Even when you’ve got the benefit of working with an experienced booth builder to create a professional environment for you and your staff at a trade show, many other factors affect your success at this event. Here are some things you can do once the dust has settled and you’re back at the office to see whether attending a trade show yielded the results you were looking for.

It Differs With Goals

Obviously, the first thing to keep in mind is that there will be different results based on different goals. Someone attending a trade show in their own city is a familiar name and face and is looking to generate business based on that reputation versus a company breaking into a new state and needing to generate brand awareness.

Different goals will have other metrics for success, so it is important to keep that in mind both during the trade show and after it’s over when assessing effectiveness.

Generating Business

If your goal is to get more business, then if you are realistic about your goals, you can set reasonable metrics for assessing your success. So while it’s not feasible to set a goal of a trillion dollars in sales over four days, $100K in sales may be feasible, depending on the business.

This would mean setting subgoals, such as hitting $25K in daily sales and monitoring which representatives bring in sales and how much.

Securing New Prospects

If your goal is to find more buyers/clients/customers, then your metrics are about something other than directly measuring sales, though this is a possible side effect. Instead, you should be measuring your validated prospects. Research those buyers or potential clients and customers and meet with them at the trade show.

Once you’ve met them, while not every meeting is going to result in a new client or customer, by applying a reasonable conversion rate, you can get a good estimate of how many of these potential meetings will go on to grow your business.

Brand Awareness

If you’re trying to introduce your company and get more people aware and talking about it, then your metrics for this go in a completely different direction. Rather than measuring sales or conversion rates, you should look at new contacts made, social media performance, and even visits to your website or social media platforms.

If you’re considering participating in a trade show and want to plan your exhibit, we can help. Contact Lighthouse Exhibits, and we can assist you with designing and constructing your trade show exhibit.