The uncertain future of the trade fair and what this means for you

After our recent visit to one of the major trade fairs for the industrial market in our country (Industrial Automation & Drives, Macropak, and Industrial Processing), we reflected on the role of the trade fair. We wondered why visitor numbers are declining and what function the trade fair still serves. But more importantly, what consequences does this changing situation have for you and your organization, and how should you respond?

How important is the trade fair still in the buying or selling process?

The future of the trade fair is very uncertain, visitor numbers are declining, and many exhibitors seem to prefer ‘private’ events more often, together with partners from the same chain. In the past – that is, a few years ago – the only way to see the market as a whole was the trade fair. You had to visit it as a buyer for information or exhibit there and be seen to maintain your position in the market. Additionally, it was the place to make new contacts and prospects and maybe even close deals. Compare that to today, to what extent does the trade fair still fulfill this role? How important is the trade fair still in the buying or selling process?

Nowadays, interested parties no longer have to wait for the trade fair to find out who could supply a particular solution; one sentence in Google does almost the same. Just a few clicks away, they find all the brochures or product information they need. This information already enables the buyer to supplement their existing network and come to a shortlist. So the visitor is left with only one reason to visit a trade fair: to expand or build a personal network in a specific market. And here we immediately find the reason why visitor numbers are declining; for most, there is probably no current reason to visit a fair at all!

For most, there is probably no current reason to visit a fair at all!

At this moment, we are in a transition phase. For an increasingly smaller part of the market, the trade fair still fulfills the same role, but visitor numbers continue to decline. This means that trade fairs are becoming a smaller pond, and the entire consideration for exhibitors changes as a result. Where you used to score 100 good leads at a fair, now there are only 20, which should directly affect the available budget! The prices of organizers and fair venues will not quickly reflect this new reality, so we expect a huge gap between supply and demand to arise in this area.

You are probably wondering where those 80 leads have gone. Opinions vary, but we are sure that a large part is now online, just like the advertising market, which is increasingly moving online. This offers opportunities because in your market, the focus and budgets do not yet reflect this!

Conclusion

We conclude that the trade fair in its current form is a declining matter. Until prices reflect the new reality, it is certainly not the most efficient use of your budget. In the future, the trade fair will mainly be an extension and conclusion of (online) communication activities and processes and complement their limitations. This means that personal meetings will become central, together with further developing existing relationships. This places demands on organizers but also on exhibitors, because the current sales-oriented approach, in which the showroom is simply moved to the trade fair floor, is outdated.