2018 is here, and everyone in the trade show industry is in full swing with their focus on upcoming shows. 2017 is long gone from the trade show world, and it’s truly a thing of the past.
Today, our emphasis is on helping clients strategize around how they can differentiate on the show floor, be more memorable with their on-site presence, and further help our clients engage at trade shows.
Before we completely forget about 2017, we received a fantastic report from the Center for Exhibit Industry Research, also known as CEIR, called 2017 How the Exhibit Dollar is Spent. When reading through, we found some really interesting nuggets about how exhibitors allocated their resources in 2017. The study also outlined a few predictions for 2018 that we think you’ll find interesting.
Takeaways from 2017
Roughly $25 billion was spent on exhibiting in 2017! Here’s how it breaks down:
Exhibit space: 37.9%
Show services: 12.9%
Exhibit design & fabrication (including graphics): 11.4%
Travel and entertainment: 10.9%
Shipping & transportation of exhibit materials: 8.9%
On-site promotional materials: 5.2%
Off show floor promotional expenses: 3.9%
On-site sponsorship/advertising: 2.9%
Lead management & measurement: 2.7%
Pre-show promotions: 1.7%
Exhibit staff training: 0.7%
Other: 1.0%
Exhibitors with larger booths allocated more of their resources to the design of their space as well as shipping fees.
When looking at companies with smaller budgets, they spent slightly more on giveaways, lead management equipment, and services.
Look-Aheads for 2018
60% of exhibitors plan to either refurbish their current booth, purchase a new one, or rent an exhibit.
We find this point really interesting: Larger companies plan to refurbish their booths, where slightly more mid-range companies plan to invest in a completely new exhibit.
As it relates to industry specifics, almost two-thirds of medical and health care companies that exhibit plan to use the same booth as 2017. When looking at communication and IT companies that are exhibiting in 2018, more plan to use their same booth yet have a higher intent to rent. The industrial/heavy machinery and finished business inputs industries also have more plans to rent exhibits.
The trends from the report showcased that companies with more square footage on the show floor plan to rent an exhibit vs. those who use a smaller footprint on the show floor.
All of this to say, the trade show industry is not slowing down, it’s continuing to grow.
Reach out if you want to chat with our team about 2018, we’re all ears and ready to help you strategize your program.