Using WebCD™ to Maximize Trade Show Profits

Marketing professionals need to get the most revenue and profit from their trade show dollar. WebCD™ helps by providing an innovative trade show giveaway and a low-cost interactive kiosk solution that measurably increases the number of qualified leads, improves close rates, and lowers total booth costs. This note uses industry standard statistics to help you calculate your increased trade show returns from a WebCD investment.

How WebCD is used in a Trade Show Environment

WebCD is a hybrid Web/CD-ROM combination that delivers a Net-connected "Web site on a disc". Users can browse the CD-ROM and seamlessly connect back to the Internet. Booth staff exchange a WebCD for a business card from a qualified lead. The WebCD can include a sweepstakes as an incentive to use the disc. For example, a qualified prospect would connect back to the Internet to answer additional qualifying questions and receive a chance to win a free product or gift. This further qualifies the prospect and produces highly measurable trade show results.

WebCD also provides a low cost, high reliability method to bring your Web site to the show floor. Expensive Internet access is not required and no special equipment or booth staff training is needed. Since producing a WebCD is easy, the Web team does not need to be involved ­ this eliminates a critical show dependency.

Increasing Trade Show Leads

Experienced event managers know that innovative giveaways draw more visitors to the trade show booth. But these premiums must support your goal of increased sales. WebCD fits the bill by providing high value to qualified prospects, while ensuring that your message is effectively communicated. A single CD-ROM can distribute an entire electronic catalog in a format that won't fill up a briefcase. The convenience of searching and browsing a WebCD using the familiar Web interface makes it a sought after premium. Best of all, multimedia is practical on the CD-ROM, letting you grab the attention of booth visitors and communicate your message with maximum impact. And WebCD makes it exceptionally easy to target the CD-ROM for the trade show demographic, making your show premium highly relevant to your specific audience.

In addition, WebCD provides a low cost way to implement a trade show kiosk that does not require show floor Internet access. Trade show kiosks are proven ways to increase the number of trade show impressions because they provide a non-threatening way for visitors to qualify themselves for your solutions (e.g., see the Hewlett Packard case study in Exhibitor Magazine¹).

Table 1 illustrates typical results for a mid-sized trade show. According to a study by Exhibitor Surveys, Inc.², the average cost per trade show lead is $177. WebCD lowers your cost per lead by increasing the number of qualified visitors to your booth. The Sample WebCD trade show increases leads by 10%, lowering costs by $16/lead. Use the third column of the table to enter figures for your next event.

Improving Close Rates

Studies show that 80% of trade show collateral ends up in the waste basket. In contrast, CD­ROM's high "keepability" continues to deliver impressions to qualified prospects long after the show is complete. CD-ROM also exhibits high "pass-around" appeal, so multiple decision makers see your message. The high capacity (tell more, sell more), high value, and convenient weight/form factor combine to make "fulfillment on the floor" a reality. Compare this to the typical 2-3 week post-show fulfillment turnaround (old leads are cold leads).

Most importantly, WebCD's Livelink™ capability allows your prospects to directly respond to your call to action. This can mean ordering products directly from the Web site, or taking the next step in the sales process. In addition to the obvious sales benefits, trade show manager gains hard metrics to evaluate show effectiveness.

Sun Microsystems' Catalyst CDWare gives a glimpse at the possible returns. Catalyst CDWare is a "home grown" hybrid Internet/CD-ROM that showcases the solutions of Sun's Business Partners. A high cost/custom project, Sun's CD program still produces impressive returns. An independent audit by IntelliQuest³ shows that 39% of CDWare users have made a purchase. 83% have watched the self running demonstrations. 28% have used it over three times in the last three months. And most spend 30 to 89 minutes "shopping" on the CD.

Table 2 shows typical results for our mid-sized trade show. Close rates will vary significantly depending on average sale and other factors. The sample WebCD show demonstrates that a modest 2% improvement in close rate yields an additional $36,000 in business. Use the third column of the table to enter figures for your next event.

Reducing Trade Show Expenses

In many cases, the cost of a WebCD project can be completely funded from a reduction in booth costs. Table 3 shows some of the expenses that are reduced or eliminated when WebCD is used.

The sample WebCD show assumes that Internet access to the booth is no longer required, that premium costs of $5/lead are eliminated, and that literature costs are reduced from $3/lead to $1/lead. These savings consider reduction in shipping, freight and post-show fulfillment costs. A total savings of $3,310 results.

The sample WebCD show does not consider any booth space savings for our mid-sized shows. In larger shows, booth space becomes a significant issue. Faced with the high cost of floor space and multiple product lines to exhibit, many event managers turn to kiosks to scale down the booth footprint (e.g., see the Hewlett Packard case study in Exhibitor Magazine¹). This translates into reduced square footage costs, staffing requirements, and travel & entertainment expenses.

The Bottom Line

Table 4 demonstrates WebCD's return on investment for our sample show. Funding for a complete turnkey WebCD project is shown. This includes project management, WebCD viewer licensing, and CD­ROM production services (replication, 2-color silk screen, paper sleeve packaging, and assembly) for 500 CD-ROMs.

The resulting ROI for our sample WebCD show indicates over $35,000 in additional business.

References

1. Chris Mikko, HP's Self Qualifying Exhibit Infomercials, Exhibitor Magazine, August 1996.
2. 10 Ways to Justify Show Participation, Exhibitor Magazine, July 17, 1996.
   (http://www.exhibitornet.com/text/hottips/howto/howto18.html)
3. Vendor Sells Audited Media by the Megabyte, Marketing Technology, February 1995.