Trade show advantages

• You can reach a large potential market efficiently. You can see quickly what a large segment of the market WANTS.
• Others in the industry may see you as a "player." This has an effect on customer perception of your company’s health as well.
• The trade publications may give you some free (and even on-going) coverage. You should give the trade press a positive impression.
• You can see quickly what all the competitors are doing, without having to read about them one at a time.
• You can meet your competitors and make a good impression on them. The competition will usually be around longer than your customers. You should know how you want your competitors to perceive you and work to fit that impression.
• You have the chance to be remembered long after the show ends. (This can be both a blessing and a curse -- though I think I’d rather risk it than be forgotten the next day.)
• Trade show attendance can be an indicator of the health of the industry. (I don't know of any studies that prove this, of course, so your mileage varies.) If attendance drops sharply from one year to the next, you may find problems in the industry within the following year, and you may see the show cancelled.

Trade show disadvantages

• COST. Besides registration, travel, and set-up, it also costs a lot to stand out from the crowd. You would want to
  • Get a larger booth, or at least one that isn’t smaller than all of your competitors’.
  • Prepare professional backdrop or display material, including product posters.
  • Prepare eye-catching brochures. On the other hand, much of what you hand out at a trade show ends up in the round file. Here you may find you can save costs if you mail the information later, or else have a sales person deliver it as an excuse for a sales call. If cost is a concern, concentrate on doing other things in this list and collecting addresses rather than the brochures.
  • Prepare an attention-getting demo.
  • Have something perceived to be of high value to give away, have a lot of it, and give a lot of it away.
  You can reach the market at less expense (though with less saturation) by mailers, cold calls, and invitations to seminars.  There’s a strong perception that the benefits of trade shows are directly proportional to the money spent.   If you share that perception you may be setting yourself up for disappointment.
• The larger the trade show, the greater the work involved. You may find some of your colleagues have trouble getting excited about the preparation and "working the crowd," both of which are physically draining.
• If the industry is in decline, your participation won’t bring it back up again. Even if the industry is healthy but mature, you may find the show generates little excitement.
• If you want to continue to be seen as a "player," you’ll have to go back next year.
• In many shows, priority positioning is given to exhibitors by seniority. This is a disadvantage to young companies.
• If your market doesn’t extend to the entire show’s market, you may be taking resources away from your own customers.
• Executives with decision-making authority may not attend unless the show is held in a particularly comfortable location at a particularly convenient time of year (e.g. fine hotel, warm climate, in the dead of winter). You may find yourself entertaining others as powerless as yourself under other conditions. :-)

References

Successful Meetings magazine offers many helpful tips.

How to approach trade show participation

• See whether your competition is participating. You may feel they’ll get an advantage over you if they do and you don’t.  Likewise, you may feel you get the advantage if it’s the other way around.
• Be able to communicate the potential benefits to everyone in the organization.   If they feel they will be rewarded in some way, they will have a better chance of keeping the energy level they’ll need to prepare.  Most people will say they believe the trade show benefits the company, but will that make them look forward to it?
• Have objectives before you go -- even if you’re an attendee and not a participant.  Make them as measurable as possible, so you won’t forget about them the day after.
• Do some self-promotion before you go. Send mailings to prospective and existing customers to get them to come to your booth:
  • have a contest
  • give them a small reward for showing up
  • invite them to a reception
  • mention your participation in all other communications and advertisements
  This should be coordinated with an overall publicity campaign. Even if the customer/prospect doesn't visit the trade show or make it to your booth, you have become easier to remember.
• Whether attendees see your company as successful will depend largely on the appearance and enthusiasm of the staff members running your booth.  (This is why companies will often bring at least one attractive woman on the team.   I’m not saying it’s right, only that it’s true.)  A motivated team is especially important when your booth isn’t located in a high-traffic area.
• If your staff isn’t properly prepared, it won’t matter in the long run how beautiful they are.
• Make sure you know how to get where you're going before you go. This is especially critical for international travel.
• Some shows help you with media relations. See what they can do for you regarding
  • press releases
  • TV/radio interviews
  • hospitality suites
  Always remember to have media kits and/or demos available.
• Follow up on any leads. Divide them up among appropriate members of the staff. Most potential customers need more than a single meeting before they do business with you.

Alternatives to trade show participation

• Have an open house at your own site.   Advertise it heavily. You can probably do this at a lower cost than the trade show would have been, depending on the size of your booth, and you might make a sale on the spot. It may take an even higher energy level from your teammates, however, as they not only have to help with the open house but they must clean up their work areas as well.
• Organize a meeting with your customers at the show site instead of in your own booth. You may find that a "hospitality suite" is cheaper than a booth in the show.
• Go as a participant instead of an exhibitor. Take along brochures and business cards, and hand them out as the opportunity arises.  (Just don’t get caught by the show’s producers!)  Even if you don’t take your own product info, you can still talk to others at the booths without the responsibility and high energy your own booth would require.
• Regional or local shows will be less expensive and less stressful, and although they will probably bring you fewer contacts, they may also bring you a skilled potential new employee (without your having to pay the travel) or a new local distributor. This is an alternative you must consider, especially if you're not prepared to serve a larger market.