It's that time of the year again to start thinking about Marketing plans and budgets for 2009. Just on budgets, B2B Marketing Budgets - Data from SiriusDecisions shows statistics on how B2B marketers are allocating their marketing budgets. Although it's probably US figures, it's quite accurate when comparing it with my spendings here in Singapore. According to the stats, trade shows contributed to the largest spend in lead generation budgets. (For me, trade shows spending rank just slightly below Email marketing). It's not surprising at all, considering the high 4 to 5 digits cost of a regular booth or table top, and not to mention the even more expensive silver/gold/platinum sponsorship packages. B2B marketers still see trade shows as a necessary evil: For brand awareness, building a database, or lead generation. But most of the time these shows cannot pay for themselves, let alone generate positive ROI. Having said that, the game is not over. The secret to trade show success is to think END-TO-END INTEGRATION. Don't participate in a trade show as a standalone activity. The show itself is just a part of it, consider pre-show and post-show promotion. Here's some examples of what you can do for pre-show and post-show promotion: - Host pre-event and post-event webinars - Organise online contests and quizzes - Communicate to your base. Send out special invites to clients and prospects - Publish your participation through existing business communication like your website or newsletters - Offer special product/service packages to attendees - Complement with any other upcoming or on-going campaigns or product announcements You will also need to do some math by calculating estimated costs per potential qualified contact. And don't forget your At-Show strategies. To find out more, download Ruth P. Stevens' webinar recording on Exhibiting for Bottom Line Results. So there you go. Your 2 days trade show has become a 3 months campaign. But it's worth it. Like what Tim Gunn on Project Runway says... "MAKE IT WORK!"