Making better use of your exhibition budget in 2021
The events industry came to a complete standstill this year as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic and, although rules around larger gatherings may start to relax more, there is no doubt the way exhibitions and trade shows will be held in 2021 will be a lot different to what we are used to.
First of all to adhere to social distancing rules, the number of attendees at trade shows is likely to be a lot less moving forward, and with rules and restrictions around traveling to foreign countries regularly changing, the number of international visitors is expected to reduce.
Contracts and cancellation terms are also likely to be carefully restructured next year, so that any businesses booked for events that have to be rescheduled will need to transfer their bookings over to the new date rather than secure a refund. This can not only affect your companies marketing budget for the following year, but can also be a waste of the resources, time and effort that has been put in to planning for the event.
Plus, for companies that usually exhibit internationally, if the country you are traveling to introduces quarantine rules for visitors from the UK you will be unable to attend unless you enter two weeks before and self-isolate to reduce the chances of contracting/spreading Coronavirus. If the country is also on the UK’s quarantine list, you will have to self-isolate again for 14 days when you return, meaning more time out of the business.
With this in mind, you may be considering investing greater portions of your marketing budget into other activities, such public relations.
The main aim of public relations is to influence a customer around the time they are looking to buy. Instead of spending days at an event to grab five minutes speaking to your customer however, you gain their attention by featuring regularly in trade and business news that specifically targets their sectors.
This is extremely beneficial because, when a customer starts to notice your business is appearing in leading trade titles through regular informed articles, it becomes an authoritative voice in the industry and positively reinforces your credibility. This far increases the likelihood that they will trust your brand and business and buy from you as result.
The most effective way to secure coverage is to work with a reputable PR agency, that has experience in writing for trade and business magazines and can work with you to develop a public relations strategy that suits your budget, meets your key objectives and reaches your target audience by securing coverage.
Whether it’s a campaign to launch a new product or service, a general news story such as updates within the business or trade features, blogs, case studies and white papers, every piece of coverage counts and is key in boosting your reputation and awareness of your business.
At Dragonfly PR we regularly secure space in publications that are relevant to your customers by drafting articles that showcase you as leaders in the sector, helping build confidence in your company and more potential sales leads as a result.
So, before committing to spending all of your marketing budget on exhibitions that may or may not go ahead in 2021, consider investing more in public relations for an even greater return on investment.
Our team has years of experience in creating bespoke b2b public relations strategies and drafting articles that are guaranteed to build brand awareness of your business and regularly achieve coverage. With a background in writing high quality content for trade and business news, we are one of the leading professional PR agencies in Yorkshire.
Based in Sheffield, Dragonfly PR specialises in PR and content marketing for b2b, particularly construction, manufacturing and food companies. For more information or to speak to us about how we can help you make the most of your marketing budgets, email hello@dragonflypr.co.uk or call 0114 3495345.