Measurement Tip 5

Customer and Prospect Feedback May Be Most Important to Your Marketing Events

Although ROI and efficiency measurements are important, customer feedback on the value and effectiveness of your events may be the most valuable information you can get.

Events are communication and engagement tools with the goal of gaining specific, desirable behavior from participants. This behavior only occurs if participants are persuaded and motivated to act. To know how well your event marketing program accomplishes these goals and how you might change future events to be more effective requires insight through the eyes of your customer.

As a reminder, there are three critical success factors for a marketing event:

1) You must attract enough of the right people to participate in your program, i.e. those who can act in a beneficial manner
2) You must give participants information and an experience that is persuasive and conclusive
3) You must gain their commitment to act in a manner that benefits your company and accomplishes your goals.

Therefore, the following categories of information are essential for understanding how well your program performs on these critical accomplishments:

• Who are they (demographics of your visitor base as compared to the event base)?
• Why did the participants come?
• What did they learn as a result of visiting your exhibit or event (…if anything, and
what was most valuable to their future plans)?
• What do participants plan to do as a result of their visit (specifically will they take the
steps you have specified necessary to achieve results)?

There are several ways to collect this information. There are advantages and disadvantages for each method. In some cases, a mix of research techniques provides the best results.

On-site survey techniques, such as random visitor intercept surveys, allow for participant profiling, immediate feedback on the visitor's experience and prediction of post event behavior, such as purchase intent. On-site research provides actionable information regarding how well your exhibit is organized, how to arrange and manage customer flow and the effectiveness of your message hierarchy. Visitor tracking within your exhibit or event is also possible through a number of technologies.

Post- event survey techniques can provide validation of customer behavior. Did the visitor receive a follow-up or progress through the next steps of your program? What specifically did they do? What did they buy and from whom? Was their exhibit or event visit a factor in their buying decision, etc? Post-event surveys are also good for testing your event's impact on brand awareness and retention of specific product marketing messages.

On a grander scale, you can reach out to your entire leads universe quarterly or annually to validate the effectiveness of follow-up by your company and to create a projection of actual purchasing results including an estimated amount of sales. You can perform statistical analysis on your program data to see which factors most influenced customers who bought or identify those who were satisfied or dissatisfied with their experience with your company.

ROI and efficiency measures are important, however making the right changes in future events is much easier when you have good customer feedback. Decide which survey techniques will work best to validate and improve your results in the business development and communication objectives for associated with your program.

Increasing Quality of Leads and Eventual Results at Trade Shows and Events

The following was my response to the question, "What's everyone doing about the POOR lead follow-up problem. Industry statistics indicate that LESS than 20% of leads ever get followed-up. Are YOU in that ball park?" in the Trade Show Help forum on LinkedIn:

This is an important topic! One way to increase quality of leads and eventual results (including the follow-up ratio) is to get participants to commit to a specific "next step" (best defined by sales). Too often, there is no "next step" defined and correspondingly there is no commitment by anyone for a specific follow- up.

An effective next step can be either human contact or automated interaction that moves the participant closer to a sale. For example, consider a qualified visitor at a construction show who completes a "test drive" in a heavy equipment simulator. That experience must ultimately result in a visit to a dealer, as they are the only ones who can actually sell equipment. The immediate "next step" however may be to get the prospect to sign up for the associated "concierge program" for test drive participants. This package (web based) steers the prospect to the dealer with motivating benefits in hand such as a discount, preferred financing and/or free optional equipment, etc. Getting the prospect to enter the program is the next step at the event. Tracking "goal conversions" identified with each step the prospect takes once enrolled provides the results tracking.

Whatever the next step for your business or product is should be a step in your sales cycle. Visitors who are signed up for the next step are much more certain to receive follow-up.

This is one example among many. What I have found is the concept of commitment (agreement) is central to the certainty of follow-up.

What are you thoughts on ways to improve lead quality and ensure effective follow-up? Email me edjones@constellaitoncc.com me if you would like to discuss.


Ed Jones

Measurement Tip #4

Trade Shows can be about more than leads and sales. Cost savings tactics such as negotiating with new suppliers, reducing travel, recruitment and generating press all lower the cost of doing business for your company. Reducing cost makes a dollar for dollar impact on profitability. Measure and report the savings as an element of event ROI.

Most events offer many ways to save your company money. Events present “one-on-many” opportunities that are especially effective in reducing sales call costs and travel expense to hold meetings in the future. The reason is hundreds, if not thousands of people who can influence the amount or cost of doing business for your company have paid their own way to be at the event and are available to meet with you. These people include existing customers, potential buyers, suppliers, partners, channels, influencers and many others.

One of our clients hosted over 1,000 meetings that included their own executives and sales teams with customers, channel partners, strategic alliances, technical experts, standards body members, investors and industry press and analysts at their largest trade show. Each meeting they held resulted in the elimination of future time and travel expense to hold that same meeting at the company’s expense in the future. This client was able to report a savings estimate of more than $1,000,000, representing enough return to justify the entire show budget without any estimate of eventual sales impact.

Reducing the number of required field sales contacts and associated cost presents another opportunity for savings. A well-executed event plan accomplishes the same objectives with targeted prospects that would occur in the first few field sales calls. A well-executed program may eliminate up to two or more sales calls in the field required to close a sale. Typically, these calls cost a company from $400 to $1,000 or more dollars each.

There are more ways to impact the cost of doing business that can be listed here. For example, many clients use marketing events as recruitment opportunities thereby reducing the cost of finding suitable candidates and bringing candidates to HQ for an interview. This is also true for supplier and channel recruitment.

The activities at your next event should be aimed not only at the income side of the profit equation, but the cost side as well. Of course to make these benefits happen requires that you initiate a dialogue with those internal managers who can take advantage of the opportunity your event provides. They can also help you estimate the value associated with doing multiple things at an event instead of doing them one at a time.

Reporting these results in your event measurement report will add credibility and financial justification for your investment beyond the primary goal of increasing sales.

Measurement Tip #3

To determine marketing success, you should identify and report these exhibit metrics: 1) who visited, 2) why they came, 3) what they learned and 4) what your visitors plan to do as a result of their visit.

Although many think of an exhibition as a place to put a number of products and services on display to a large number of people, the real value comes from making contact with individuals who are qualified to do business with your company. These people may be prospects, customers, suppliers or other participants in the profit equation of your business. Therefore, in order to identify and justify the value of an event marketing activity, it is essential to know and report who visited your venue and what outcomes are expected as a result of their experience. Marketing exists to create sales opportunities and to increase the probability of sale. In order to create sales opportunities, your program must target specific individuals and persuade them to act in a manner that benefits your company.

To understand the effectiveness of your marketing program it is important to know why participants came to visit and what they learned during their stay. This informs you regarding the effectiveness of your targeting and attraction campaigns and identifies the elements of the event experience that were most successful and likely to influence a visitor’s decision to act on your behalf.

The answers to the four questions listed above can be determined in a variety of ways. A common practice is to conduct live, post-visit intercept surveys. They help you understand how well you connected with your target audience. Intercept surveys provide accurate demographic profiling of visitors to your exhibit or event. This includes targeting criteria such as industry affiliation, company type, company size, individual responsibility, job title, buying readiness, and purchase intent. Post-visit intercept surveys also identify what the participants learned (if anything) and most importantly what they intend to do as a result of their visit. This data can even provide a forecast of expected sales driven from the participant’s view.

More sophisticated measures are possible using post-event survey techniques that pull from the entire event audience which includes those who visited your exhibit or event as a subset. You can identify changes in purchase intent, brand preference, brand fit and Net Promoter* scores for example. These metrics help you understand a lot more about the effectiveness of your marketing activity in creating positive change in perceptions among your target markets that result in an increased probability of sale.

Another method is to utilize technologies such as localized scanning techniques that provide real-time visitor identification and tracking of their movement. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for example, can provide real-time activity reports on session attendance, time on the show floor, and in-booth activity by product interest and for post-event analysis.

Understanding what your visitors plan to do as a result of their visit is one of the most crucial elements. A qualified lead should be committed to take a pre-determined action that sales has defined as a step in the company’s sales cycle. A tight definition of a qualified lead will provide a strong metric regarding generation of sales opportunity.

There are many metrics that are important to exhibit and event managers. As far as ROI is concerned, determining who came, the persuasiveness of their experience and their intent to act provide the clearest measures of effectiveness.

*Net Promoter Score is a registered trademark of Satmetrix Systems, Inc., Bain & Company, and Fred Reichheld

Assessing and Managing The Agency Relationship Between A Supplier and Client

I am frequently asked by exhibit and event companies how they can strengthen and retain their customer relationships and reduce turnover. Even though agency relationship evaluation is not yet common in the events industry, measuring the effectiveness and strength of this relationship can lead to better results, lower costs and long term, mutually beneficial partnerships.

The relationship between a client and their event marketing agency has a lot to do with the level of results obtained as well as the ease, effectiveness and cost of obtaining them. Thus, evaluating agency relationships is common practice in the advertising and PR worlds. Applying a similar methodology to event marketing agencies provides a good basis for evaluation of the working relationship.

There are two types of variables that serve as agency evaluation metrics:

1. Performance Variables

These variables include such considerations as overall effectiveness, production, financial management, creative, etc. The client is asked to evaluate their agency on those aspects of support using a suggested rating scale. The client is also asked to provide an explanation of each variable as the basis for discussion and improvement.

2. Values Variables

Common values are essential to a good relationship. Value variables include elements such as the agency’s discipline (how strong are they in meeting deadlines, being present at meetings, etc.) and their resourcefulness (do they think strategically for example?). Another example might be shared responsibility. The client is also asked to rate the value variables on a similar scale and provide an explanation of each variable as the basis for discussion and improvement.

Once the variables have been established, it is essential to implement the agency evaluation as part of the overall event marketing measurement program. Relationship measurement should be supplemental to measurement of accomplishments and results. If results are less than satisfactory, the immediate focus should be on identifying and correcting factors that will produce better results from the next event. Sometimes immediate performance issues degrade into ad-hoc evaluation of the relationship, neither solving the immediate problem nor objectively diagnosing the relationship issues. If relationship measurement is structured and scheduled as a regular activity, for example quarterly, this tendency is reduced.

On a more advanced level, evaluations are completed by the agency as well, providing analysis of both sides of the relationship. Relationship variables with the largest rating gaps reveal the likely causes behind problems or friction among the team members. Changes are made that alleviate problems and progress is tracked by reporting improvement from period to period.

Although agency evaluation may be new to our world, it should be given strong consideration as an aid to increased customer satisfaction, lower turnover and greater job satisfaction for everyone. We are working on bringing this capability to the events industry. Please comment and let us know your thoughts or suggest elements of performance and values that apply to event marketing agency relationships.

For more information or to discuss this concept as a means to improve your Event Marketing program, please contact us at +1 (770) 391-0015 or heatherdeloach@constellationcc.com.

Measurement Tip # 2

Gather and share information that will satisfy your internal customer - Sales.

(This is the second in a series of articles for the MC2 eConnections Newsletter)

The sales team is the internal customer of the marketing function. Marketing is employed to generate sales opportunities and to increase the probability of sales. These same objectives apply to a marketing event. So, what information can you supply that will be valuable for the sales team?

Beginning with the planning phase, define for the sales team who is “addressable” at the upcoming event. The correct strategy, messaging, products and content can be determined by knowing the target audience available at a marketing event. This information is valuable in choosing which products to feature and even which sales team members will participate. You might also identify who among your existing customers are likely to attend. This information is often available from the event organizer and from your own measurement records from the last event cycle.

Second, give the sales team a forecast of how many participants are expected at your booth or event along with their demographics. Suggest that the sales team use this information to determine which demonstrations and other experiences to include. Forecast the number of expected engagements and estimate the number of committed leads that should result. From there the sales team can help you estimate the “sales opportunity” value for the event.

You should not only give information to the sales team, but you should also seek it. Ask the sales team to define the steps that an interested, targeted visitor should be asked to take. This will become your definition of a qualified lead, i.e. someone who is committed to take those steps with your company.

Finally, report the actual attendance at your event in the same way you defined the forecast. Who visited? Define your visitors by the following:

• Industry
• Company type,
• Relationship to your company (such as customer, prospect, supplier, partner, etc.)
• Company size
• Titles
• Level of decision authority individual contact information

This information comes from your scans or leads documentation and may also be supplemented by an exit survey of visitors who have completed their experience.

Of course, the golden ticket for the sales team is complete documentation of well qualified leads. Work with sales to determine how much information is really required to support an effective follow-up. Requiring too much information will clog the process and dissuade prospects from participating in documenting the lead. Too little information makes it less likely that sales will want to follow-up.

You want to confirm the specifics of the follow-up step with the visitor before you pass this information on to sales. Clarify the following:

• “Who”- As in the visitors name and organization

-Remember to get accurate contact information

• “What”-As in the nature of the follow-up expected
• “When”- What is the mutually agreeable time frame for the follow-up

Your lead system should have a place for all of these data points. By keeping this data in a common database, you can analyze and report how well your events have provided the sales team with access to qualified targets over the year.

Your personal influence will increase considerably if you are seen as a manager who can deliver a well-targeted audience at your events. A good measurement program shows you how to improve upon your accomplishments in every category. I hope you tune in each month as we expand on the knowledge and skills to justify and improve your events and elevate your status in the organization.

Please contact me if you have questions or ideas you would like to share at edjones@constellationcc.com, or call 770-391-0015.

Ed

Helping Exhibit Managers Find High Value Improvement Opportunities

The Constellation team was invited to develop a workshop on improvement in trade show and exhibit marketing programs for a meeting of the GA TSEA chapter. Our approach was to use our “self-assessment” tool with chapter members and present the results and recommendations at the meeting.

The Constellation Marketing Self-Assessment asks a series of very specific questions related to event marketing best practices. We took the opportunity to update our questionnaire to include questions facing the event marketing industry today, such as effective use of social and digital media. The areas addressed included: Target Marketing, Message Development, Exhibit/Event Effectiveness, Promotion Value and ROI Measurement and Continuous Improvement.

We sent a series of emails to chapter participants encouraging them to complete their self-assessment. Upon completion they received a print-out of their results, showing their individual areas of strength (best practices) and opportunities for improvement. Participants were encouraged to bring copies of their results to the chapter meeting for discussion.

Our team tabulated the results of the group to identify the areas of common strengths and improvement needs. The most consistently identified need was to address the disconnect between the sales and event marketing teams regarding event strategy, tactics and leads.

Once the group understood where they could improve, they wanted to know how to improve and they resolved to use their identified common needs for improvement to determine agendas for future chapter meetings. For example, the lack of effective communication between sales and marketing teams topic led to an idea for a panel comprised of sales managers and marketing managers. The panel would serve to find out how to create a synergy between sales and marketing to effectively achieve successful events and ultimately achieve organizational objectives.

Our study of membership needs was enlightening. We use this same tool to identify likely improvement needs with new clients. You can take this self -assessment of event marketing effectiveness yourself at no cost and without obligation. Just follow this link, complete the assessment and you will be able to print a list of your most valuable improvement opportunities. You might want to use these questions as the basis for internal discussions with your colleagues or management, or as the basis for a team meeting. Asking the right questions of the right people is one of the most effective research techniques an event manager or consultant can utilize.

Call us at +1 (770) 391-0015 to discuss ideas about how to get your team and management on the right path for effective trade show and event marketing.
Visit our website www.constellationcc.com for valuable case studies and tips on improving your event marketing program.

Heather Deloach
Project Coordinator
heatherdeloach@constellationcc.com

Measurement Tip # 1

Be regarded as a manager of the business as well as a manager of trade shows and events.

(This is the first in a series of articles for the MC2 eConnections Newsletter)

Your career opportunities expand rapidly if you are seen as a manager who affects the profitability of the organization and not just your own budget. The best way to do this is to relate the accomplishments you measure to the basic business profit equation.

Revenue – Expense = Profit

In fact, the following two simple concepts will be the underlying basis for this entire series of tips and articles:

1) Your success as an event marketing manager
2) Relating accomplishments to business profitability

So let’s get started. . .

Revenue related accomplishments in a marketing context are usually related to sales. Generating new sales through interactions and resulting leads with potential buyers is the most obvious. Not so obvious, is protecting and growing the revenue you already have through your existing customers. Your event plans should address both.

Expense related accomplishments in an event marketing context are virtually unlimited. Expense reductions (aka cost savings) impact profitability dollar for dollar. When you have your company CEO meet with thirty customers and prospects over three days at a major event, consider the savings to your company.

Would a trip for the CEO to meet with those same customers individually cost $10,000 or more?

If you use the media center at a big show to accomplish a major announcement or product launch, how much is saved compared to doing it independently?

When you reduce the number of sales calls from five to two for qualified visitors reached through your shows, what is the impact on sales expense?

When you develop new digital graphics, video, web pages and social media for a major show, how many times will those assets be reused in the future and for how many purposes?

The examples are endless. Expense reductions are the greatest and most varied opportunities available to you as an event marketing manager. Expense related accomplishments should be a part of every show plan.

Other measures will be discussed in this series as well. Cost efficiencies, such as Cost per Visitor, exhibit efficiencies such as Number of Visitors, communications efficiencies such as Number of Impressions, and even measures on the overall show or event such as Traffic Density.

A good measurement program will show if your events are paying off for the business and if they are being managed for optimum efficiency. Measurement will also show you how to improve your accomplishments in both categories. I hope you tune in each month as we expand on the knowledge and skills to justify and improve your events and elevate your status in the organization.

If you have any questions related to event measurement please call us at 770.391.0015

Ed

The Academics of Experiential Marketing

Here are the academics of experiential marketing for those of you who are interested. I have thirty plus years in trade show and event strategy, planning, measurement and ROI (my ethos).

Experiential marketing is highly effective communication, designed to elicit a response and a behavioral result from the receiver. It is therefore, by definition persuasive. Persuasive speech (including writing) is founded in three forms of rhetoric or persuasive proof: (this is the very condensed version and these to some degree follow one another.)

Aristotle's "On Rhetoric" described experiential marketing 2,400 years ago.
"Persuasion is clearly a sort of demonstration, since we are most fully persuaded when we consider a thing to have been demonstrated." The three components are as follows:

1) "Ethos" is an appeal based on credibility of the speaker. This is heavily intertwined with brand.

2) "Logos" is an appeal based on logic or reason. Our presentations, demonstrations, sales collateral, web content should all be driven by logic, i.e. leading the viewer to a logical conclusion(this is a study in and of itself).

3) "Pathos" is where the emotions come into play. Pathos is appeal based on emotional response. Much advertising is emotionally oriented. Admiring or wanting to be like the celebrity who wears the cool watch for example.

For our purposes here EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING is about helping the prospect come to and through the emotional decision to act, because they "feel right about it." That can come from interacting with the product, feeling good about the personal interactions with the staff or sales team, feeling lower risk due to confidence in your credibility and logic. "Trial" is the ultimate risk reducer and emotional compliment. Testimonial is a form of vicarious trial. Great design and proper mood also facilitate these transitions.

Our tools in the exhibit and events world are: (not intended to be a complete list)

• Visual Communication and Information Structure: How concepts are presented. Message hierarchy for example (another great course and topic)
• Color: Color is quite capable of influencing psychology. Contrast is important for establishing priorities.
• Sound: Music is a powerful mood changer.
• Graphics: A picture speaks a thousand words.
• Interactive Experiences: Graphics on steroids, that can be presented in a customer contextual perspective and engage the participant.
• Human Communication and Interaction: Very helpful in sealing the deal.

This topic is a very rich opportunity to use communication and experience to maximum advantage. It personally excites me. Weak messaging is one of the top inhibitors in trade show and event marketing. If you are interested in more detail, I am available to teach seminars on effective event communication. Contact me though the Constellation Communication Corporation website www.constellationcc.com

Ed Jones
Constellation Communication Corp.

Executive Availability – Key Asset for Marketing Events

The inventory of executive hours available for meetings and other duties should be regarded and managed as a key asset in an event marketing opportunity. To squander this resource is among the most costly mistakes in event management. The opportunity for positive business impact is great as is the the cost for having a top level executives participate, making the objective of having these executives fully booked at top priority.

Customer, supplier, partner and alliance development and press interaction are all valuable opportunities for executive participation. Sometimes having the right executive available to make final commitments and clarify remaining issues is all that is needed to seal a really big deal.

Having a top level executive meet with 20 or 30 customers, prospects and others in one place, over a short period of two or three days, can produce a surprising impact on cost, totaling in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. These savings provide very tangible event cost justification.

Treat your inventory of executive hours as a key event asset to be optimized.

Post-Event Follow-up - by Heather Deloach

Working on a post-event follow-up project for one of our clients recently made me aware of how important post-show follow-up is to event ROI.

Too often, event managers lack a well-planned system for what to do with leads information once it is collected at shows. A strong leads management system and an aggressive post-event campaign are absolutely crucial to a successful event marketing program and positive return on investment.

Companies spend thousands of dollars on pre-show direct marketing, but post-show marketing is where actual business results are likely to be realized. A well-executed post-show marketing campaign such as an email blast sent to qualified leads or a post-event survey serves three major purposes:

• Exposure is recreated for your company and products or services
• Prospects have the opportunity to access and learn more detailed information about a particular product or service
• Prospects are given a way to initiate contact with someone from your organization

In order for a post-event follow-up to be successful, an event manager must plan strategically. The follow-up must be planned well in advance of a show or event. The goals of the follow-up must be explicitly decided beforehand. The questions your team must answer before the follow-up method is agreed upon are the following:

• What products or services do we want to focus on?
• Who are our targets for the follow-up?
• What information is of most importance to our target audience?
• What do we want the targets to do as a result of receiving our correspondence?

Once the answers to these questions are clear, it is much easier to execute a successful post-event follow-up.

Case Study– How Trade Shows Can Influence Executive Perceptions, Positively Influence Financial Markets & Gain Top-Level Visibility for Event Managers

Positive visibility at the executive level of the company is a quest for many trade show and event marketing managers. It seems that the trade show or events program often receives less attention and respect than does advertising, PR or developing the brand. Recently, accomplishments at a major, international trade show became the topic of focus during the second quarter earnings call with the CEO of a multi-billion dollar, multi-national firm. A quarterly earnings call is a teleconference in which a public company discusses the financial results of a reporting period with financial analysts and other stakeholders. The call resulted in a high level of visibility and respect for the manager of that company’s trade show program, a pinnacle achievement for any event manager.

Excerpts from the earnings call demonstrate how key trade show accomplishments (meetings, countries represented, etc.) can become key financial inputs:

Chairman – “During the recent (very large international) show, I had the opportunity to meet with many of our U.S. and international customers -- in fact, we had more customer meetings at this event than ever before, with over 1000 meetings… including 45 delegations from 38 countries. I was encouraged by what I heard about our company -- and the level of interest in what we do."

First Analyst – “I would like to ask about the recent contract cancellation in the UAE.”

Chairman- “The project cancellation was in marked contrast to what I saw at the recent show . . . We saw a number of customers from Turkey, UAE, Israel, Saudi, . . . we saw tremendous opportunity. We showed new digital, three dimensional demonstrations of our new products at the show. A top Japanese group visiting told us they were “very encouraged by what they saw.”

Second Analyst - “I learned about new capabilities for your ‘Hotspot’ project during your press briefing and at your exhibition at the show. Would you tell us more about those?” The chairman described the new capabilities without hesitation, in some detail. This made a very good impression on the analysts and others on the call.

It was clear the customer interaction at the recent trade show provided the chairman and other top executives with up- to-date, personalized market feedback that affected how they dealt with analysts and others. The customer and prospect interactions at the event gave them factual information and perspectives to share with analysts regarding market attitudes and demand. Event managers should consider “Executive Involvement” as one of their event planning criteria.

It was also clear that the event had a strong impact on analysts who visited the company’s marketing venues. Their visits shaped their perceptions of the company, its performance and value. Likewise, event managers should also consider “managing press and analysts relations” as a planning objective. This is also a clear example of why it is critical to be consistent with brand, advertising, PR efforts and exhibit and event related messaging, signage and demos. You never know who is watching!

Ed Jones is president of Constellation Communication Corp., specialists in event and trade show measurement, helping clients obtain positive return on investment in marketing and other types of events. If you have any questions please contact Ed at inquiry@constellationcc.com or call +1.770.391.0015

Simple is Memorable and Essential

I picked one phrase to highlight from a recent LinkedIn "Trade Show Help" group post on simplicity of trade show messages. "Simple is Memorable."

Three clients of ours were finally convinced to de-clutter their exhibits and refine their messages into a simple, customer oriented message hierarchy. The building products client moved from over 50% of their visitors saying they "learning nothing new" to less than 20%. A large manufacturing company improved from almost 30% learning nothing new to less than 9%. Finally, a large aerospace client just had their chairman talk about the clarity of customer dialogue at a large European airshow during their second quarter earnings conference call. That is some real visibility for the exhibit manager!

Our company provides consulting on trade show measurement, research and return on investment (ROI). This data was derived from year over year, random sample exit interviews with visitors conducted by our survey team.

I list poor messaging as one of the three primary factors in low return on investment. Stated another way, effective messaging is a critical success factor in event marketing ROI.

Ed

More case studies on trade show and event ROI to be found at http://constellationcc.com

Is Your Staff Shy About Engaging Visitors? - A Few New Stats of Interest

In the event measurement and ROI game these types of numbers are always interesting, even if they are from a single show. Visitors at the recent Confex Show revealed three key objectives for visiting a trade show:

* 68% making new contacts

* 64% inspiration and new ideas

* 62% Networking

These numbers are entirely consistent with our findings over the years.

The top value from attending a trade show was given as "Getting new ideas"

The article cited a general statistic that only 1 in 28 visitors are actively approached at shows. That is believable although I have nothing to verify that, however we do know that 46% of the Confex visitors reported they were displeased with not being approached by exhibitors.

The message here is clear, visitors want to see exhibitors. They want to see what is new and make contact with people who can make things happen. (That is an exact quote from my classes for the last decade.) Your staff need not worry about whether people want to be engaged! Unfortunately exhibitors too often do a poor job of providing them with that opportunity.

Staff training is essential if you want to engage, qualify and properly manage a person's visit to your exhibit for mutual benefit.

(Keith Reznick and I have co-authored some very efficient, low cost, web delivered staff training that can cure these problems. If you have a need, please visit either of our websites at http://constellationcc.com or http://creativetraining.com)

Ed

Get the Personal Credit You Deserve for Managing Events to Deliver Business Profitability

This is a response for the MC2 "eConnections" newsletter, May issue "Delimma" column. "How do you measure success?" I've heard a lot about measurement in the media and at conferences, and I'd like to start my own performance measurement program based on real stats. But I don't know where to begin. We go to five big shows a year, each with a different division of our company, so it's hard to make adjustments. Is anyone getting value and results from measuring tradeshow performance? What do you measure, and how do you employ the data? I'd really like to know.
-- Althea, Conventions Manager

A good planning and measurement program is how smart exhibit managers get the results they expect and personal credit they deserve from their events program. Many companies rely on a well structured planning and measurement program to manage their events programs as well as the internal perception of their value.

Events are a business improvement tool. Return on investment is realized when you make or save money through an event. To make or save money, the participants must be persuaded to act in a manner that benefits your company.

Properly planned events produce measurable results. When you plan your activities to result increase in sales, retention of current business, promotion of company brand, products and messages, and cost savings, positive business results are achieved.

What to measure follows this same logic. Payback is a simple index of success. Payback comes from tracking value from four sources:

1) Revenue (Increase in Sales)
2) Customer Relationship Management (Customer and Revenue Retention)
3) Cost Savings (Efficiencies using events as the catalyst)
4) Promotion or Communication Value (Equivalent Value of Advertising Required to Achieve Similar Promotional Impact in the Market, or for Internal Events, the Cost of Alternative Means of Communications)

These values, when added together and divided by the budget for your event, produce a payback ratio such as $2.30/1.

Start your own measurement program by putting these four tabs in a three ringed binder and collecting every bit of data regarding value you produce in each of the four areas.

Finally, productivity measures such as number of visitors, engaged visitors, and leads, combined with “cost per” indexes, such as cost per engaged visitor, provide valuable indicators of the success of each event and your program overall.

A major goal at Constellation is to see event and communications managers get the credit they deserve for managing profitable event programs. Many of our clients use their measurement reports as the basis for their annual performance evaluation. A number of our clients directly attribute a part of their career success to their event planning and measurement programs.

Case studies and articles on event measurement are available to you in the "Solutions" section of the Constellation Communication Corp. website at http://constellationcc.com

Justification for Sales Incentive Travel Programs

Sales incentive travel is being discussed in various social media groups. I had the chance to respond to a discussion this morning.

. . . yes, Hong Kong is a fabulous city to visit and a great incentive trip destination. It is one of my favorite places to visit. The China Club in the old Bank of China building is a great spot for business entertainment, albeit for smaller groups.

At Constellation we have had the opportunity to deliver in-depth analysis of the actual value and justification for investment in a number of sales incentive trips. We saved the BellSouth program from cancellation and even expanded it. Justification is more important than ever these days. The business value of these types of events can be proven. It requires a solid event plan and measurement strategy, but it really can be done. That also takes you off the hook for criticism of waste and frivolity by others, including the government if your received TARP money for example.

There is a case study on this on the Constellation website called "Canceled, End of Discussion" in the Solutions Center Tab of our website at:

http://www.linkedin.com/redirect?url=http%3A%2F%2Fconstellationcc%2Ecom&urlhash=Fjbn

or follow this link: http://www.linkedin.com/redirect?url=http%3A%2F%2Fconstellationcc%2Ecom%2Fcancelled%2Epdf&urlhash=IgQw

If you would like to discuss this important topic, post here or contact me through the website.

Ed

The True Relationship Between Sales and Marketing - Sales is Your Customer!

You have often heard me say the following in various event measurement and ROI seminars: "Sales (deparment) is the customer of Marketing."
"Sales are the only ones who can define a qualified lead."
"The sales team are the ultimate arbiters of success of a trade show or customer event."
Etc. etc.

Linda Musgrove, aka "The Trade Show Teacher" posted a great article in Exhibit City News (12/30/09) "Sales and Marketing Department Coorperation, Can't We All Just Get Along" that delves further into this important tenet. I think this is a good read in preparing for your 2010 trade show program.

http://tinyurl.com/yapcsz8

Now is the time to get that appointment with the sales team and jointly define the measure of success for your program this year.

Ed

Automated Approach to Effective, Measurable Events for Time Strapped Event Managers

Happy New Year to All!

I have hinted to many of you in the past year that 2010 would be the time when you can get easy and inexpensive automated tools for planning, execution and measurement for trade shows and other events. Over the past couple of years, we developed various automated, web-based, and inexpensive support tools to satisfy exhibitor and event managers' requirements. Now, these tools can be offered as a support suite, allowing you to pick what you need for each of your events:

• Planning Tool (Know what to include, who to ask and how to communicate to the broader team. Ensure you will deliver effective results and profit improvement.)
  
• Staff Training (Ensure your staff is up to the job of delivering results.)
• Staff and Stakeholder Feedback Survey (Collect and maintain your internal customer feedback for improving all subsequent events.)
• Event Related Press Tracking and Valuation (Press generated during and after an event can generate a lot of justification for your investment.)
• Event Selection and Comparison (Budgeting, forecasting of results and cost.)

These tools can put you in charge of delivering and reporting your results without adding significantly to your workload. Consulting support for completing some or all of these processes is available to help you further.

Imagine having all of the information you need in a database waiting at your beck and call for future planning or to show management what you have accompished.

If you would like to discuss how to add some structure to your events program, contact me at edjones@constellationcc.com or call 770-391-0015.

Wishing you the best for the new year,

Ed Jones

Video on Generating Business Value through Events

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzqUWq_s7lU

This video was shot by Joyce McKee on- site at TS2. This is a good overview of the planning process and how to ensure your event produces value. Planning and measurement orientation.

Ed

Reasons to Exhibit at Trade Shows

Our friend Mike Thimmesch at Skyline Displays posted an article 22 Reasons To Exhibit At Trade Shows

I responded in support of his view:

Right you are! Trade Shows and events are exceptionally broad in terms of what can be accomplished for the host company. I teach a planning model related to what you are speaking of.

Trade shows, and customer events in general, produce two main accomplishments for the host company.

1) Business Development
This includes:
*Revenue Generation
- Target Marketing
- Prospect Development
*Revenue Retention
- Customer Relationship Management
- Growth on the Revenue Base
*Channel Management
*Supplier and Partner Management
- Negotiation of more favorable terms or arrangements
*Influencers and Regulators Management
- Influence the conditions under which business is conducted and
products are sold (associations, standards bodies, etc.)
*Cost Savings through expense avoidance activity at an event

2) Marketing Communications
*Press Management
*PR Activity
*Analyst Management
*Marcom Objectives
- Brand Development and Reinforcement
- Program Communications
- Market Positioning
- Product Launch
- Loyalty
- Community Development (social networking)
- Continuous Communications
- Relationship Development
*Community Relations

These elements form the core of a robust planning structure that Skip Cox of Exhibit Surveys and I developed into an automated planning support and measurement tool. Information on that tool may be found on either of our websites.

Keep preaching the word that shows are about a lot more than leads and sales!

Ed Jones
President
Constellation Communication Corp.
ROI on Events, Event Measurement and Evaluation
www.constellationcc.com

It Might Be Wise to Pay Attention Here - Social Networks & Blogs Now 4th Most Popular Online Activity, Ahead of Personal Email, Nielsen Reports

Take a look at this. Social networking and on- lin communities are actually outpacing personal email among internet users and is the fastest growing segment on the web.

“Social networking has become a fundamental part of the global online experience,” says John Burbank, CEO of Nielsen Online. “While two-thirds of the global online population already accesses member community sites, their vigorous adoption and the migration of time show no signs of slowing. Social networking will continue to alter not just the global online landscape, but the consumer experience at large. This study explains why.”

Forewarned is forearmed!


Ed

Event measurement, evaluation, ROI analysis and research.

Visitor Management and Visitor Experience at Trade Shows

Response to a blog thread regarding visitor management and visitor experience –

Having provided evaluation and measurement at hundreds of trade shows and events, please allow me to offer some objective observations.

Many exhibitors do not teach their staff to properly engage and quickly qualify each visitor and focus their time and attention on those who are targeted. The big variable is how many of those who are attracted to your exhibit are targeted. If the percentage is big, then you will have a good show. If the percentage is small you will have a miserable result.

Too often the strategy is to attract a large unqualified crowd with give aways or magicians and such and hope that those people who are the targets will speak up, identify themselves and engage the staff! That is pretty unlikely and a clear recipe for poor results and low ROI.

Put yourself to the test and see how many of these success factors you have in place, or observe as a visitor: (Check the ones you practice or observe regularly)

___ 1) Define the targets addressable at the event by product set
___ 2) Attract them with targeted promotion
___ 3) Train the staff to engage visitors and separate the targets from the non- targets
___ 4) Have a plan to manage the visit of the targets
___ 5) Convey specific, consistent, benefits oriented, high priority information that is relevant to each target set
___ 6) Have a pre- determined set of target visitor commitment goals (specific steps and activities).
___ 7) Ensure the commitment goals are steps that sales agrees is are steps in the sales cycle
___ 8) Have a system in place to record the commitments
___ 9) Provide motivation and support to the committed visitor to follow-through on the follow-up step through at and post- event communications.
___ 10) Set as many pre-scheduled meetings as possible with customers, prospects, suppliers, partners and others who can improve your profitability in some way.

This does work! It takes focus, planning, training and execution, but it will deliver results and make for happier more productive staff members and visitors.

Ed Jones

(if you have a question or would like to discuss email me at edjones@constellationcc.com)

CRM Provides Greater Value than Customer Acquisition

I made the point, in recent classes dealing with changing event strategies and measurement for an economic downturn, that Customer Relationship Management (CRM) provides the greatest return to a company, especially in a tight economy. Customer relationship management and the associated customer/ revenue retention is one of the four elements of payback in my trade show and event ROI model.

In support of my observation, I saw this today in a "Business Management Daily" post:

"Although it’s difficult to measure ROI with the level of accuracy achievable in some other areas of running a business, researchers continue to explore the impact of customer service training on customer loyalty, as measured by customer retention, and a company’s customer service standards. Customer satisfaction research by Richardson, Texas–based KnowledgeBase Marketing Inc. concluded that investments in customer retention (such as money spent on customer service training) provide a far greater return than investments in customer acquisition. The research also showed that, compared with other customers, long-term loyal customers:

• Buy more per year
• Buy higher-priced options
• Buy more often
• Are less price-sensitive
• Are less costly to serve
• Have a higher lifetime value"

- Fuel Net

If you have not yet considered this element as an important part of your 2009 event strategy you should. An example is giving your customers access to executives, and introducing special programs for mutual benefit.

Keeping a tight grip on existing customers may prove essential to your company's well- being.

Ed

Honored Awards and Nominations

Spring and early summer have been very good to Constellation Communication Corp.

First, our Trade Show Planning and Measurment Tool won the Innovation Award from "Trade Show Executive Magazine."

See the full article here:

http://www.tradeshowexecutive.com/data/pdf/June08InnovationAwards.pdf

and

We were nominated for an Exhibitors Choice Award from TSEA!

Voting is still open - please consider voting for us!

100 + LEADING TRADE SHOW INDUSTRY SUPPLIERS NOMINATED FOR
TSEA’S NEW RED DIAMOND AWARDS

Chicago, IL –June 22, 2009 – The nominations are in, and 100+ leading trade show industry suppliers have been nominated for the new Trade Show Exhibitor’s Association “Exhibitor’s Choice” Red Diamond Awards. Voting is now open for the Trade Show Exhibitors Association (TSEA) Exhibitors’ Choice Awards at http://www.tsea.org/Foundation/ExhibitorsChoiceAwards/tabid/281/Default.aspx. The awards will be presented at the TSEA Foundation Gala on the evening of July 22, 2009 (during TS2.) The nominees include:

. . .

• Favorite Best of the Rest – APCO; Constellation Communications Corp.; Creative Training Solutions; Exhibit Surveys; ExpoCall; Kaon Interactive, Inc; ListenNational Corporation; NMR Staging and Events; Siskind Training International; Spearhead Creative; Trade Show Teacher; United Service Companies

“We’re thrilled at the enthusiastic response to this new program,” said Margit Weisgal, TSEA’s President. “Exhibitors and attendees are this industry’s ultimate customers, and these prestigious awards will be quite a marketing tool in the future.”

Voting will continue until July 8, 2009. Tickets to the Gala, at Chicago Illuminating Company, http://www.chicagoilluminatingcompany.com are available for $20 at www.tsea.org or can be purchased during TS2 at TSEA’s booth during show hours. The event is sponsored by several leading industry companies and Chicago restaurants.

###

See the full article and vote here:

http://www.tsea.org/Foundation/ExhibitorsChoiceAwards/tabid/281/Default.aspx

Thanks to those who nominated us.

Ed

Suite of On- Line Tools Now Available to the Exhibit Managers

I was a bit surprised to realize that we now have a complete set of on- line tools to support exhibit managers with some of the most important success steps in their program:

• On- Line Planning and Measurement Tool - (Simple and Full ROI. Joint venture with Exhibit Surveys, The Trade Show Planning and Measurement Tool)
• On- Line Pre- Event Staff Orientation and Training - (Simple and Comprehensive versions, annual license and per user fee, low cost for small shows)
• On- Line Post Event Staff and Stakeholder Survey - (Turn key, providing internal customer feedback, database of results analysis over the event year, by product group or division, 24/7 access to results and analysis)

Our goal is to make inexpensive, automated support for tasks that have a high degree of influence on effectiveness and efficiency of the exhibit program. Exhibit and event managers rarely have time for additional tasks, yet these tool provide essential support for measurement and accountability across a wider range of people in the organization.

Call me if you would like to know more about automated support for your program.

Fear of Negative PR Not the Only Reason for Budget Cuts

An exhibit manager chimed in on a message board recently, to remind us that the perception that shows and events are frivolous or the potential for negative PR exposure are not the only reasons events are cancelled or cut back. "... certainly not because we see the shows as unnecessary, a luxury or some trumped up PR stunt to try and present an image of a socially-conscious corporate citizen - it is simply self-preservation. Significant cuts are necessary to keep many companies in business. The marketing budget is an easy target for quick money - it's a lot harder to carve money out of production if you are already a lean, efficient organization with good strategic sourcing and operations practices in place. It is sad that this has to become politicized. Nothing should be read into the practice of cutting back trade show marketing other than it is simply one of many tools corporations are using to try and get through this recession."

Her response raises the question again, why cut marketing when things are down?

Profit often comes from serving the existing customer base. New revenue is often expensive to obtain and expensive to support, partially answering the question "why do companies cut sales and marketing budgets during an economic downturn?" Leaning out the organization as Karen has indicated and keeping the revenue streams you already have is a common approach.

Many companies are shifting weight to Customer Relationship Management at events in which they continue to participate, aka "putting their arms around their existing customers." Keeping the business you have safe from price attacks by starving competitors, offering solutions to existing customers that help you both mutually deal with the economy, and making sure that you get any additional business that is to be had from your current accounts are productive goals for events in the near term. Scheduled meetings with top accounts, where you offer real support and solutions for weathering the storm are a wise investment of time and resources.

So, if you are still counting leads as a major part of your event measurement, count meetings with high value accounts at least equally in your measure of success.

What if You Could Have Your Event Certified for Business Improvement?

One would think that after the furor over knee- jerk reactions by our politicians regarding events that the news agencies would have gotten the message too. Unfortunately, Fox News has decided that events are frivolous too and make good sensational expectorate for their talking heads . Fox and other new agencies are lurking around corporate events looking for a story to sensationalize, so be forwarned and thus forearmed.

However, wouldn't it be nice if your event had a stamp of approval that said "This event planned in accordance with business best practices, Certified Business Improvement?"

A few weeks ago I came to the realization that any company who follows the planning discipline we put forth for clients on events is able to prove the business orientation and value of said event. We are planning to formalize that process with a Certification designation for events that qualify. So when a reporter asks, "Why are you wasting all of the stockholders and taxpayers money on a lavish meeting?" You can reply, "because these customer executives spend $3.3 billiion dollars with us each year and have pending proposals for $382 million more in the next three months. Our event strategy and plan was planned in accordance with business best practices and will deliver a profit for the company."

For more detail on how you can insulate your events from a "drive by evaluation", read the case study on our website "The ComCo Classic Winner's Circle Pro-Am" found at http://constellationcc.com/case_studies.htm

Have a great weekend.

Ed

“How to Rescue a Worthwhile Event” - CASE STUDY

Current economic and political influences are inhibiting participation in big events for many if not most companies, particularly the most expensive, highly-visible events. In many cases, events have been canceled. Some companies are finding it more expedient to cancel an event for “PR” reasons, or because they are unsure of the value delivered relative to the cost.

A factor in these reactionary decisions is events may not be clearly understood in terms of their direct influence on near-term business improvement. Stated another way, there may be little fear that negative business impact will result from event reduction or cancellation. These perceptions may be affecting you right now. So, what can you do about it? To help you formulate a plan, I have revived and revised a post from last spring dealing with justifying valuable events.

Protecting or rescuing an event depends upon identifying its’ payback in terms of business improvement goals. The number of valuable outcomes and amount of payback may surprise both you and the boss. When a productive event is in jeopardy, it is time to identify the payback streams and make a rational case to continue or discontinue it based upon the impact on the bottom line.

The case study, “Cancelled, End of Discussion,” is about a multi- million dollar sales incentive travel program that was cancelled by the chairman of a Fortune 50 sized company. His cancellation decree came mid- year, for exactly the same reasons cited, the need to cut cost and because the program was highly visible. As the current program neared its’ final conclusion, a comprehensive measurement program was initiated to determine the true value of the program for the company. The same study also identified the potential negative impact on the company if it were to be discontinued. The chairman, not known for changing his decisions, not only reinstated the program, but increased its’ scope once the value and potential loss was clearly understood.

This case study may be found in the Solutions Center section of the Constellation website http://constellationcc.com or go directly to the document at http://constellationcc.com/cancelled.pdf.

So, what can you do if you have a good event that is in jeopardy? Mount a campaign to save it. Any event can be analyzed on a forecast basis (before the next occurrence), a post-mortem basis (after the last occurrence) on an actual (current) basis to determine its business improvement value. This type of analysis also provides prescriptive steps to increase the value of an upcoming event to the bottom line. This process results in development of a presentation to senior management that clearly delineates the business results associated with the event and the results that flow from it. Once the magnitude of the results is determined, the decision becomes an economic one, not an emotional one.

If you are a corporate event manager or director, consider mounting a campaign to save a productive event. If you are an event organizer or provider, such as an event production agency or exhibit house, consider supporting your client in need with event measurement and ROI support. The result will be not only the potential salvation of a productive event, but a change in the way events are viewed internally by the company.

Call +1.770.391.0015 or email me edjones@constellationcc.com with questions or to explore a rescue mission for an event you know is worth saving.

****************************************************************************

Related Services from Constellation Communication Corp.

Event “Business Best Practices” Certification

Constellation Communication Corp. is offering clients an independent certification for face-to-face internal and market facing events that meet Business Best Practices Standards (as defined by Constellation.) This certificate attests, to any interested party, that the named event was planned and measured for specific business improvement results. It further certifies that the expected business results are achievable and reasonable relative to the event cost.

Constellation will assist a company to produce event objectives and plans that will produce tangible business improvement results. Constellation will also provide event evaluation services to prove business improvement value.

Post- Mortem Trade Show Justification and ROI Analysis

A service of value to corporate exhibitors, event services providers and show organizers is the post-mortem trade show marketing analysis. This analysis identifies and summarizes tangible value from a recently completed event. The analysis is conducted through collaboration between key corporate event team members and senior level consultants from Constellation Communication Corp.

The analysis is run using the Constellation Return on Investment in Events Model. This model provides a complete picture of the business value obtained from the last event. The analysis also examines and makes recommendations regarding resources in a process referred to as “Right-sizing.” The analysis will identify how much space, how many staff and how much budget should be allocated to a particular event. The analysis looks at all sources of profit improvement delivered through event participation to the company, and makes conclusions regarding the benefits relative to cost.

The analysis is also useful in that it will generally expand the number of objectives and associated results that may be reported as business improvement. The types of objectives considered are:

• Executive Participation
• Thought Leadership
• PR Impact and Media Equivalence
• Business Development Goals
• Return on Stated Objectives
• Technology, Product or Service Show Casing
• Cost/Expense Reduction
• Return on Investment

Show organizers or events services providers experiencing attrition in exhibition and sponsorship levels or budgets for client projects may want to consider offering a post- mortem business value analysis to key clients who may be cutting- back. There is generally more business improvement value to be reported than the typical exhibitor may recognize and report. The result is a logical, fact based report of the estimated value of continued participation in an event or for an overall event program.

The cost for a post- mortem (or forecast) analysis and ROI valuation is approx. $2,500. Additional research may be required for complex events. A post- mortem or forecast analysis takes between seven and ten days to complete. The deliverables are:

• Return on Investment Event Summary
• Right-Sizing recommendations regarding budget and resource levels
• Recommendations regarding event performance improvement, strategies and tactics
• Power- point presentation for internal, executive level presentation to senior management
• Focus on investment justification

Please call +1.770.391.0015 or email edjones@constellationcc.com with questions or to explore a rescue mission for an event you know is worth saving.

Kerry wants Feds to Ban Certain Events - Are We Partially to Blame? ...and What Should We Do?

The time of reckoning has arrived. According to the National Business Travelers Association, "Senator John Kerry has introduced legislation that would ban all 421 firms including the nation's largest banks that received money from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) from hosting, sponsoring or paying for conferences, holiday parties and entertainment events." The federal government now thinks it must regulate what is acceptable business practice with regard to meetings. This is another glaring example of politicians setting destructive, sentiment based legislation in motion with real unintended consequences.

Are we partially to blame? I think we share some responsibility. We have produced many glitzy, high profile events without discernible, measurable business objectives in place to justify their cost. Now, a couple of very visible events have made the news, with little in the way of defense. In too many cases, we have ignored the need and opportunity to report value.

What can we do about it? First, contact John Kerry and let him know that tens of thousands of jobs will be affected by his ill-conceived reaction. http://kerry.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm . Here is the message I sent him this morning:

Mr. Kerry,

Even though the sentiment for anti-event legislation may seem worthy, it will hurt tens of thousands of meeting and event producers, hotel and food service employees, transportation workers and countless others. Many of those employees are union workers. This most assuredly would not stimulate the economy.

Events produce valid, reportable business results. Visit http://constellationcc.com if you want to understand meeting and event measurement and the impact of meetings and events on business results and profit.

Ed Jones

Next, investigate and join any one of several movements at work to counter this legislative trend. The NBTA Action Alert can be found here: http://capwiz.com/nbta/issues/alert/?alertid=12773376, also the Keep America Meeting initiative has good momentum. You can visit this organization at: http://www.keepamericameeting.org/ (You may want to be cautious about joining the mailing list for the host organization that provides the web hosting for this movement.)


In addition, we must begin now tying our event planning and measurement squarely to business improvement objectives. The results of these events must be presented in “Business Speak.” There can be no doubt that event cost is aligned with event outcomes in terms of business profitability.

As I have said in the past, identifying what to measure is perhaps the most difficult hurdle in event measurement. Once crossed you are well on your way to justifying an event expenditure. You may have 1,000 customers and prospects visit your exhibit or conference, but none of those visitors have an identifiable value until you can link them to an element in the simplified profit equation. Revenue – Expense = Profit.

To be successful you must think of event activities in terms of their value to the company. The event activity must accomplish two main goals. Business Improvement and Communications.

Under the goal of business improvement, interactions with people should include meetings with customers for the purpose of existing revenue retention and growth on the customer base, prospects for the purpose of expanding market share and the customer base, suppliers for the purpose of reducing cost and increasing availability or improving process, partners to make better solutions from your offerings, and regulators and legislators to keep market conditions conducive to success. For employees, meetings must result in changes in job behavior that improve profitability. Cost reductions through speed, accuracy, improved process, better teamwork, and superior decision making can be demonstrated and valued.

In a recent blog post I detailed a simple way of tying event accomplishments to business value. Consider the simple relationships between typical event activities, business processes and the simplified profit equation:

• Seeing and documenting new prospects (sometimes referred to as developing leads) is really customer acquisition.
• Seeing existing customers and thanking them for the business, providing executive access and introducing them to preferential programs is really customer retention.
• Briefing customers at a conference on how to use, manage and troubleshoot a system or product is really customer support.
• Asking customers and prospects questions at an event is really product or market research.
• Spreading and reinforcing the brand and priority messages is really advertising.

So, tying event accomplishments to business improvement and value might be fairly straightforward. In any case, it is quickly becoming a requirement. Linking event activity to these types of business accomplishments puts events squarely in the context of business improvement and will help us insulate them from knee-jerk reactions of ill-informed politicians.

Ed

A Brilliant Piece of Peer to Peer Marcom by a Non- Marketing Grad Student

Sometimes, albeit rarely, I am amazed by the clarity of a marketing piece. This video,
is produced by Adam Winn, a graduate student at the Center for Information and Communications Sciences program (CICS) at Ball State University (I am an advisory board member of this program.) The purpose of the video is to promote the CICS program to potential students through YouTube and other outlets. He is a graduate student in the computer and networking sciences field, and not a marketing major. He was a telecommunications undergrad.



There are many lessons here. 1) It doesn’t take a creative genius or experienced marcom practitioner to create great communications. This phenomenon, of which this piece is one of thousands of examples, is the result of ubiquitous, social, digital media exposing that many types of people, of varying personality types, interests and disciplines can be great communicators. 2) The resonance of “peer to peer marketing” is extremely powerful and may equal or exceed that available through traditional marcom output.

3) User produced media is reshaping how we communicate, are entertained and most definitely, how we are influenced.

Comments are welcomed.

Why Do Companies Cut Sales and Marketing Budgets in an Economic Downturn?

...How Events Can Help Solve the Problem and How You Might Increase Your Own Value to the Company

A common rhetorical question heard among sales and marketing colleagues these days is, “Why do companies cut sales and marketing budgets during an economic downturn, when they need to sell more?” The truth is, it may be essential and in some cases, pushing for more new business could contribute to the problem.

"New revenue" from new customers often comes at a high cost. For many companies, existing customers are the greatest source of actual profit because they are the easiest to maintain and to sell. So, when things are tight, smart companies hold even more tightly to their existing business. CFO’s in survival mode know that expensive sales and marketing campaigns to attract business that might not be profitable for a while, may not be practical. Keeping existing business is essential.

Also, net new business volume requires investments in resources and people to produce and deliver products and service to new customers. Servicing new customers can be expensive, because they don’t yet know how to use the products and they are not part of the ordering and service systems. Increasing the size of the workforce may not be an option, and a survival strategy may be to handle the existing business volume with fewer people until the crisis passes.

How Events Can Provide Solutions –

Events provide a way to reach large numbers of people at once, at a relatively low cost. Remember, the purpose of an event is to motivate people to act in a way that benefits the host. Here are a few ideas to consider:

• You should strongly consider aiming events at existing customers to protect and grow their business. User and customer conferences actually result in near term sales and reduce service costs for companies that know how to plan and run them correctly. (See the Case study "What is Your Conference Worth to Your Company - http://constellationcc.com/case_studies.htm).

• Executive level customer conferences can create a platform where the top executives from your best accounts come together with your executives to collaborate on mutually beneficial solutions for dealing with an economic downturn. Executive to executive interaction is the most effective way to cementing business relationships.

• Few companies want to totally stop their pursuit of new business and new market share. When economics dictate a reduction in sales force or sales expense, your events can provide a cost alternative for reaching large numbers of potential buyers.

• Public events may suffer from lower attendance during an economic downturn. In some cases, the absences may be among lower level, less important participants who are not required to be there. As a result the remaining audience may be richer in targets and less expensive to reach.
  

• Private events, those you host yourself, can be staged in locations close to targeted accounts, and may be perceived as an opportunity for companies to find solutions for dealing with their own problems.

How you approach these events should be different compared to how your company normally conducts business at trade shows:

• It is essential to identify, by company and title, if not name, everyone at an upcoming event who can improve your results.

• Next, contact and arrange pre-scheduled, face- to- face meetings with these targeted individuals to discuss mutually beneficial approaches to dealing with a slow economy.

• Attract and "detail" targeted individuals who visit your stand. If you are able to accomplish the equivalent of an important sales call with targeted individuals in your booth, you will reduce your cost of sale.
  

• You must have a specific outcome (step in the sales funnel) in mind for these targets, and you must get them to commit to participate.

• Broaden your idea of a "target" to include suppliers and alliances. Interactions with these targets reduce the cost of materials or logistics contribute directly to the survival of the business.

That approach fills the sales funnel with prospects committed to a step in the sales process, ones that may not be coming from a reduced sales force and may help to lower the cost of doing business.

Saving the Company Money –

Finally, events can save your company money when it is most needed. The face- to- face meetings I referenced reduce the cost of field sales because the prospects and customers have paid their own way to meet with you.

Providing access to your executives for customers and prospects is a sure fire way to protect business and cement deals for new business. The savings from putting fifty to one- hundred or more customers and prospects in front of your executives, in just a few days, could reach hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings per event.

What to Do Right Now –

Talk to your sales executives about how carefully chosen events could help your company deal with the instability and change associated with the current economic climate.

Your importance to the company is about to rise rapidly.

Ed

What Do Other Companies Spend at Tradeshows?

Comparing Total Spending at Trade Shows

Using a Cross Industry Benchmark of Cost per Square Foot

Clients ask us, “How does our trade show spending compare with that of other companies?” Specifically, what are the benchmarks for total cost of a typical trade show appearance, including all activities except staff time and travel expense (items typically not reflected in the trade show budget)?

It is easy to find references on “spending per square foot” as a comparative index. However, the numbers we see significantly under estimate total spending. Many of the references we found indicate a cross industry average cost of approximately $60 per square foot, including space rental. The most often cited number for a "new build" is ~$150/ sq. ft. Many exhibit managers are shaking their heads wondering how this can be true!? The most likely answer is that these indices do not reflect total show budget but a subset of spending directly related to the exhibit.

To address this need, Constellation ran the average “cost per square foot” data on the actual results from several hundred events in our database. These trade show programs were managed by companies in several different market segments.

So What Do Other Companies Spend?

Total Trade Show Spend per Square Foot

(Cross Industry View)

Type of Customer	Cost/ Sq. Ft.	Exhibit Program Size and Scope
Manufacturing (Fortune 100)	$127	Large Domestic
Transportation (Fortune 100)	$137	Medium Domestic
Consumer Package Goods (Fortune 100)	$144	Large Domestic
Medical and Household Goods (Fortune 1000)	$172	Medium Domestic
Exhibit House Clients (Mix of Sizes)	$186	Mixed Domestic
Engineering/Manufacturing (Fortune 100)	$187	Large Domestic and International
Banking (Fortune 100)	$239	Large Domestic
Computer Technology (Fortune 500)	$388	Large Domestic and International

We estimate the average Cost/Sq. Ft. benchmark, on a cross- industry basis, to be $150 - $190/ sq. ft.

This index includes all things that are generally found in an actual event budget, including off-floor activities and expenses such as a customer dinner or event, sponsorships, media, etc. The index excludes staff expenses (time, travel, food and lodging) that are not part of the show budget. Those costs are usually covered by non- trade show budgets based elsewhere in the organization. (Some clients prefer to look at the complete picture and include staff travel cost. This can be estimated by multiplying the domestic traveling staff by $1,000 and the international traveling staff by $10,000. This article deals only with budgets that do not account for staff cost.)

A Second Opinion

As a cross reference, I asked our friend Skip Cox, at Exhibit Surveys, to perform a similar query against their database of hundreds of events. Skip indicated the average spending per square foot, on a cross industry basis was similar to our finding at approximately $170 per square foot.

These numbers are presented as a guideline. They reflect actual results against hundreds of shows. "The index of “cost per square foot” is a useful way to forecast how much money you might need to allocate to do a good job at an upcoming event or to evaluate how well you are managing cost compared to the spending of others."

The average exhibit size reflected in this data is approximately 400 – 500 square feet, i.e. a medium exhibit size. In the table above you will note that some programs were defined as large, where exhibit sizes can average 1,000 square feet or more. Some of the large programs have a lower cost per square foot compared to smaller ones. Other factors you should consider when reviewing this data are 1) the averages reflect excellent, good, fair and poor cost management by different companies, 2) the cost for floor space rental varies by show and industry, 3) the degree of off-floor and off-site activities included varies by industry and company type, and 4) these averages reflect some programs that include international events where cost is almost always 20 – 50% higher. This data represents results from 2007 and 2008 shows.

Using indexes such as Cost per Square Foot is another example of how a good event measurement program can help you manage your company's resources for maximum efficiency and effectiveness.

If you have questions about your specific spending, please contact me and I will be happy to answer them.

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