17 Jun How to Measure Your Trade Show ROI
Exhibiting at a trade show is a big investment, so naturally, you want to know if your efforts were worthwhile. However, it can be difficult to measure the effectiveness of a trade show, because you won’t always see a return on your investment right away. We explain how to measure your ROI in the long term, and share a few ideas for measuring your short-term impact as well.
How to Calculate Trade Show ROI in the Long-Term
A trade show exhibit can help you gain exposure, make new connections, and develop client relationships. But seeing the true return on your investment is a long game. For example, a quality lead could turn into a long-term client who does business with your company for years to come. Some valuable connections may not contact you for weeks. Others might take a few months to build up a relationship before they’re ready to purchase a product or service.
If you want to measure the financial returns from participating in a trade show, you need to be sure you’re documenting everything along the way. First, create a budget and prepare to track all of your expenses. Besides the cost of attendance, you’ll also need to include the cost of materials, transportation, booth design, and more.
Next, you need to decide which metrics will best measure your success. These metrics will help you decide which data you need to collect so you can continue to monitor the numbers after the event.
Here are five meaningful ways to calculate your long-term ROI:
| CATEGORY | FORMULA |
| Basic ROI | (Net Profit / Cost of Event) × 100. |
| Revenue retention from current customers | Number of Current Customers Met × Avg. Annual Revenue per Customer |
| Upselling existing clients | Number of Customer Meetings × Upsell Win Rate × Avg. Upgrade Value |
| Cost savings from formal meetings | Number of Badge Scans × % Qualified Leads × Avg. Cost per Qualified Lead |
| Event payback ratio | Total Estimated Value / Total Event Expense |
How to Measure Trade Show Effectiveness in the Short-Term
1: Monitor Responses from a Game
Integrating games can be helpful for a few reasons. First, it will draw traffic into your booth. When people see others having fun, they’ll want to join! Second, you can easily pair a game with lead capture forms. Every time a player comes to the booth, have them fill out a quick form. Use the information later to generate leads. Third, those who win a discount code or promotional item can be tracked later when they come to purchase a product with it.
2: Use QR Codes
Include a trackable QR code on your flyers, sales sheets, or brochures. Then, after the event, you’ll be able to see how many people scanned the code. Using the built-in analytics, you can see where the traffic is coming from, which content gets engagement, and where people click next after visiting your landing page.
3: Measure Engagement vs. Meetings
How many meetings did you schedule? How many of the visitors to your booth turned into paying clients? How many existing clients did you manage to upsell? Keep accurate numbers on each part of the trade show to best understand your impact.
Trade Show Printing in Tempe
If you want to stand out at a trade show, you need a stellar display and professional print materials. Mousegraphics in Tempe has everything you need, from banners to brochures. We can print, set up, and produce high-quality, affordable trade show displays for every type of customer and every type of situation. Call us at 480-894-1992 to get started.
Images used under creative commons license – commercial use (04.16.2025). Featured photo by krakenimages on Unsplash.