One of my passions is numbers. I’m not an accountant, but I am a researcher who loves working with statistics. My curious mind is always asking, what do these numbers mean? The next question I consider is – so what? How can these figures be used to improve, change, or end a marketing program? Throughout my long consulting career, I have often been asked to figure out the ROI on various marketing programs, including:

  • trade shows
  • private events
  • seminars
  • executive briefings centers
  • permanent exhibit facilities: the former INFOMART

Let’s concentrate on trade show ROI for today. I know there is a growing trend in assessing the return on various marketing programs and that is good news. Can exhibit marketing demonstrate its effectiveness? Well, maybe…

Trade shows have value and can show results if the marketing professional understands how to do it. Sadly, many companies have limited knowledge and time for this. While most marketers excel in planning and logistics, they often struggle with measuring ROI. They have a general idea of what it should look like, but getting into the details feels too complicated for them. When this happens, my clients seek my help for objective support in evaluating the outcomes of their trade shows.

Let the Numbers Fight For You

Provided is a general number you can use to calculate trade show ROI using the 2009 Oxford Economic Institute research on overall business travel. In the research they had various categories for travel and one trip type was for trade shows. In the graph below, please look at the percent of the travel budget associated with trade shows and then on the ROI figure.


Using the mid-point range of this statistic, you can say for every dollar spent on a trade show, a company can calculate a $5.00 return. As an example, if a company spent $10,000 for a trade show, their return would be $50,000.

However, your numbers could be higher than this. An example, Skip Cox from Exhibit Surveys provided me with a number, using the ROI Tool Kit. The exhibitor had a 10 x 10 booth at a technology show several years ago, and could show a 12:1 return. That is an impressive number.

The statistic from the Oxford Economic Institute can be your first step in evaluating your exhibition efforts. Happy calculating!