Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Cutting Down Your Trade Show Budget

Cutting budgets. It’s something many of us have come to dread in past years. But in this penny pinching micro managed corporate world its common place.

When a recession or internal volatility occur, a company immediately looks at cutting budgets. Typically, the first to the chopping block is inevitably training, followed closely behind by marketing. Both are viewed as expenditures rather than income generators, so obviously they’re hot contenders for elimination.

As our author states, this is a very myopic way of thinking, especially for companies who desire to be globally competitive. Instead, at times like these when resources are under severe scrutiny, it should be looked upon as a golden opportunity to analyze company strategies.

Our author offers some benefits to success for marketing and how they relate to tradeshows.
Take a few moments and read the attached article to understand each benefit in detail for I’ve only offered one benefit below.

1. Analyze your weakest links
Examine your operation in detail, and you might discover that many of your actions are done out of habit rather than being productive or profitable. Think about some of the shows that you attend and how do they really fit into your marketing strategy. Are you attending them just because you’ve always done so, or because your competition is there? These are often your weak links, the shows that utilize unnecessary time and energy.

Another weak link is often associated with excessive employee spending at shows, such as dining at the finest restaurants and ordering the highest priced items just because the boss is paying. Consider setting up a per diem allowance and make employees accountable for expenses.

A Smash Hit Displays understands exhibiting is a powerful extension of any company’s marketing strategy and its people are the backbone. Eliminating a portion of marketing or training budgets during times of recession is tantamount to profitability suicide. As referenced above, consider looking at other places to make those cuts and focus more on the shows that make the most sense. Should you desire expert advice on display options (tabletop pop up exhibit, table top panel trade show booths, or trade show booth truss) or trade show signage please give us a call. We are here to help make that next show as profitable as possible.

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