David DuBois, CMP, CAE, FASAE, CTA President & CEO, IAEE Marketing Trends for the Exhibition Industry.

David DuBois, CMP, CAE, FASAE, CTAPresident & CEO, IAEE

Marketing Trends for the Exhibition Industry

Understanding marketing trends empowers you to make better informed decisions.

Why is this important?

A Near Future Look at the Exhibition Industry

Marketing Trends Takeaways

Marketing Trends1What Attendees and Exhibitors Want

Exhibitors and attendees are investors and consumers

Exhibitors: Invest in time, space, design, decoration and talent

Attendees: Consume content, entertainment and hospitality

Attendee Common Needs and Wants

7

Attendee Common Needs

Shop69%

Learn66%

Most Urgent Shopping Needs

• New technology 5.54• New product intros 5.33

Show me what’s NEW!

• Interact with new products 5.31Let me interact w/ new products

• Talk w/ industry experts 5.51• Questions answered ‘on the spot’ 5.26

I want to talk

• Idea generation, 5.24• Solutions to problems, 5.12• Brand comparison, 5.14• Info for upcoming purchase, 5.07

Help me process

Scale of 1 to 7 where 1=Very unimportant and 7=Very Important

Importance in Purchase ProcessPre-purchase

• Awareness building 81%

• Evaluate & compare 75%

• Narrowing choices 63%

Post-purchase

• Maintaining relationship 63%

Percentage=attendees assigning ‘Very Important’ or ‘Extremely Important to in-person face-to-face interaction at exhibitions

Most Urgent Learning Needs

Industry trend insights – what’s hot?

• Industry insights 5.51

I want to connect F2F! • Professional networking 5.30

I want to excel in my job • Better job performance 5.30

I want to grow personally • Personal development 5.18

Scale of 1 to 7 where 1=Very unimportant and 7=Very Important

SHOW ME WHAT’S NEW

NEW PRODUCT INTERACTION

LET ME INTERACT WITH NEW PRODUCTS

QUESTIONS ANSWERED

I WANT TO TALK

HELP ME PROCESS

INDUSTRY TREND INSIGHTS

CONNECT FACE-TO-FACE

EXCEL IN MY JOB

GROW PERSONALLY

Interaction on Exhibit Floor

62% of Deciders

Touch, feel, smell

Most Popular F2F Settings at Exhibits

Theater Style Presentation with Some Entertainment

Theater Style Presentation without Entertainment

Small Group Demonstration with Exhibit Personnel

Provide Product or Service Information

One-on-One Demonstration with Exhibit Personnel

Face-to-Face Conversation with Exhibit Personnel

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

10%

10%

17%

19%

69%

76%

% of Attendees, N=9,215

Most Important Factors When Deciding to Attend for First Time

• Value for money 5.37• Reputation of event 5.33• Quality of speakers 5.24

Convince me you’re worth the

attending

• Network with other colleagues 5.17F2F

Opportunities?

• Info for current decisions/issues 5.14• Focused on industry sector 5.08

Relates to my industry & current

needs?

• Current technology update 5.04• Broad range of products/services 4.98• Unique demos, 4.88

Satisfy my shopping needs?

• Convenient location 4.93

Good location?

Scouts:Unique Demos, Info for Current Issues/Decisions, and Technology Update

Popular Resources Relied UponWhen Deciding to Attend

• Email from colleague 69%• Word of mouth 67%• Personal invite from exhibitor 58%

Personal Sources

• Industry publications 63%• Industry association membership 61%• Exhibitor email 57%

Known/Trusted Sources

• Exhibition organizer email 61%• Exhibition organizer website 60%• Exhibition organizer direct mail 52%

Exhibition Organizer

• Internet search 53%Digital

Social media is NOT top

ranked, 31 % or subscribed text,

29%

Corporate Event Marketers

Key Strategic Elements of Event Planning and Management

Event Strategy: Alignment w/

Business Objectives

Event Selection and Investment

Optimize Tactical Drivers of ROI/ROO

Lead Gen and Follow-up

Measure: Assess and Improve

Exhibit Surveys, Inc.

2013 Marketing Budgets Increasing/Event Budgets Decreasing

29

Source: BtoB Magazine’s 2010 to 2013 Outlook surveys.

2010 2011 2012 2013

Total Marketing Budget:

Increasing 39% 52% 41% 49%

Decreasing 13% 7% 11% 10%

Event Budgets:

Increasing 35% 44% 47% 41%

Decreasing 20% 11% 12% 15%

10%

6%

Strongest Competition for Budget from Online Marketing

30

Source: BtoB Magazine’s 2010 to 2013 Outlook surveys.

2010 2011 2012 2013

Increasing Online Budgets

73% 78% 74% 67%

Average Online Budget % 31% 35% 26% 31%

6%

Marketing Priorities of Marketers

31

Source: BtoB Magazine’s 2010 to 2013 Outlook surveys.

2010 2011 2012 2013

Demand Generation / Customer Acquisition

61% 69% 75% 69%

Brand Awareness 15% 19% 15% 18%

Customer Retention 16% 13% 10% 13%

8%3%3%

Organizers Must Prove Value

• Lead generation /fill funnel of opportunities

• Accelerate the sales process

Position exhibitions to align with marketer’s

top priority of demand gen and customer

acquisition

• Meet exhibitor needs – profile and qualityProve/substantiate quality of audience

• Hosted buyer• Access to buyers

Facilitate exhibitor meetings

• Registration company• Obtain full report to analyze effectiveness

Track lead activity

Provide information to exhibitors

Content Marketing

Definition: All marketing formats that involve the creation of sharing content for the purpose of engaging current and potential customers

Premise: delivery of high quality, relevant and valuable information

Benefits: retain attention / improve brand loyalty

72% of b2b marketers use content marketing strategy*

*Source: BtoB Magazine’s 2013 Outlook survey. **Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_marketing

Most Effective Content Marketing Tactics for Users

White Papers

Research Reports

eNewsletters

Videos

Blogs

Webinars/Webcasts

Case Studies

In-Person Events

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

57%

57%

58%

58%

59%

61%

64%

67%

Believe It's Effective

34

Source: 2013 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends, Content Marketing Institute..

EventsRank 1st in effectiveness

Revenue Generation

Attendee Engagement

Cost Containment

DIGITAL PLAYBOOK

Revenue Generation

Attendee/Visitor Engagement

Containing Cost

84%

86%

81%

84%

Containing Cost

2 Takeaways

Takeaways

Networking is important for both attendees and exhibitors

Highlight / educate on industry trends Excel in job Personal growth

Product demonstrations Conversations with exhibitors – especially industry

experts

43

Organizer must demonstrate value in terms relevant to exhibitor CMO’s

Organizer must learn to become more consultative in their approach

Organizer must deliver more (better) tools and data to help exhibitors demonstrate strategic value of exhibitions versus low cost online options

Takeaway

44

Takeaway

• Competition for marketing budget increasing– Other event channels– Other marketing channels – Exhibiting in fewer shows

• Tradeshow and event mix strategies more sophisticated for major exhibitors

45

Takeaway

Exhibitors are being challenged internally Cost reduction - the “new normal” (procurement

more involved) Marketing strategies changing – demand

generation top priority

48

AttendeesValued Information

Personal InteractionCME

OrganizerROI

Organizational Goals

SuppliersROI

SponsorsROOROI

Event Ecosystem Growth Dependent Upon Delivering Value to all Constituents

(courtesy of Exhibit Surveys, Inc.)

Value to Exhibitors• qualified audience• exhibitor experience

Value to Organizer• revenue• attendance draw

Value to Attendees• highly valued content• networking opportunities• right mix of exhibitors• attendee experience

Value to Organizer• meet organizational goals• exhibitor satisfaction

Value to Exhibitors• Engage with exhibitors• Deliver ROO/ROI

Value to Attendees• Highly valued information• 1 to 1 engagement

The industry continues to rise to the challenge of re-inventing the exhibition experience.

New era of learning and engagement

Did you know? IAEE members have access to CEIR research as a benefit of

Membership?

Thank you!David DuBois, CMP, CAE, FASAE, CTA

President & CEO, IAEE+1 (972) 687-9204 / [email protected]