Are trade shows still worth the trip? A cost-per-lead look

We exhibit at a handful of shows a year, which means we also spend the rest of the year being asked whether we should. The honest answer is that it depends almost entirely on one number, and that number is not footfall.

Work out cost per qualified conversation

Total the booth, the build, the samples, travel, accommodation and the wages for everyone standing on the stand. Then divide by the number of conversations where the visitor already sells something adjacent to your product and left a real contact detail. Not badge scans. Conversations with a follow-up date attached.

For a small independent stand, that figure commonly lands between [60] and [140] per qualified conversation. Compare it to your cost per qualified lead from paid search and from a sample pack mailed post-introduction, and you will know whether the show earns its place.

What the show is genuinely better at

• Buyers who will not accept a relationship without meeting you. In wholesale art this is a large share of the market.
• Product feel. Paper stock, ink depth and surface treatment cannot be communicated digitally, and both are the reason our prices hold.
• Introductions. The stand next to you sells the complementary product, and that is a partnership you cannot buy.

What a show is worse at

Converting. Almost nobody places a first order on the stand. If your plan depends on show-floor orders, it will fail. The plan should be: collect evidence, follow up within five days, convert in the two months after.

A cheaper way to test the same hypothesis

Before committing to a stand, visit as a buyer for one day. Walk the floor, count how many stands sell something adjacent to yours, and talk to six of them. If the conversations are useful, the show is probably worth exhibiting at. If you spend the day talking to people who will never buy, you have saved a five-figure mistake for the price of a ticket.