Trade shows don’t promote themselves. While organisers expect exhibitors to invest thousands of euros on stand space, travel, hotels, and logistics, organisers fail to invest adequately in what truly drives success: professional, wide-reaching marketing.
Unless a trade show has been firmly established for 30 years or more, it cannot rely on reputation alone to attract exhibitors and visitors. Long-running events benefit from decades of trust, strong industry relationships, and repeat attendance, which help fill their halls year after year. But newer or less well-known exhibitions that depend solely on free social media or minimal promotion are taking a gamble — often resulting in disappointing visitor numbers and frustrated exhibitors.
We’ve seen events where exhibitors openly complained about low footfall while organisers remained out of sight, locked away in their offices. This is unacceptable.
Successful exhibitions require months of advance planning with a strategic marketing mix that includes:
-
Editorial coverage and interviews in key industry publications
-
Banner advertising on prominent websites and newsletters
-
Targeted digital campaigns and public relations outreach
Without this professional marketing effort, organisers risk setting themselves — and their exhibitors — up for failure.
In short, only established trade shows with a proven track record can lean on reputation alone. Everyone else needs a solid, well-funded marketing plan to create a thriving, successful event.
Trade shows thrive when everyone wins — but for that to happen, organisers must take marketing as seriously as their exhibitors do.