We invite our readers to send in any industry related questions and in each edition one of our sector specialists will unpack the issue. To date we have received quite a few questions surrounding boat shows, so we thought to bundle them together in this edition.
Please send in any questions you might have to info@gmba.blue and we might feature it in the next edition.
- I am a small ski boat manufacturer and have a full order book until end of 2023. Is it worthwhile for me to exhibit at boat shows if I don’t have boats to sell?
Boat shows, as any other exhibition are a temporary, recurring marketing event. It enables manufacturers or sellers of a product or service to display, explain and sell it.
At a trade show, customers have the opportunity to compare the offers of different suppliers and to get an idea of the market situation. Exhibiting companies are interested in acquiring or refreshing customer contacts, raising their profile and exchanging information. From an overall economic perspective, trade shows contribute to creating market transparency.
So the answer is, their presence at the show, serves not only direct sales, but the initiation and especially the maintenance of customer contacts. With the appropriate marketing measures, your trade show appearance contributes to positively occupying your brand, making it a tangible product, and building trust. Existing customers will come and see their purchase decision confirmed, new customers come into contact with the people behind the brand. This builds trust and charges your brand.
- Innovation is a hot topic in our industry. How are boat shows innovating to bring more value to their exhibitors, and/ or the visitors to the show? As an exhibitor it feels as if it is the same old stuff over and over again
Producers of boat shows are constantly challenged by market conditions to innovate their product, or it will be the “same old stuff over and over again”, indeed. Show producers, like the members of the International Federation of Boat Show Organizers (IFBSO), are well aware of the challenge to stay up to date. Boat shows are a mirror of daily life and the closer the image is staged as a fair, from reality, the more the visitor feels picked up. In his world, the visitor opens up, gains trust and is open to conversation. Modern boat shows are not just a string of exhibits, but today they see themselves as choreographers of experience worlds, knowledge brokers and network operators. The ice can be broken much easier.
- Sometimes I feel that my presence as an exhibitor at a show is not really paying off.
The success of a presence at a boat show is heavily dependent on how you set up your marketing mix beforehand. All channels must be set up to lead to your show presence, the highlight, where you meet face to face.
During the show, it is important to have motivated and knowledgeable stand personal in order to carefully address visitors and to lead them to your product or service your offer. It is active duty, not just spending your time.
To secure the success of your show presence it is of great importance to carefully work on your follow up. Within the first 72h of a contact made, a reminder should follow to keep the flow going. At this stage, if not handled well, the highest loss of leads happens if the processes for trade fair follow-up are not set up and executed as carefully as the trade fair appearance itself.
We hope, this Q & A points out the importance and business chance of a boat show presence. For any further information don’t hesitate to contact our GMBA member, Goetz-Ulf Jungmichel, our fair and exhibition specialist.
