Trade fairs ranked very high in the context which marketing communication tools are considered most effective vis-a-vis different marketing/sales objectives:
The German study questioned companies about their strategies in business-to-business communication and arrived at conclusion that in many marketing objectives trade fairs rank first, second or third in comparison to other tools:
Trade fairs are the best or 2nd-best instrument for achieving practically all sales objectives; generally, among all other instruments employed in the communications mix trade fairs rank 2nd in importance, only superseded by personal sales.
From the point of view of the exhibitors, the particular strengths of trade fairs lie in the achievement of corporate objectives at the beginning of the sales process such as increasing awareness of the company, image cultivation as well as the demonstration of market presence and gathering of information. Here, trade fairs rank first ahead of all other instruments such as personal sales, direct advertising, advertisements in print media, online media or company presentations.
Trade fairs are seen as 2nd-best when it is a matter of presenting innovations, increasing the awareness of products, acquiring new customers and the registering of customer wishes.
With respect to the conclusion of contracts and the direct influence of customer decisions, all instruments have only limited effectiveness, with the exception of personal sales. But even here, trade fairs take 3rd or even 2nd place. They are thus suitable for the achievement of all sales-oriented corporate objectives. The often stressed multifunctionality of the trade fair medium is thus impressively scientifically confirmed.
Source: AUMA - by EMNID Institute