Advent Blog

By John Roberson

Establishing a realistic trade-show budget does not have to be a mystery. In the space below, we’ll walk through some of the ways exhibitors calculate their budget. Determining the investment amount is an important element in the success of an overall tradeshow plan.

Let’s start with the following chart which shows an industry average for the various components of a yearly trade show budget:

With this benchmark in mind, how does your company’s tradeshow program compare to these numbers? Your trade show budget or expenditures may be allocated differently depending on your needs. For instance, I know lots of firms who spend much more on promotions annually than 8%, but since that average is a small portion of the whole you can tell most firms do not.

So, how do you effectively manage your trade-show budget?  One of the best places to start is with your history. Knowing what you spent last year is a good indication of what you may spend in the coming year. One simple procedure is to keep a show-by-show spreadsheet that “rolls up” into an annual budget summary sheet. In other words, overlay your calendar of expenses and your calendar of shows onto a grid to show monthly expenses.

Another thing to consider is where you want to see improvements. If you need them, you will have to budget for those. If your management team is like many that I have worked with in the past, they do not take kindly to negative surprises. They want to know in advance what the expenses will be, and you may have to fight hard to get the money to cover them.

To budget for the purchase of a display, it may be helpful to know the current trends. For exhibits 10x20 and greater, we see exhibitors spending from $75 - $250 a square foot for a structure. That may include graphics. So a 10x20 display at an average of $100 per square foot is $20,000 (200 sq ft x $100). You may see different metrics than these, but this holds true for island displays or displays larger than 20x20’s and larger (400+ sq ft).

Major market forces have shifted within the 10-foot display arena and have caused a great deal of chaos in terms of what exhibitors spend to fill a 10x10 space. Some clients are able to fill a 10’ space for $1500 and $2,000, but these tend to create a thin or light presence. We more often meet exhibitors who need their display(s) to have graphics and A/V or computer demonstrations. To communicate the company’s message using this technology, exhibitors need a more sophisticated back wall and a budget of $8,000 to $10,000 for a 10-foot space.

Capital investments, including a tradeshow exhibit, must be depreciated over the life of the asset. Only that specific year’s expensed portion will hit the annual budget. For example, a $9,000 exhibit capitalized over three years is expensed within the booth and graphics category above at $3,000 annually or $9,000 / 3 years.

If your budget is low, this is your first show or you are not sure what footprint you want to maintain, you may want to consider renting. The average cost of renting an exhibit structure is one-third of the purchase price. For example, a 20x20 exhibit that is $150/sq ft is $60,000 to purchase (20 x 20 = 2400 sq ft x $150) and $20,000 to rent. Buying graphics can increase the rental cost to $40,000, but that is still a fraction of the purchase price. Other advantages of renting are a fresh look every year and not having to find a place to store your display.

Our vision is to help exhibitors increase productivity and effectiveness through their trade-show, event and environmental marketing. If you want to discuss your budget as a whole or just a specific area, any of our account executives would be happy to do so.