I’ve spent 35 years watching companies invest in preparing for a trade show. For many, the return is huge. But some miss the opportunity by failing to plan or execute.
The success stories are legendary. Bill Gates told me that trade shows are the key to rapid growth Microsoft. Intel With “Intel Inside,” a chip component became a reason why people buy products. Ring, AMD, Nvidia and almost every well-known technology company used trade shows to transform their business.
I ran CES, the world’s premier trade show, for more than three decades. Held every January in Las Vegas expenditure have attracted more than 150,000 business visitors, including more than 55,000 international visitors from around 140 countries, regions and territories, 6,000 media representatives and 4,000 exhibitors. Participants report an average of 29 meetings and 68% make new customers or business contacts – an average of nine new contacts per participant.
On this scale you learn that a trade fair is much more than just a collection of stands. In addition, multiple vertical events, a temporary marketplace, a media platform, a conference, a product launch, a networking event and a competitive intelligence event will take place simultaneously.
And it can be one of the most effective forms of business-to-business marketing.
Given the size of the industry, the relative lack of attention paid to trade shows is somewhat surprising. An estimate 13,000 B2B trade fairs take place in the USA every yearwhich attracts millions of business people and brings together thousands of exhibitors. The 100 best trade fairs in 2025 had over 100,000 exhibitors with a net exhibition area of 41 million square feet. That same year, the trade show and exhibition industry generated $16.5 billion in direct spending.
Companies invest money, managerial attention and employees’ time in participating in trade fairs. Yet trade shows receive only a fraction of the attention given to advertising, digital marketing and social media. Sure, advertising is easier to measure and often more lucrative for agencies. The return on investment from a trade fair can be more difficult to measure.
But the rise of the Internet hasn’t lost the value of face-to-face marketing. In some ways it elevated it.
Digital marketing has made marketing more measurable and scientific. However, these algorithms fail to fully capture a key ingredient in the sales recipe: human connection. A prospect can click on an ad in seconds. At a trade show, the same customer can see a product demo, ask questions, meet the people behind it, compare the product to the competition, and form a relationship. People don’t just discover new products and services; They also determine whether they want to do business with the people they manage.
COVID-19 has made this difference even clearer. During the coronavirus crisis, people formed and maintained relationships through screens and video platforms, creating what often felt like a cellophane barrier between them. CEOs and executives emerged from the experience with a new appreciation for being together in the same room.
Trade fairs offer a five-sense experience on a large scale and with great efficiency. But exhibitors don’t benefit just from their appearance.
One of the key lessons from Robyn Davis’ new book, Exhibit Smarter, is that companies often approach trade shows tactically when they should be strategic. You rent space, design or use an old booth, send staff and wait for people to come in. This can lead to activities without achieving results.
The smartest exhibitors start much earlier. You decide what you want to achieve. You choose the right shows. They identify the customers and prospects they want to meet. They train their people. They design the exhibition and experience around specific goals. And they measure what happened next. This distinction can mean millions of dollars for a large company and survival for a small company.
In her book, Davis offers practical advice on selecting exhibitions, setting goals, designing exhibitions, training staff, generating traffic, leading teams, and dealing with problems. It covers the process from selecting the right shows through strategy, planning, staffing, training and execution. It also addresses the inevitable problems that arise when hundreds or thousands of people, vendors, and moving parts come together in one place.
But it also makes the book personal. Your passion for trade fairs is expressed on practically every page.
I know something about this passion.
I’ve seen virtually all types of exhibitors: companies that spend millions and achieve little, companies that spend modestly and achieve exceptional results, and companies that initially reject trade shows and later realize that they have become one of their most important marketing channels. The difference is rarely in the cost of the stand.
At the same time, trade fairs are media platforms and marketplaces, and there are ways to make them more transparent and understandable as marketing channels. Exhibitors should be able to evaluate their audience with the same care they apply when purchasing other forms of media.
The same goes for event programming. The increasing practice of charging executives for speaking opportunities requires greater transparency. There may be legitimate reasons for these arrangements, but attendees should know whether a speaker was independently selected based on their expertise or whether the opportunity was purchased. Paid content should be clearly differentiated from curated editorial programs.
Trade shows are too big an investment to simply treat them as an expense. And the millions of businesspeople who attend them and companies that spend billions to attend, as well as CEOs, marketers and exhibitors, need a clearer framework for evaluating the results of these events.
As Davis notes, trade shows must be approached strategically and tactfully. And after spending 35 years on the other side of the exhibit hall, I think she’s on to something.
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