment in cost and time expended to attend)

Industry-wide, “Total Buying Plans”, although down from their peak in 2007, still remain at strong 2006 levels.  This is one metric that will go down in 2009 as companies defer their capital expenses, and once again this industry is no exception.

Remarkably, “Attendee Value” of exhibitions in 2008 edges out the 2007 record level and is markedly improved from the strong 2006.

Most important here is that the reported value of exhibitions experienced by attendees continues to rise during this recession, possibly in part from the winnowing of lower priority visitors by companies sending attending teams. Exhibitor Value perceptions follow suit - a quality, motivated attendance usually produces satisfied exhibitors.

The cost of being a no-show

By not exhibiting, a company often can face negative consequences and a compromised post-recession sales picture.  It’s far better to smartly downsize if budgets are limited, than to not be there; good pre-show marketing and pre-show lead generation programs can make even a downsized booth very productive.

Your absence, however, at your industry’s key event can lead to:

• Loss of momentum in branding, positioning, and messaging.
• A lapse of visibility can send its own message. The implications and suppositions as to why your company is absent may emerge as a negative undercurrent to potential customers.
• Missing a vital opportunity for personal contact to maintain your current customer base during a critical time.

For most markets, recessions are transitory, and represent their own unique exhibition opportunities.

By maintaining your market presence at this show, however, the inverse set of results applies.  Your branding continues its momentum; your exhibit alerts the market to your financial strength and your staff connects face to face with customers and prospects.

Also, consider your situation, post-recession. Studies conducted during the 80s and 90s, affirm that companies that exhibit through recessions tend to come out on the other side with stronger positioning and increased market share.

Nothing replaces the value your company receives from this exhibition..  Only at an exhibition will you benefit from the face-to-face, highly personalized exchange with customers and prospects, inside your booth, demonstrating your latest product and/or service.  There is also the immediacy factor - meeting new prospects you haven’t been able to reach and who will be there to cultivate, post-recession.  Finally, you have an ongoing presence to your market, when some of your competitors may be absent.

There will be a new feature on this site - a Page dedicated to exploring the use of Twitter at trade shows and exhibitions.  It is my intent to show best practices of this evolving communication tool.

There will be a “swipe file” of great Tweets, so we can learn from one another.  And I will be interviewing exhibitors and others to highlight their success and suggestions on how the tool was used for traffic and press opportunities.

Yesterday I saw a Tweet that I believe is important to pass on to you.

New to Twitter? Here is a tip; answer “what is important to me” instead of “what am I doing”

Jeremiah Owyang ( who is a researcher st Forrester)

Stay tune - some great things are happening!!

Over the  years I have conducted countless focus groups where questions were posed and answers, insights were given.  I like the catalytic nature of focus groups - new ideas and tactics are born from the conversations.

Recently a client approached me to conduct some focus groups for a new product concept.  He is looking to the next generation of his product and is wise enough to know he needs to obtain relevant feedback from customers and prospects before he develops it.  This will save him significant money by being in tune with the needs of his customer base.

Rather than conduct the traditional focus groups where we have the participants in the same room, camera going and the client behind the glass mirror, we are doing online focus groups.  We still recruit participants but rather than a hour hour session, these are conducted over a three day period.  The participants still spend an hour or so over the three days.  They log in once or twice a day and answer our questions and comment on other participants comments.

I had never done these before, so I  elicited the help of a master researcher, Mike Courtney of Aperio Insights.  This is old hat for him - he has been doing these for years!

We now have completed 6 online groups for my client and I can say this type of research is very powerful.  We have reached some conclusions based on this qualitative research approach and now will need to follow it up with quantitative research.

One feature of conducting the research over a three day period is you get to ponder what they participants are saying and ask further probing questions the next day.

So often once the traditional focus group is over and you are leaving the facility a great question comes to mind you should have asked.  This new model solves that problem.  And I am so grateful to have this new tool in my research arsenal.

I just wanted to share this technique with my readers.  My client is “thrilled” with the results.  It is giving him the direction he wants.

Now my question to you - are you tracking the heart beat of your customers and prospects?  This year tremendous change has occurred, do you really know what is taking place on that front?  Of course I would love to help you.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me  joycemckee (at) letstalktradeshows.com

It seems the current theme of this blog is centered around Twitter.  In my learning curve, I am curious how this new technology is impacting the communications stream among attendees and exhibitors.

Earlier in May I asked my network about how they were using Twitter at trade shows.  One of the responses was from Warren Whitlock.  If you do not know him please look him up at www.warrenwhitlock.com.   He is an expert on Twitter as well as book publishing.

Let me pass along what Warren shared with me:

“One big reason I started using Twitter was to make more connections at trade shows.  I knew that the fastest way to network was to meet people that I knew at the show.

By searching for the hashtags (unique ID words related to the event, usually starting with # sign) on the event the week before it starts, I am able to see who the real leaders are.

I follow many of the attendees and all of the speakers (Twitter links are on speaker bio pages and/or their blogs). Often I meet several of the speakers before the event starts, and make appointment to meet up with attendees that are active in the community. I also check to see if the is a “Tweet Up” (meeting of those who have connected on Twitter) and add that to my schedule.

I’ve found that the best opportunities at most shows happen in this network. Once these tweeps (Twitter users) decide to RT (”ReTweet: A Twitter post that gets repeated) I know that a large active group will be aware of whatever I’m promoting.

Two more tips to get traffic to your booth:

1) Give aways for Twitter users. I often tweet “I’ve got a copy of Twitter Revolution for the next person who finds me.”  It works for @The RealShaq with NBA tickets and it will work for you.

2) Get your staff tweeting. This is not a media to advertise on.. this is a way to network. Get everyone involved. Your customers expect INDIVIDUALS to be available.

From Warren Whitlock, co-author of “Twitter Revolution: How Social Media and Mobile Marketing is Changing the Way We Do Business & Market Online”
http://TwitterHandbook.com

Thanks Warren for sharing your wisdom with us!!

The deeper I get into Social Media world, the relevancy of this tool Twitter and what it can  achieve must be explored by those who are trade show exhibitors and show organizers.  I am attending the Inbound Marketing Summit hosted by New Media Labs.  They are providing great education on Social Media and what can be experienced today if used properly.

Yesterday when Chris Brogan was on stage and giving the opening remarks, the first thing he did was to make sure the audience knew where the location via the hash tag on Twitter was so we could monitor the conversation.  And the location is ims09.  The conversation was continuous throughout the day and into the night.  I missed the party but could keep up on activities via Twitter.

During the lunch break, I had  a chance to grab Chris and ask him a question - what should exhibitors do with Twitter at a show.  It is only a minute or so, but please listen to his words of wisdom.

He shared that he will be at IAEE’s EXPO EXPO in Atlanta with Rick Calvert.  I want to find out more about their presentation - I am sure it will be one not to miss.  Speaking of Rick Calvert, Nora Johnson from Experient shared this with me via my LinkedIn.

Last month, Rick Calvert, CEO and Co-founder of BlogWorld and New Media Expo, spoke at a local industry educational program. He shared the concept of placing flat screens around the convention space so that people could follow the Tweets for that particular event (via a designated tag).

Among the many benefits realized were building community and spreading positive word-of-mouth to those at the show, and more importantly, to those who may not be at the show. People could see that individuals were using Twitter to broadcast where they were - inviting others to join them - and also to share their thoughts around the content and value of the show. In one sense, every speaker, vendor and exhibitor also had to keep the bar raised, as anyone - at any time - could Tweet about their experience or impression.

In general, the running Tweets supported an active, relevant and credible convention where people networked with one another and truly found value.

Need to leave for day 2 of the Inbound Marketing Summit.  I am looking for more tidbits of wisdom and insights on how to use Social Media.  Nothing can replace face-to-face meetings, but Twitter along with face-to-face can be a dynamic duo.