At Westrade we know our events hit the target time and time again and when approached with the right right strategy can be one of the most rewarding forms of marketing. Whether you’re an exhibitor, a sponsor or a delegate, our events continue to deliver an unrivalled return on your investment.

Events are arguably the most intimate experience of your brand and provide a fantastic way to communicate your points of differentiation. With so much digital noise, companies acknowledge the importance of face-to-face interaction and giving ‘real time’  networking the attention it deserves. On the phone, you’re just another voice: in person you become someone that they know, recognize and want to connect with. Furthermore, those that don’t commit to a deal in person will become far more responsive to your sales efforts once they know you as a genuine individual instead of just another salesperson.

Events are incredibly influential in getting buyers over the line – 95% of consumers say attending an event makes them more likely to buy the product being promoted.  According to the Simmons Market Research Bureau, almost half of attendees make purchases at trade shows.  What’s more, face-to-face meetings have been proven to be the most effective way to strengthen relationships with both prospective and current customers. It’s pretty rare for customers to commit to large deals over email or a phone call yet trade shows are often a place where customers will approach you with their long term plans and big orders – orders that can be incredibly lucrative for you as an exhibitor.

When your business attends a major industry event, it puts itself at the centre of the action. Trade shows are the perfect platform for businesses to announce and display their latest innovations and developments. This means you get a chance to look at your competitors’ cutting-edge developments as well as maybe taking centre stage to announce a few of your own. Why not also send your technical staff to trade shows and let them attend presentations that keep you up to date with new technologies, techniques and industry trends?  After all, keep your customers close and your competitors closer.

Consumers continue to openly align their allegiance to brands who market at live events and actively reach out to them to achieve a two-way engagement.  A brand’s presence at a live event, such as an exhibition, undoubtedly has a positive effect on their perception of that brand  What’s more, If you can design an exhibition stand that attracts the right type of attention, a single exhibition can be all it takes to change your brand from up and coming to established industry leader.

Every single person at an exhibition can be viewed as potential customer of your offering. Exhibitions put your potential and existing customers all in one place, all at the same time and provide an incredible opportunity to source new avenues of business. Shows have a defined audience profile and deliver immediate access to a targeted buying group: 91% of all trade show attendees (https://money.howstuffworks.com/trade-show1.htm) claim that shows are ‘extremely useful’ to their product and service sourcing efforts. If you’re exhibiting at a show with tens of thousands of attendees, you can expect a return of over 200 visitors per day.

Attendees are looking for new products and services. Unlike traditional outbound marketing in which rejection is the norm, trade shows are one of the few environments in which your sales team benefits from an audience of prospective customers that are genuinely interested in buying your products and services. 88% of show visitors say such events are key to sourcing and buying products.  In all, 73% rate trade shows as either ‘extremely valuable’ or ‘valuable’. In addition, 71% find trade shows are the best way to meet existing and new business contacts.
Accessing a selection of relevant products and suppliers is a massive selling point for exhibitors. A show is the second most effective means of generating sales leads after a company’s own website. The show gives visitors the ability to meet with a wide variety of players face-to-face and to expand both your contact book and your supply chain. Vertical trade shows are also particularly useful in soliciting a huge amount of feedback that can help your business expand and improve.
Events ensure we recall information. According to research, the degree to which a consumer recollects what they have seen or heard relates is directly linked to how they interact. After 48 hours, they will only remember 5% of what they have heard whilst 50% remember what is demonstrated and a staggering 95% recall what they interacted with.