Given the ever-increasing options available to reach and influence your customer, as well as rising cost pressures, how do you take a pragmatic look at where you spend your marketing dollars and why? It seems clear to apply a cost/benefit analysis of some kind. Yet, there are gray areas when you walk this road.
An example: tradeshow marketing versus website content updates
Let’s take a look at making two investments of the same dollar amount in two different promotional activities. For the sake of this discussion, we’ll look at investments in attending a trade show or updating your website.
Tradeshow expenses include travel, booth graphics, booth space, lodging, meals, shipping, show utilities, etc. If you send three of your team members for three days, a single show might cost you $15,000. Adding content to your website includes people and, perhaps, software to track your efforts. Take a look the list of evaluation criteria below and see the potential return on these investments.
| Criteria | Trade Show | Web Updates |
|---|
| Message duration |
2-3 days of message exposure (depending on the show). |
Ongoing exposure. Site content remains as long as you need it to. |
Message
clarity |
Heavily dependent on booth design and ability to get people into the booth. |
Opportunity to tell a clear story using multiple platforms (print, video, etc.) |
Qualification
of prospects |
Leads are gathered and followed up on either during the show or after. |
Multiple entry points of interest on the site allow for custom information delivery and follow-up plans. |
| Competition |
Competition with direct competitors and other exhibitors on the show floor. |
Site found via search. With good search optimization, organic competition can be minimized. |
| Leads |
Fixed number of leads based on show attendance and interest. |
Leads are ongoing and will be fueled in the future as additional content is available. |
| Impressions |
Audience groups have limited attention, as they have other things to see and do at the show. |
The experience on the web is self-directed and audiences can spend as much time as desired. |
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