Benefit from a Mid-Year Reality Check
Doing a mid-year assessment of your trade show marketing program can pay big dividends. Among the benefits are:
1. You can determine which elements are getting the job done, and which ones need help. For example, if you find that your exhibit was not pulling in the expected share of traffic from a show, it may be that you need to look at what is being used for pre-show and at-show promotions. On the other hand, if your exhibit is bringing in plenty of visitors, but the lead counts are falling short, you may need to concentrate on staffing and presentation issues.
2. See how well your measurement systems are doing to deliver useful information. If you are using measurements that are appropriate to your goals and objectives, the information in your show reports should be clear and easy to read. On the contrary, if the information does not seem to apply to what you need for assessment and decision making, then you may need to look at what information you are gathering and its relevance to guiding your management efforts.
3. Apply performance related adjustments to the second half of the year to increase the efficiency in your year-end outcome. Take what has been learned from the first half and alter your game plan to do better.
4. Look ahead to next year's budgeting issues, using the freshest data available. It will give you a much stronger base to build your program for next year.
Like the major-league sports, use the mid-year slowdown as your own "all-star break" to adjust strategy, do some coaching and plan ahead for the remainder of the season. It could be your year for the championship trophy.