If you have an accountant in your company, the conversation about spending money to go to a trade show might go something like this: the sales department needs to go the XYZ trade show in any town, USA and the bill is going to be around $20,000. We had a great time last year; we ate at this restaurant, stayed in this hotel, and went to these extra events. We need to be at this trade show!!!!! The accountant looks at you and says that it is not in the budget. You only gave the accountant the dollar info and what you did, thus the answer is we do not have the money. If you went to the accountant with this and all of the facts of the ROI, the conversation might sound like this. The sales department needs to go the XYZ trade show in any town, USA and the bill is going to be around $20,000. Not only is the trade show going to cost $20,000 we also want to take a few clients out for an extra event which will cost $5,000 which brings the total to $25,000. Now before you say no, here is some information you need to consider. During the last show at this location, over 5,000 people attended the show. We ended up having over 150 leads from the show, which turned into 10 new partners, which have been with us since the show. Those partners have produced over $100,000 in revenue to our company in the last year. Thus spending a mere $25,000 for the sales department to be at this show will have a 4 to 1 payoff. The accountant will look at the numbers, write the check then, and wish you a great trip.
Now, the question is what trade show should your company have a booth. In the affiliate marketing industry there are several trade shows that allow you to have the exposure that is needed. There is Affiliate Summit, Ad-Tech, and Leads-Con. All of these have shows both in the West Coast and East Coast, and some have International shows as well. Some of the shows run as much as $15,000 for a booth. For Burstabit Media we have chosen to attend the larger shows for last year and this coming year, to maximize our dollar value to attendees. This upcoming Ad-Tech, which will be held in New York City on Nov 3-4, we will be in booth 913.
Trade shows have proven to be one of the most effective ways to allow affiliate-marketing companies to gain access to the decision makers. There have been studies done in several trade magazines, and trade show publications about the types of people that attend trade shows as attendees rather than having a booth. Over 77% of the attendees have some kind of buying power, 63% of those are looking to buy at the show. There are 79% of the attendees will be a new contact for your business, yes there is some exception to this number in example Coke, or Nike. The attendees will tell six-plus other people about their experience if it was good or better, and will tell 20 people if the experience was not good. For the affiliate marketing company if the trade show has 5,000 attendees at a previous show, then the promoters should have around the same number or more at the next one. The question to you as an affiliate marketing company is how many of these 5,000 people would you like to tell your story to and have as a partner to your company.
Branding
The next step in allowing your affiliate company to grow is to have a brand that is recognized across the industry. This process will not happen overnight unless a huge amount of money is spent to get the branding done. The most effective way to have a trusted brand and one that is recognizable across the industry is to establish your company as an expert, attend the trade shows, and be able to market your company. Having a brand that will set your company apart will allow other aspects of your business to grow, for example word of mouth and a referral program.
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