How to choose the right event to exhibit

Whatever industry you’re in, there’s an event for you. In fact, there are exhibitions dedicated entirely to event organisers, so there really is something for everyone. But having options is only half the battle. Choosing the wrong exhibition is a bit like forcing a square peg into a round hole, the event might look great on paper, but in reality it just won’t work. And the more you try, the more it ends up costing.

So how do you make sure you’re choosing the right event and not just the most convenient one?

The real cost of choosing the wrong event

Unless you’re Richard Pryor in Brewster’s Millions, burning through your marketing budget isn’t the plan. But that’s exactly what happens when you commit to the wrong exhibition. Because it doesn’t matter how good your messaging and stand design are, or how enthusiastic your team are on the day, none of it will save you if:

The audience isn’t the right fit for what you sell
Attendees are there to learn or network, not to buy
The event format doesn’t suit how you sell
The timing doesn’t align with your sales cycle, or your customers’ buying patterns.

If any of those are true, it doesn’t matter how many conversations you have on the day, you won’t be talking to the right people.

That’s why choosing the right event is the single more important decision you’ll make before a single penny is spent. So, where do you start?

Start with audience relevance, not event popularity

Let’s put it another way, would you prefer to be in a room of 100 where there are 70 hot prospects, or would you rather be in a room with 10,000 where there are still only 70 hot prospects? On paper the opportunity looks the same, but the probability of actually getting in front of all 70 is vastly different. In a crowd of 10,000 your ideal customer could walk straight past you and you’d never know it. Size isn’t the same as relevance. And relevance is what wins.

Just because it’s a big event, doesn’t make it a good opportunity

Relevance beats scale every time. Don’t get me wrong, there could be a large event within your industry that is a treasure trove just waiting for you, but you need to make sure it’s the right fit. So, whatever the size of the event you’re considering, be sure to ask:

Who actually attends this event?
Why do they attend?
What geographical markets are the attendees working in?
Are they buyers, influencers, peers, or browsers?
Do attendees typically have the authority to sign off a purchasing decision?
Does this match how and when people usually buy from us?

If you’re a first time exhibitor it can be tempting to go straight for your industry’s flagship event, finally being in the same room as your competitors and the great and the good of your sector. But, especially if your sole goal is generating new leads, a smaller, niche exhibition with a highly aligned audience will almost always deliver better ROI. That’s because the quality of conversations matters far more than the quantity, and a room full of the right people will always outperform a hall full of the wrong ones.

Be sceptical of headline footfall numbers

There are some good event organisers out there, and some very creative ones when it comes to their metrics. When an exhibition markets itself to you, it will invariably lead with statistics around:

Attendee numbers
“Decision maker” percentages
Impressive‑sounding growth statistics
Amount of business done

The thing with statistics is, you can nearly always make them look good. So, while they may sound impressive, take them with a pinch of salt to begin with and do your own research, try to understand the true quality of exhibiting there. Ask:

How many exhibitors are competing for attention?
How much time do attendees spend in the exhibition area? For instance are the attendees required to be in conference sessions?
Are people attending to buy, learn, network, or simply attend talks?
Do the same companies typically return year after year?

These insights will provide you with a far clearer picture than just footfall alone. They’ll help you understand the dynamics of the exhibition and if it is worth your time and money.

Use previous exhibitors as your strongest indicator

If an exhibition regularly delivers quality buyers, then companies that have exhibited previously will see it as a guaranteed source of leads and keep coming back. That repeat presence is one of the strongest signals of a worthwhile event. Start by looking at the exhibitor list to understand:

Are businesses similar to ours exhibiting?
Do those businesses return the following year?
Is the exhibitor base dominated by large brands, or is there a healthy SME presence?
Are competitors present, and if so, does that validate the audience?

If smaller companies rarely return, it’s worth understanding why before committing.

If you’ve worked through the process above and started to identify events that look like the right fit, you’re already ahead of most first-time exhibitors. But before you sign on the dotted line there’s still some important due diligence to do.

In the next blog we’ll be walking through exactly what to look out for before you commit, because finding the right event and making sure it’s right for you are two subtly different things.

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