Data use picks up

Exhibitors like to use evaluations to compare their own performance. Organisers could still improve services.

FKM is in the ascendant. Awareness of the organisation is growing and more exhibitors than recorded by last year's survey now base their own trade fairs on the visitor and structure data. Whereas in 2005 nearly 20 % of exhibitors asked were not familiar with the initials FKM, this year that figure has gone down by a clear 50 %. The letters now spell Greek to only 9.1 % of those asked by m+a. If the data is known but not exploited this must be in part because the data does not say enough about an exhibitor's business or because the company uses its own statistics. There is a glimmer of hope when it comes to self-marketing, because exhibitors have complained that statistics for evaluating their own tradeshow appearance have not been available until now. In fact, data use and awareness seems to be better overall than it was a year ago. Only 10 % (2005: 30 %) of companies involved in trade fair activity do not know what visitor data is levied by their organisers. But this is only one side of the argument, as procuring this data does not seem to be an easy task. Even so, over 70 % of those who receive facts and figures have faith in their organisers. More than half of those asked research in the Internet and around 30 % use external or neutral sources, for example, those of m+a or AUMA. While general satisfaction seems to prevail and 90 % are satisfied with the visitor data the organisers supply to them, some exhibitors still complain that the statistics are not automatically made available. The organisers can be rightly proud of the quality of their visitors and accuracy of the target groups to which they address their trade fairs. Almost a third of exhibitors are actually very satisfied with these parameters, 70 % are satisfied with the public that shows up.

m+a report Nr.7 / 2006 vom 27.10.2006
m+a report vom 27. Oktober 2006