Like many small business owners, the main draw of trade shows to me used to be the opportunity to meet potential clients face-to-face and build a relationship from there. But the reality was, despite sometimes spending an exorbitant amount of money to be there, I often felt as though my company was being eclipsed by bigger brands who were a favorite amongst buyers. In fact, about one third of the trade shows I used to attend brought very little return for the time and money I invested to be there.
Now, I believe that within five short years, trade shows will no longer be the preferred way for brands to develop and maintain relationships with buyers. In fact, I don’t even bother with the trade show circuit anymore. Here’s why…
Too big of an investment, not enough ROI
As any business owner can attest to, attending trade shows can be costly. For a small to medium brand like Kronch USA, a smaller regional pet show would typically cost about $500. For a bigger, nationwide trade show, it costs about $2,600 for a small (10×10) booth which barely gets you noticed. Add to that, the cost of two round trip plane tickets, shipping inventory, a three-night hotel stay, and I’ve already spent $4000 before I’ve sold a single product. So, as you can imagine, it can be tough for an up-and-coming pet food brand to compete with the big dogs.
Overtime, I realized that the most successful way to sell Kronch USA to the general public was through Twitter and Instagram. It became clear that I would save both time and money if I just cut my trade show budget down to zero and reinvested that time (and only a little bit of money) back into the business instead.
“Virtual” trade shows are more efficient and effective
One of the ways I did that was by focusing more on social media campaigns and my new secret weapon, Hubba. I believe in the power of social media and to me Hubba was a natural extension of this by allowing us to reach buyers directly. My Hubba Brand Consultant immediately set out to help get Kronch USA products loaded and optimized for search results. She also gave me some very actionable and valuable advice that ultimately kickstarted my activity on Hubba. I quickly fell in love with the ease of use of the platform and I liked that Hubba makes such an effort to build a network of buyers – it fit perfectly with my new strategy and helped me build my client book.
Since joining Hubba, clients have come in more immediately and tend to be more responsive to online communication (due to their adaptation to the online platform). This is good for me because it’s easier to work with them online over buyers who process orders via fax or telephone. These clients place orders that are right in line with the typical size I would get when attending trade shows, and I’ve even had a subscription box company place an order with Kronch – one of the biggest orders to date!
That was a year ago. Nowadays, I don’t attend any trade shows and have no plans to. I can reach buyers and distributors from the comfort of my office and save a bundle on costs. I’ve hired virtual assistants for the company that focus on generating leads and processing orders full-time with the money I’ve saved. This has reduced the amount of time and stress involved with operating Kronch USA and has allowed me to focus on reaching out to new potential buyers more efficiently while generating public awareness of the products through our social media campaign. Basically, Hubba and social media is my two-tiered, 100 percent digital approach to growing my wholesale business.
