I am at a trade show in Ohio whose audience is statewide school business officials including board members. There are about 10,000 attendees, one of the biggest such shows in the country I am told.

I am struck by the incredible displays that all of the architectural firms are using on the exhibit floor, they are huge, elaborate and beautiful pieces of marketing expense. By far these types of companies are the most prevelant in the show (about 500 exhibitors).

I started to question the value of these investments for creating awareness and generating prospects. So I did a little research on breaks and lunch speaking with board members, school treasurers and others to see if these displays were effective for them.

What I learned is that they are not. Whenever a large capital building project comes along the first thing they do is call their friends and associates and ask for referrals to firms they have worked with. This is the same thing most of us do for any significant expenditure, personal or professional.

I wonder if the trade show marketing expense the firms are spending might be better spent on turning past clients into raving fans and better referrers? Just a thought.

I think two things are at work in this example, ‘keeping up with the Jones’ marketing. Meaning if our competitors do it we better do it to. Second would be not understanding the buying process from the buyers perspective, a really valuable thing to understand BEFORE spending marketing dollars.

Like this Article - Subscribe to My RSS Feed