Feature article—
"Future of Trade Show Marketing? You Decide."

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Remember that ability to "probe" for answers I mentioned earlier? It's a two-way street: Buyers frequently have a need to pin down ambiguous sellers as well.

So, we know this is the best tactic for the corporate businesses we are a part of. But let's also be honest: We have "job security" motivation for getting that word out, with substantiation, to the right people.

Here's where things get dicey. Anyone need to spit or rinse at this point?

According to data provided through the American Marketing Association (from McGraw-Hill Research and The Wayman Group), 1984 marketing budget levels averaged 8.9 percent of sales. That number had dropped to a mere 3.5 percent of sales just ten years later.

Accountability is also at an all-time high. When I'm making an important purchasing decision, I want to know that the seller is real. Substantial. Invested. Exhibitors show me that. On the other end of a glitzy Web Site, I risk dealing with some fly-by-night Joe in bedroom slippers, operating from his mom's basement. I like the discrimination of the trade show floor, whereon only the serious companies can exhibit well. I see what he's all about and I can watch the reactions of other buyers, customers, competitors, the media, et cetera, as they pass and visit his booth as well. That says a lot.

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