In today's economic globalization, any industry is facing market competition and needs to pay economic benefits. Marketing, as a means of improving the value of the company and expanding market share, is not surprising in all industries. The exhibition industry is an emerging “sunrise industry†in China, and it is also experiencing increasingly fierce competitive pressures. The importance of exhibition marketing is increasingly prominent.
When the exhibition company is operating a convention and exhibition project, marketing is a common concern. According to the current situation of China's convention and exhibition industry, if the exhibition company is not satisfied with the sales of an exhibition, the following measures will generally be considered first:
1. Increase the intensity of advertising and make more exhibitors interested in the exhibition to expand the scale of the potential market;
2. Reduce the quotation of exhibitions by strictly controlling costs and conducting scale operations to increase the number of buyers in effective markets;
3. Make appropriate adjustments to the exhibition to reduce eligibility requirements for potential buyers;
4. Develop a more competitive marketing mix plan, and strive to occupy a larger share of the target exhibition market.
Undoubtedly, the above measures are in line with conventional general marketing methods and can play a role for a period of time. However, from the perspective of the long-term strategy for the development of the exhibition industry, it seems that something is wrong:
1. Advertising is not much better, and costs need to be considered. Therefore, the channels for advertising should be treated differently according to the special circumstances of different industries. Some can attract the attention of academic circles, some can be recommended by strong industry associations, and some rely on the support of relevant government departments. Putting the strength on the more authoritative institutions in the industry will certainly have a better effect. For example, there was a large-scale animal husbandry exhibition in China. It was only published on a website of the National Animal Husbandry Association. It has already caused a large-scale animal husbandry exhibition in China. It has only been published on a website of the National Animal Husbandry Association. It has aroused widespread concern in the industry and brought a virtuous circle. The shortage of booths has become a matter of expectation.
2. The price of the exhibition should not be easily changed. Strictly controlling costs and choosing the right business model are things that every company should pay attention to at every stage, but it is not advisable to use various possible ways to reduce the price of the exhibition in order to attract more potential customers. Top: The price should be decided after making a market forecast. It must not lower the price because the sales are not completed, which will cause the organizer to lose credibility. Second, reasonable cost savings are limited and should be It is consistent, and the pursuit of low cost will inevitably lead to a vicious circle of price wars in the industry. Therefore: the price decision must be prudent and must be based on detailed, real, and prudent market analysis. Once decided, it should not be changed. Otherwise, the aftermath will not only be the company itself, but also the whole Industry interests.
3. The method of reducing the qualification of exhibitors is unacceptable at any time. Although this method may attract some customers who did not meet the qualifications for the exhibition, it will make most exhibitors feel cheated, lose more customers, the credibility of the exhibition and even the company's brand.
4. It is a better way to formulate a more competitive marketing mix, and each enterprise has its own advantages. It is better to use horizontal or vertical strength to reduce costs, improve services, and increase market share. It should be a solution to the development of exhibition marketing. Effective way.
(1) Membership system First, the advantages of the membership of the convention and exhibition industry. Same as the membership system in other industries: the membership discount system can attract more potential customers, establish a loyal customer system, establish credibility among target customers, and enhance the brand. In addition, due to the special nature of the exhibition industry, the exhibition company and exhibitors can easily lose contact after the exhibition ends, and the membership system just provides an opportunity for the exhibition company to continue to contact the exhibitors for the next exhibition. Customer base.
Second, problems that need attention during execution. Back to top: There should be a clear market positioning, not to reduce the entry criteria for more members, and to increase the difficulty of membership management; second: to provide convenient access to the channel. The so-called convenience refers to the flexibility and diversity of the methods, rather than disregarding the market positioning, especially when the membership requirements are high. Third: Since we must establish a membership system, we must have mutual interests. If the return of insufficient strength is insufficient to attract customers, the meaning of membership will be lost. If the return of benefits is too large, it will lead to overburdening the enterprise, which will hinder the development of the enterprise.
In combination with the problems that are now raised in the above points, the focus of membership marketing is on the issue of returning benefits. The usual thought is: the more business transactions, the lower the price. CMP has taken the lead in this regard, stipulating that if you participate in two FI exhibitions in the same year, you can enjoy a 5% discount on the booth price. This can be seen as an initial membership model, but at the same time it is a model that almost everyone would think of. To attract more members, it is not enough to rely on discounts with other companies. It is necessary to constantly innovate in coping strategies.
If the company is relatively large, it can use its own advantages for three-dimensional marketing. Members' return benefits can be limited not only to exhibitions, but also to meetings, publicity, market research, technical exchanges, and even media monitoring. This will inevitably lead a mature company to win a large number of customers in the short term, and rapidly expand the market in the exhibition industry to stand out. However, many small and medium-sized companies are unable to afford excessive publicity fees and long lead times, so low-cost online marketing can be considered.
As the main tool of the E era, the network has unparalleled advantages: fast speed, strong timeliness, relatively easy management, good interactivity, low cost and high efficiency. Therefore, you may wish to make a fuss on the Internet, combine the characteristics of the exhibition industry and the needs of industry exhibitors, and provide technically-recognized special services. For example, all members can enjoy a free business directory, direct links to corporate websites, and priority to publish technical articles. , online forums, web conferences, etc.
Of course, the membership of the exhibition industry is also the same as other industry membership systems, such as brand management, cost burden, and promotion cycle.
(2) Promoting exhibition marketing with “pre-conference†and “meeting after conference†The usual “pre-conference†refers to the preparatory meeting before the meeting, that is, the organizers will assemble the exhibitors, unify the work process and answer the exhibitors on the spot. Various problems. Of course, this is a good way to communicate quickly, and many organizers have adopted this approach.
The “pre-conference†referred to here refers to a technical seminar specially designed for an exhibition that is about to be prepared or has already begun preparations. This kind of seminar is technically strong and the theme is closely related to the exhibition and serves the exhibition. Use an example to illustrate this workshop. When planning a electronic product exhibition, a company first prepared a "lead-free technology" seminar based on industry hotspots, mainly invited the following four people: academic representatives: explain the development history of lead-free technology; government representatives: explain no Policy content of lead products; high-end company representatives of lead-free manufacturing: explain their company's application of lead-free technology; customer representative of electronic products: this is the real target market. Imagine that under the momentum of such a successful seminar, the company's electronics exhibition has seized the target market without much effort.
It can be seen that the advantages of this “pre-conference†are:
1. Strong technical and easy to attract high-end customers;
2. It is easier to accept in publicity than to promote the exhibition alone;
3. The technical seminar itself can be regarded as a business meeting, and the fees can be appropriately charged without involving the promotion cost increase;
4. Can be regarded as a kind of market research, asking for directions;
5. Effectively improve the grade of the exhibition. However, it should be noted that:
The number of "pre-conference meetings" should not be too large;
In the invitation of personnel, we should take the high-end, rather than lack of abuse;
The theme should be closely related to the show or a hot issue within the industry.
“After the meeting†refers to the follow-up services of various exhibitions. At present, this service seems to be still ignored in the country, especially for the organizers who hold regular exhibitions. After-meeting service is even more important. "After the meeting" does not necessarily have to be, depending on the situation. For example, after the meeting, the organizer can track the satisfaction of exhibitors in various services in various ways, and improve according to the feedback of exhibitors.
In summary, for MICE marketing, low-cost and service innovation are the key points, and the flexible combination strategy is the key, and the charm of the marketing mix lies in “letting 1 million inputs look like 10 millionâ€, so, “ People do not have me, people have me change" is the way out; exhibition marketing, should be in the midst of change!