Flight to Success: 6 Signs Your Aviation Trade Show Marketing Strategy is Taking Off - Mastering ROI Calculation

Flight to Success: 6 Signs Your Aviation Trade Show Marketing Strategy is Taking Off - Mastering ROI Calculation

Hello my friends and welcome to Educated Marketing Decisions, your monthly dose of practical marketing strategies - tailored to the aviation industry!

As business owners, we recognize the value of attending trade shows, and we know that it can be a significant investment. Recently, I had the privilege of attending The Honda Classic in West Palm Beach, FL, courtesy of Honda Jets, where I spoke with Tim Peters, the Global Events Manager for Honda Aircraft.

Mr. Peters explained the meticulous planning and execution required to set up an impressive Honda Jet Elite II static display for the show. Setting up a static display of a jet involves careful consideration of logistics, graphics, installation, and additional features such as TV screens, rugs, and plants to enhance the display. All these efforts are intended to generate a positive return on investment (ROI) for the business, which is the ultimate goal.

We all strive to build credibility, enhance our brand reputation, and increase customers loyalty and repeat business. However, assessing the effectiveness of our investment can be challenging.

As Peter Drucker, the esteemed management guru, famously stated, "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it.” If you don't measure, then how do you know how you are doing?

To evaluate the effectiveness of our investment, we must establish clear goals and objectives for attending trade shows, identify relevant metrics, and track our performance against these metrics. 

I have identified six metrics that can effectively indicate the investment's success in your aviation trade show:

1.  Setting clear goals and objectives before attending a trade show is a key step to achieving success at the event.

For example, you may want to focus on generating a specific number of leads during the event, increasing brand awareness, networking with industry professionals, or launching a new product. Make these goals measurable so that you can track your progress and evaluate the success of the event. 

Have a well-defined strategy for achieving them. This may involve researching the event beforehand to identify key representatives, preparing marketing materials and presentations, and planning networking activities. 

2.  Tracking the number of leads generated during a trade show is crucial for                         evaluating the success of the event and measuring the return on investment (ROI) for the company.

One way to track the number of leads generated is to use lead capture technology such as badge scanners or lead retrieval apps. These tools allow you to collect contact information from attendees who visit your booth, and can help you to quickly and efficiently gather data on the number and quality of leads generated.

According to American Images Displays, a good trade show booth with an effective marketing strategy can realistically generate an average of 5-6 leads per hour, which means they can have up to 48 qualified leads in 8 hours. However, this number can vary depending on factors such as the size of the event, the quality of the leads generated, and the effectiveness of your marketing strategy.

3.  Comparing the revenue generated against the costs of attending the event can provide valuable insights into the financial impact of participating in the trade show.

To calculate the ROI, you will need to consider the total cost of attending the event, including booth rental, travel expenses, marketing materials, and other related costs. You will also need to factor in the revenue generated from the event, including sales made at the event, leads generated that later converted to sales, and other related revenue.

Once you have these figures, you can use the following formula to calculate the ROI:

ROI = (Revenue - Cost) / Cost x 100

For example, if your total cost of attending a trade show was $10,000, and you generated $15,000 in revenue from the event, your ROI would be calculated as follows:

ROI = ($15,000 - $10,000) / $10,000 x 100 = 50%

This means that for every dollar invested in the trade show, you generated 50 cents in profit.

ROI is not the only metric to consider when evaluating the success of a trade show. Dan Shaw, in his article "How to measure Trade Show ROI", suggests going a level deeper and measuring ROO (Return on Objectives) to assess how well your marketing objectives are working. ROO takes into account the specific goals and objectives that you set for the trade show, such as generating leads, increasing brand awareness, launching a new product, or networking with industry professionals. 

4.   Evaluating engagement is a crucial aspect of measuring the success of a trade show, as it provides valuable insights into how attendees interacted with your brand and the effectiveness of your marketing strategy.

Monitoring social media mentions has become an increasingly popular way to evaluate engagement at trade shows. By tracking social media mentions, news articles, content blogs, and other PR launches generated from the event, you can gain insights into the level of buzz generated by your brand and the effectiveness of your marketing strategy in generating interest and excitement.

5.  Collecting feedback from attendees is a critical step in evaluating the success of a trade show and identifying areas for improvement in future events.

Telephone interviews can be an effective way to gather in-depth feedback from attendees, as they allow you to ask open-ended questions and probe for additional details. 

Mail or snail mail questionnaires are another effective way to gather feedback from attendees, particularly for those who may not be comfortable with online surveys. Offering a small incentive, such as a discount on future purchases, can help to increase response rates.

Online surveys are an efficient and cost-effective way to gather feedback from attendees, particularly for larger events. By using tools such as SurveyMonkey or Google Forms, you can easily create and distribute surveys to attendees, and collect and analyze responses in real-time.

Run a raffle or provide something of value in exchange for completing a survey or providing feedback. This can help to increase response rates and encourage attendees to provide detailed feedback, particularly if the incentive is directly related to your brand or products. 

6.  Comparing the results from a trade show to previous events is an important step in evaluating the success of your marketing strategy and measuring the effectiveness of your approach over time.

If you have not previously measured the ROI of your trade show efforts in a structured manner, starting with two or three metrics based on your objectives can be a good place to start. 

Once you have established a baseline for these metrics, you can compare your results from the current event to previous events and identify areas of improvement. 

It can be valuable to benchmark your performance against industry averages or competitors. This can help you to gain insights into how your performance compares to others in your industry and identify areas for improvement.

Overall, effective use of metrics is essential for evaluating the success of your aviation trade show investment and making data-driven decisions on how to improve for future events. By carefully selecting and tracking metrics that align with your objectives, and analyzing the data to identify trends and patterns, you can gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of your marketing strategy, call to action and make educated marketing decisions about your investment in aviation trade shows. 

What are some of the challenges you have faced when calculating your ROI? 

Let me know in the comments. 

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And of course, if you found value in this, please share it with your aviation network. 

Rebekah Knaster

Founder of Becks and the Jets

Thank you Honda Aircraft Company for extending the invitation to the Honda Classic ⛳️  It was truly a great event and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to attend. #aviation #hondajet