ROO: The True measure of exhibit success

Unless your company is truly unique, you're in the same boat as other  readers. Your exhibit programme is under increased pressure to measure results. There is plenty of research to prove that trade show exhibits are successful in accelerating the sales process but research is no longer enough. Today's management focuses on results for all functions of business and trade shows are no exception. Utimately, managerment wants to know: What was out return on investment (ROI)

The ROI Conundrum - Your company's management defines ROI as the amount of revenue generated by an investment. For them, ROI is black and white. This point of view creates an analysis problem. Sales conversion research confirms that most sales generated from trade show leads result from an integrated marketing effort. This means a lead generated by an exhibit that turns into a sale has multiple customer touch points (sales calls, web site visits, advertising etc.) that impact that sale. In other words, there is no black and white.

Therefore, there is no pure ROI from exhibits. Exhibit ROI can't be measured in a vacuum. To measure true ROI for each element of the trade show marketing mix, you'd have to examine each sale and each customer touch point in the sales process.

The ROO Solution - So, how do you measure an exhibit's success? ROO Return on objectives - the marketing objectives intended to move visitors along the purchasing path. Here are the underlying assumptions of ROO:

1. the target audience represents enough potential revenue to justify the investment

2. the objectives are relevant - they advance visitors along the purchasing path

To use ROO, objectives must be realistic, specific and measureable. These criteria ensure that the investment is in line with intended results. Non-specific objectives are usually not measureable. For example, an objective such as 'we want to increase awareness of our company and enhance our image at XYZ Show' is neither specific, nor measureable. On the other hand, an objective such as 'to make 30% of our target audience aware of our new line of instrumentation'is both specific and measureable.

This was part of an article in the current edition of EXHIBITOR MAGAZINE who can be contacted at www.exhibitormagazine.com - they even have a FREE newsletter for exhibitors, full of really useful tips.