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Lenox Mhlanga

How to maximise return on expo investment

by Editorial Team November 23, 2022

written by Editorial Team

Lenox Lizwi Mhlanga

The Sanganai/Hlanganani World Travel Expo ended on a very high note.

The weeks following the exhibition were dedicated by exhibitors to ensuring that the return on their investment counts.

The timing of this article is deliberate in that measurable results from participation at a trade show of this kind take time to manifest. It is a conundrum that has escaped the understanding of colleagues within the organisation.

We can conclude that the exhibition itself was successful for the Sanganai/Hlanganani World Travel Expo, in the sense that 100 international buyers came through while 270 exhibitors out of an initial target of 250 participated.

The expo ticked all the boxes, staging memorable events that impressed both local and foreign guests.

When asked during an interview, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority Chief Executive Officer, Winnie Muchanyuka mentioned that the results of expos can only be measured over the medium to the long term. This is the reason for this article, to assist participants to make the most of their post-show strategy.

Every exhibitor at Sanganai/Hlanganani World Travel Expo invested significantly in participating and marketing their tourism product. We have seen how trade shows are highly instrumental in promoting a business. An exhibitor, therefore, needs to be sure they are making a good return on investment for the amount that they are putting into a single show.

One of the objectives of exhibitors at any exhibition is to make as many connections as possible. The other form of measurement is the impression created on those who attend the event. According to experts, the best way to improve return on investment or ROI is to make an exhibit as memorable as possible, so that the brand presence impacts visitors positively.

This was amply displayed by exhibits that went on to win awards based on their quality. Those exhibits that stood out in various categories were celebrated at a ceremony staged for the event. One should accept that it can be quite difficult to make an exhibit stand out.

I have indicated in previous articles that the increase in the use of social media and online advertising, meeting people face-to-face continues to be the most effective way to increase long-term exposure. This is the main reason why trade shows continue to exist throughout the world.

“Trade shows act as a good platform for exhibitors to connect with other professionals with shared interests. It enables them to build new partnerships as well as meet with their target audience. These partnerships can prove quite profitable in future while letting exhibitors increase their brand awareness,” a leading exhibition consultancy firm says.

I mentioned that your show strategy is important because it ensures that you identify and meet all your objectives. They incorporate things such as one’s sales and growth strategies and ensure the tradeshow will well balance out that strategy. One has to determine how many leads they are looking at generating and whether the business relationships that one aims to make will benefit the business later on.

One of the most critical activities in the post-event period is to follow up on the leads generated at the event. A database should have been compiled during the expo with all the relevant information such as contact details and areas of interest. These details can then be used to decide if the lead is worthy of a follow-up after the event. A call to qualified leads will be appreciated by potential clients who are still making up their minds on what offer to take. Remember that they are spoiled for choice.

Use a good strategy for your follow-ups. You can also make sure that you have a measurable impact, by using a customer relationship management (CRM) tool that will allow you to input data about customers from the time of lead generation to the time of purchase. This is a great way to let you know whether the money that you put in was worth it and to learn better ways to invest for future shows.

At the end of the day, you need to be able to measure the return on investment that you gained by participating in the trade event. The main formula that you can use here is to see what the difference in gross profit has been subtracted from the marketing expenses and then divide that result by the total marketing expenses. The marketing expenses will include everything and anything related to the trade show. This would include the cost of the booth, flights to and from the event, hotel stays, food and beverages, drayage and booking costs.

The next part of calculating the ROI is to measure the leads and sales that were generated as a result of participating in the trade show. You can use a CRM tool that will tag each and every lead that was used during the sales event. This lets you view how many customers tagged to the event actually ended up purchasing products from your company.

Have a meeting after your regular sales cycle to discuss the analysis of these metrics. You will be surprised to see just how good a return on investment different approaches brought. You can also brainstorm with your team to see what you can do differently at the next trade event. If you have made a good percentage of profits over what you have invested in the trade show event, then you have done a good job.

Thanks to advanced technology and digital efforts, exhibitors now have the power to be able to measure the impact of their booth on their audience so that they can better evaluate the effect on their results. By using the right strategies, you can make sure that your trade show booth gives you the return on investment that you would expect. Through a good booth, effective marketing and the right follow-up, you can be the star of the show while maximising your profits for the sales cycle.

At the end of the day, you need to know if the trade show was worth it. The main formula that can help you determine this is to subtract the gross profit from the marketing expenses. The marketing expenses include everything and anything related to the tradeshow. This includes the cost of participating at the event, that is, the booth rental, transport, hotel stay, food and beverage, and bookings.

Next, you should calculate the number of leads that were generated as a direct result of attending the trade show. A CRM tool can be used to track each and every lead that came through the door. This lets you see how many customers tagged to tradeshow actually ended up buying products from your company.

After the regular sales cycle, have a meeting to discuss the analysis of the data. You will be amazed to see just how much money you can make off of one trade show. If you have made a good percentage of profits over the amount that you spent on the trade show, then you have done an excellent job.

Use the information that you gathered to brainstorm new ways to improve your performance at future events. If you have made enough money to cover your expenses, then you have done well. With the advancement of modern technology, exhibitors now have access to powerful tools that allow them to measure the impact of the booth on their audience.

By using the right strategy, you can ensure that your trade show booth brings about the desired results. Through a good booth design, effective marketing and the proper follow-up, you can maximise your profits for the sales period. This and other strategies can put you in good stead with the guys at finance and, of course, put you in good stead for justifying your participation at the next expo.

Lenox Lizwi Mhlanga is a communications strategist with 20 years of experience in the profession and counsels organisations in the private and public sectors. He has worked for the World Bank and is an adviser to local and regional PR agencies. He can be contacted on +263 772 400 656 and Email: lenoxmhlanga@gmail.com.

November 23, 2022 0 comment

Exhibitions

ZITF awards judges’ criteria unpacked

by Editorial Team May 22, 2022

written by Editorial Team

Following the honouring of some exhibitors at the 2022 edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF), there was an uproar from some members of the public who questioned the suitability of some of the winning entities. One such company that some felt did not deserve an award was the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), which won in the mining and engineering category.

They queried how the parastatal, which they felt was struggling, could have scooped an award in any category at the international exhibition. This brought into question the issue of the criteria used by the ZITF panel of judges to come up with the winners in various categories.

The issue was addressed last week by Sunshine Corporate Communications Managing Consultant, Lenox Mhlanga who was part of a panel discussion on the topic “Key Lessons Learnt from ZITF2022” which was hosted by LevelAge Corporate Communications. Mhlanga has been a judge at both the ZITF and the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show for many years.

Mhlanga prefaced his presentation by explaining that the results of the judging process were not in any way reflective of the current status of the organisation that was exhibiting. Rather, he said, it was a value judgement of the exhibit itself and nothing else.

The public relations expert highlighted that in view of the uproar, there was need for show organisers to educate the public and exhibitors about the awards and the attendant processes. He stressed the independence of the judges from the ZITF Company, which organises the exhibition.

“Perhaps that (judging criteria and process) is something that we need to teach the public that what we are judging is basically what is at the trade fair, the exhibits at the trade fair. I think another thing that exhibitors should know is that the judges’ panel is independent of ZITF. (It is) selected from a wide cross-section of people from business, from NGOs and just right across. Most of these people are experienced. They have been judging for five or more years. So in terms of credibility and integrity of the judges’ panel, that I vouch for,” he said.

Mhlanga outlined the judges’ criteria, which were made up of four main items.

“So there are four critical points that we look at. That is the overall impression, originality, the information presented at the stand and the quality of personnel at the stand. So those are the key criteria that we look at. For the overall impression, we look first at the impact. What is the first impact when someone arrives at the stand?

“The attractiveness, the movement, the colour, the graphics – all those factors are considered. So overall impression is quite key. In fact, when it comes to issues around originality, you’ll notice that; that has the most marks because that’s what attracts a visitor to your stand, you know that first impression – what we call the wow factor,” Mhlanga said.

Mhlanga highlighted the importance of the visual impression of the stand and the relevance of the overall exhibition to the trade fair’s theme.

“As visitors approach the stand, what is it that attracts them to the stand? What is interesting about the stand? Packaging? What are the benefits to the visitors? You might have give-aways. You might have displays on the stand. What is the relevance? Usually, relevance is linked to the theme of the ZITF and that is the key point. We’ve noticed that a number of exhibitors have missed this point completely. This is something you need to consider each time you exhibit at the ZITF. How does your exhibit relate to the theme?” he said.

The Sunshine Corporate Communication boss explained the originality and information criteria.

“Originality is the display. What is the display depicting? Is it representative of who you are as an organisation? In terms of information, what kind of information is there – static or information from the personnel? Sometimes people read the information for themselves on the stand and in some stands, exhibitors choose to take their visitors through. So it depends on what you choose to put out there in terms of information,” Mhlanga said.

Mhlanga emphasised the importance of stand personnel both as a judges’ criterion and a success factor for the exhibitors’ participation efforts.

“Personnel is very, very important. Again, quite a number of points there, 20 points. Presentation is key. A lot of organisations have found that people in uniform are easier to identify than people wearing their own attire. A lot of people believe that it is not representative of the organisation. What is there about presentation – make up, cultural sensitivity, language and attitude? Are the people at the stand welcoming? Are they eager to assist? And also are they knowledgeable about the company, the organisation (and) the products? All these things are taken together in terms of personnel,” he said.

Regarding competitions and awards, Mhlanga advised exhibitors to minimise the number of competitions they entered and to go for those which pertained to their sectors.

“There are those who think that if I enter my organisation in four competitions then I will at least win one. We would advise that you select the competition which is most appropriate to the industry or the sector that you are in. Obviously, there are those who believe that they are good enough to enter the overall competition, the best Zimbabwean stand competition. That one you can aim for but also try to look for a competition that relates to your industry best. Some exhibitors won because they didn’t have as much competition as in other groups. That is also very key. So choose the appropriate competition that you fit into,” Mhlanga said.

May 22, 2022 0 comment

Exhibitions Organisers

COVID-19 wreaks havoc on the exhibitions calendar

by Editorial Team September 4, 2021

written by Editorial Team

The COVID-19 pandemic third wave has created scheduling challenges for exhibition organisers as most events are now set to be held in the last quarter of the year.

The ZITF, which is normally held in April, was initially set to be held in July but was moved to August before being postponed again to 21 to 24 September due to the high infection and fatality figures of the pandemic during most of the winter season. Last week Zimbabwe Agricultural Society (ZAS) Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Andrew Matibiri announced that this year’s Zimbabwe Agricultural Show (formerly the Harare Agricultural Show) would run from 27 September to 1 October. The Zim-Afro Medical and Healthcare Expo is also set to be held in Harare on 28 and 29 October.

The scheduling and re-scheduling of two major business events in the country affected the slots of other events on the exhibition calendar. The organisers of the SME International Expo, which is normally held in October, had to move the event to the following month to manage a possible clash in dates.

“The Expo is on (but) we have moved it to November. This was necessitated by the changing dates for the ZITF and the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show,” SME International Expo Chief Executive Officer, Delight Makotose, told Business Events this last week.

While some Zimbabwean exhibitions are industry-specific, large ones such as the ZITF and the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show cater for many sectors. The clash of event dates, therefore can create problems for exhibitors that stand to benefit from two events with conflicting dates.

The fact that The Zimbabwe Agricultural Show is expected to start two days after the end of ZITF saw some people wondering whether one event would not affect the other in one way or the other. Although the two shows cater for different market segments, have different objectives and targets and are not in competition, some felt that the ZITF was in an advantageous position in that some of its exhibitors had already paid last year although the event was eventually cancelled owing to the pandemic and the covid-19 measures like the lockdown, restricted gathering numbers and the social distancing requirement.

“Both exhibitions have been adversely affected and the fact that there will restrictions on numbers and no public days (gate takings being a major source of revenue) will be key. (For some companies) it will be a case of exhibiting at ZITF or the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show. (The) ZITF will have a one-up on the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show because (some) exhibitors had already paid to exhibit,” said Sunshine Corporate Communications Managing Consultant and exhibitions expert, Lenox Mhlanga.

Others felt that, apart from other exhibitors, the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show would benefit from agricultural exhibitors.

“The SMEs and farmers who (normally) exhibit at the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show will do so. Many of the SMEs and farmers don’t go to ZITF because of distance and costs,” weighed in corporate communications specialist and corporate events planner, Chipo Mapungwana.

The ZITF, however, each exhibition year dedicates an exhibition hall for SMEs some of which participate with the assistance of the export promotion body, ZimTrade.

The pandemic similarly effected both the ZITF and the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show last year but the latter managed to hold a smaller event with no public days. Also affected were provincial agricultural shows which failed to hold their annual events except for the Mashonaland West Agricultural Show, whose exhibition was held in November.

September 4, 2021 0 comment