As Equitana Australia returns to a bi-annual event, many equine business owners are pleased with the decision – and the significant reduction in cost this presents to their bottomline. However, as Equitana Australia is set to return to its roots, Archer Creative identifies a recurring challenge for these businesses and how to overcome it…
Sales vs Brand Exposure
Welcoming more than 50,000 patrons through its gates, Equitana marks Australia’s largest trade show in the equestrian calendar. Leveraging on that opportunity, many equine businesses invest a considerable amount of time and resources into attending each year – hoping to have those expenses recouped in sales over the course of the event.
However, as many businesses continue to measure their success only by their bottomline, much of their energy is devoted to closing sales with their customers.
As Elia Lom, Marketing Manager at Definitive Events, explains, “The goal is not to sell everything, the goal is to expose your brand.” Measuring sales should not be the sole indicator of trade show success, nor should it be the primary objective for attendance.
So, how can businesses make the most of their presence at Equitana without focusing too much on making sales?
Keep It Personal
While a bi-annual event certainly reduces some financial strain, it may, in fact, up the ante on the impact equine businesses want to make in terms of their brand exposure. For those businesses looking to maximise their presence in the coming years, you should:
- Identify your target market
- Seek to educate your customer
- Create a more personalised experience
Don’t worry, this is all less complicated than it sounds…
Identify Your Target Market
With an audience of more than 50,000 people walking by your stand, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of simply presenting what you offer without identifying who has any real need or interest. The aim of trade shows, like Equitana, is not to simply close sales, but to identify and engage with the customers who want or need what you offer.
Face-to-face opportunities allow you to learn more about who values what you offer, where they live and what they experience in their day-to-day lives with their horses. For businesses, trade shows also present a unique opportunity to learn more about the local market.
As Rachael Tuck, Sales Director at Snuggy Hoods in the United Kingdom, explains, “The main problem we’ve found is understanding the equestrian market in Australia, such as what types of rugs and hoods are in demand, and the terminology involved. Many words and phrases are not the same as in the UK, so we are actively trying to learn about these, so we can market our products correctly.”
Seek to Educate Your Customer
Raise your hand if you like the television advertisements that shout at you from the screen or the push notifications that interrupt you as you’re reading an interesting article online. Not concerned in raising your hand? Didn’t think so…
Providing interesting, useful and valuable information to your customers should be at the centre of all your marketing efforts, especially at trade shows. Trade shows, like Equitana, offer the opportunity to talk with your customers face-to-face and give them information in terms they can understand.
The motivation, in this instance, is not simply to make sales, but to position yourself as an attentive and helpful equine business; one that just happens to offer valuable products or services.
Jules Smith from WashBar in New Zealand put this into practice with her products at Equitana last year. “It was an opportunity to not only sell our shampoo bar, but to engage with horse owners. Asking people to wash their horses with a bar product is a bit old fashioned, but when you talk to people about the advantage of having a hand free as you wash or not having your shampoo bottle kicked over, they really get it.”
Create a More Personalised Experience
Finally, who doesn’t love a gift with their name on it? While it may not always be possible to create a completely personalised experience within the scale of trade shows, like Equitana, it is possible to interact with your customers on a more personal level.
Trade shows are a prime opportunity to truly engage with each individual. Incidentally, in order to do this, your motivation to purely make sales may need to take a back seat. However, the rewards are worth more than simply dollars earned.
Trade shows allow you time to gain valuable insight into your customers – their needs, their pain points and their desires.
Dany Hancock from Rides on the Wild Side in Botswana hits the nail on the head. “Due to the very personal nature of our company – keeping our company small is one of our main objectives to allow us to focus on each and every ride and client – the key, for us, is meeting our clients face-to-face. This is the most effective means of promotion for us and how we prioritise our marketing. Equitana is the perfect opportunity for us to reach our target market in person.”
Conclusion
With Equitana Australia set to return to Melbourne in late 2016, equine businesses have plenty of time to establish their marketing tactics for a successful trade show presence – one that prioritises brand exposure over just sales. However, the stakes are high as a bi-annual event means less face time with such a large influx of customers in a two year period.
Looking for some outside support? Don’t wait for success, create it — with the experts in equine marketing, Archer Creative. To learn more about how we can help you exceed your growth goals, call us on 1300 077 126 or visit www.archercreative.net.au.
