Two Misunderstandings That Must Be Paid Attention To And Avoided During The Exhibition

What kind of exhibitions should enterprises attend? Answering this question is simple but not so easy. It is said that it is simply because there are thousands of exhibitions held every year in China. The huge number means that "there is always one suitable for you", but it is not easy to understand that "which one is suitable for me"? Some enterprises believe that "children can't catch the wolf" and insist that they can't get into the exhibition unless they are famous, while others are penny pinching and casting nets everywhere. Are these all appropriate? Let's hear some opinions from industry experts.

Low exhibition fee is not equal to low cost

It depends on the level of service provided by the sponsor

There are many enterprises that take the exhibition expenses as the primary indicator when choosing exhibitions, and always pursue exhibitions with low exhibition expenses, which is understandable in business. After all, for the majority of small and medium-sized enterprises, the limited capital makes them have to be diligent and thrifty. However, if you make such a decision just because you think that low exhibition fees are equal to low costs, you are entering the wrong area of exhibition. Huang Jiyi, general manager of Lizard Enterprise Management Consulting Co., Ltd., believes that although the money paid by enterprises to participate in the exhibition is ostensibly to buy booths, the exhibition should provide exhibitors with more than that. If the exhibitors cannot provide necessary support for publicity, construction, information and other services, the exhibition will lose its significance.

The research data of the United States in 2000 showed that during the exhibition process, the percentage of visitors attracted by various means was 46% for advertising, 104% for sponsoring exhibitions, 77% for press conferences, and 86% for hospitality activities. These activities were inseparable from the participation of exhibitors. Too low exhibition costs often meant that organizers had to split the east to make up the west, Attract business and gain profits at the expense of the above software and hardware service quality. For such an exhibition, no matter how low the exhibition fee, you should not attend it, because it is just a waste. Therefore, low exhibition fee does not mean low cost. Only when we find the "right" can we choose the "expensive".

In order to find the "right" exhibition from the sea of exhibitions, enterprises should not only rely on the various activities and services provided by exhibitors, but also practice their internal skills and make sufficient preparations in advance to make a difference. That is to say, the exhibition not only needs to establish specific goals, but also needs to know what means to rely on to achieve it.

Stephen Sind, president of PentonMedia.Inc in the United States, believes that for enterprises, the purpose of participating in the exhibition is actually to promote their own products and obtain orders, but to achieve the ultimate goal of marketing, there must be a lot of groundwork ahead. Through investigation, research institutions ranked the importance of exhibition marketing purposes. They ranked 42.4% of new customers, 38.6% of product image, 37.4% of new customers, 32.2% of qualified customers, 29.1% of existing potential customers and 16.9% of orders.

While many enterprises often rush to sign up for the exhibition only when the boss wants to. Notice that opportunities always favor the prepared mind. Exhibitions are not just about standing on the platform, handing out business cards and leaflets. Wang Huijun, Deputy Minister of the Exhibition Department of CCPIT Guangzhou, believes that it often takes 6 to 8 months to prepare for an exhibition. Huang Jiyi emphasized that exhibitors should make efforts to create highlights and attract attention through careful planning at the exhibition, and the end of the exhibition does not mean the end of the marketing activities of exhibitors. Instead, they should keep in touch and communicate with customers collected at the exhibition, and send people to visit the exhibition when necessary to show the strength and sincerity of the company.

We should not pursue the exhibition scale unilaterally

It depends on whether the exhibition is professional

Similarly, when choosing exhibitions, some enterprises often take the big enterprises in the industry as the benchmark for their own evaluation and follow the "boutique route", which is not entirely reasonable. In this regard, Wang Huijun pointed out that now many private enterprises always go to the same world famous exhibition together, regardless of whether their products are suitable for the exhibition, they would rather wait for many years after deciding that they can't get into an exhibition, and some would not participate in other related exhibitions even after waiting for six years. However, it should be understood that the different scale of enterprises will naturally lead to their different exhibition goals.

For large enterprises, exhibition is not only limited to promoting products and contacting customers, but also includes the consideration of shaping the overall image of the enterprise and maintaining the consistent brand in many cases. To achieve these additional goals, we have to pay additional costs. However, the reason why the exhibition has such high value is that it is a colorful stage, from which enterprises with different needs can take their own needs. There is no established purpose standard that is consistent with all. For most small and medium-sized enterprises, there is no resource and necessity to bear these additional costs. They should make the best investment in the exhibition, rather than blindly follow.

Wang Huijun reminded that the threshold for famous exhibitions is getting higher and higher. For example, many German exhibitions began to conduct qualification examination and certification for exhibitors, while in the past, only a few exhibitions, such as the Nuremberg Toy Fair in Germany, required exhibitors to provide report based business conditions and professional websites, but now more and more exhibition organizers have put forward this requirement, For example, only exhibitors with self-developed brands are allowed to participate in the Australian Fashion Show.

Not all enterprises can meet these thresholds. Therefore, enterprises should not wait and try other relevant markets. Huang Jiyi made a vivid analogy about this. He believed that many enterprises went to the exhibition with the idea of making a big success and making a big splash. They thought that they could get many big orders just by attending the exhibition once, but the fact was that the past was always against their wishes. Then they began to complain about what was ineffective and the money was wasted.

It's like falling in love. Love at first sight is always rare. The exhibition platform provides more opportunities for "blind date", but we should start from leaving a good impression on the other party, and show our advantages step by step. Therefore, every exhibition is a preparation or foreshadowing. Only by continuing to participate in the exhibition and making continuous efforts can we "achieve success". Don't give up halfway, or it will be like boiling water. Even if the temperature reaches 98 degrees, if it stops, it will still be 98 degrees, not boiling water, so you should continue to boil until it boils down. The same is true whether you want to enter a famous exhibition or not. It is not that a single investment will definitely bring returns. If the strength of the enterprise cannot support this continuous investment, you should choose some exhibitions that are more suitable for your own needs, smaller in scale and lower in cost.