Data is driving Marketing Budget decisions – whether you know it or not!
As veterans of a business that continues to evolve, at times, even we might find ourselves struggling to understand the irony of living at a time of supposed transparency — you can find anything on the internet — yet sometimes not understanding why the data that is driving corporate Budget decision making at the Executive level conflicts with real world operations.
Cutting costs, cutting staff, cutting marketing and sales expenses are the new mantra in the CFO suites. No business is immune to economizing through efficiency. Be it the Trade Show organizer, event promoter or the Exhibitors and attendees, buyers are all under the same immense corporate pressure of cost containment and reduction. It wasn't that the activation failed to serve underrepresented audiences or address real market conditions with a wow factor. We're told by “critics” that our activation was "smart, funny, and, most crucially, targeted toward to the right industry market segment, yet, because of the data, we're onto the "next idea."
So we've learned that evidently all the details are in the "data." We get it; corporations are responsible to their stockholders. And one could argue that it's the data that inevitably drives the decision-making process. But something is missing if that is the only criterion for survival of your Budget, the only data point, the only litmus test.
In this golden age of "content," the outlets are innumerable, the content vast. Today, the audience at trade shows, conventions and corporate events is the same that consumes entertainment no longer tethered to a box on the floor or a screen on the wall. It travels in a pocket and is viewed anywhere, anytime.
And conversations don't require a water cooler or telephone but evolve around blurbs punctuated with emojis — texted and tweeted. Finding ways to engage the current mindset Conference attendee on the Exhibit floor requires use of the very same technology within a multi faceted exhibit environment. The point being, this would certainly seem to require a budget that in the very least isn’t shrinking or being radically reduced. We're becoming communities of one who cheer our heroes and boo our villains alone. There's a lesson here for all of us — content creators, Exhibit designers, sales & marketing, digital engagement directors and industry consumers — to speak up. When you find something that matters to you, something that makes you laugh louder and work harder, share it. Scream from the rooftops and swing from the chandeliers talking about it. Join your voice with others to keep your Budget intact. Document it so you have a fighting chance of not being crushed by analytics and data that zero in on the micro side of money and miss the entire lessons taught in macro economics 101.
Are you looking for a firm that is leading the field in new ways to engage attendees and participants within your Budget? Are you looking for a Complete Show Services supplier that has a proven track record of success ROI? Stop looking …. We’d be thrilled to listen to what you need and just do that for you better. Mitch Isaacs, Mitch@LVExpo.com, VP Marketing- Las Vegas Expo Complete Show Services, 702-248-6200.
