So you are saying that for partners of yours who actually put events on that getting booth space is a bad move for anyone? Are you going to put sponsorship dollars into events? What about the Inbound Marketing Summit? 
 
Interesting post. Thanks.

While I completely agree with what you are saying here in regards to your particular situation and industry position, I have to say I do still believe that there may still be a place for trade shows in many companies marketing mix. It all depends (as you point out) on how much your willing to spend per lead and where your getting your leads from. This is also an issue of fear as well. Many companies are of the mindset that they HAVE to be at trade shows because all the other companies are there and they need to be seen with them. What many companies fail to realize is that with all the time you spend prepping, planning, executing the trade show you could be writing tons of valuable content to help drive traffic and conversions through your website.....just an extremely different and in many ways SCARY way for many businesses to think. Keep up the great info Hubspot these are things that help us continue to turn the tide! :)

I totally agree with your decision. I get more value from attending events than from sponsoring them. 
 
However, you have an advantage over other marketers though in your ability to get speaking engagements easier than others can.  
 
It's all about content marketing and relationship building. I feel like a broken record when I say that. :)

While we haven't cut industry events out completely, we have substantially reduced the number and budget for this marketing tactic in 2010. We'll attend just two tradeshows - ones we consider the most important - and we'll host our annual customer conference. The shows that got cut are the ones where the sales representatives never supplied leads to marketing (these were very small shows that didn't offer lead scanners). Gotta have data to show ROI, folks!

While I agree that other marketing efforts have replaced trade shows for some industries, they will never be replaced 100%. Companies whose products are high ticket items depend on trade shows to makes sales. In these cases the one-on-one interaction and ability to experience the product is crucial. Additionally, a handful of targeted leads is all they need to make a sale. However, I also agree that speaking at events and holding proprietary events is much more effective than just exhibiting.

For many companies, exhibiting at trade shows may generate adequate sales and leads to justify the cost. However, I think this greatly depends on the industry you are in. Today, those software companies that exhibit are usually paying the excessive booth prices just to make an appearance and show the industry that they're still around. You can just as easily walk the show, run attractive promos, and have the same effect. Better yet, rent a meeting room and setup quality meetings with executives who are attending the show. I’ve seen this approach work extremely well in the past. Begin networking prior to and during the show and your meeting schedule will fill up rather quickly. 
 
 
 
In 2010, we’re focusing more on our messaging and targeted promotions to attract qualified leads. As a small company we need to prioritize efforts and maximize return on a limited budget – same as most companies out there.  
 
 
 
Time to get even more creative with our marketing dollars! 
 

I agree with the general trend that marketing moves online (I do this for my own company). However, you support this decision with pretty soft metrics.  
 
It would be better to judge the value of a lead source by the amount of sales opportunities (dollars), rather than the number of raw leads. Or at least count the number of qualified leads.  
 
Also, from personal experience I know that thought leadership takes a lot of time too: it may take 1 or 2 years before you've established yourself as a thought leader and get speaking opportunities. You should also include this cost (salaries paid) in your ROI calculation.  
 
Once you measure it this way, you may still come to the same conclusion, but it's not going to such a specular difference as from your example (1 blogging day = 2 tradeshow days).

As someone who worked for a while in the trade show industry my observation is that they are no different than any other marketing tool in that some folks use them more effectively than others. I used to advise clients to look at them as super sales calls in which your clients and potential clients come to you instead of vice versa. For many companies, the logistics of just getting there with an exhibit and a few people dominated their preparation and they never got around to inviting existing clients or prospects to come by and meet them face to face. Or, better still, give them the opportunity to meet some of the managers, developers and even finance people in the company who don't get out much and deal face to face or at all with real customers. In many industries, trade shows are also a good vehicle for PR and recruitment of top talent. You are correct that trade shows are a terrific waste of time and money if all you do is ship in an exhibit and a few people with good smiles and comfortable shoes to stand around for a couple of days and party too much in the evenings.

Seems to me that a company like Hubspot has obviously made a choice (and generally a smart one in my opinion) to invest in bloggers and content producers to really drive inbound marketing. Considering they're mainly trying to reach out to other companies and help them use the internet more effectively, this makes sense, especially if the lead generation is coming from inbound tactics as well.  
 
I wonder how many other companies will falsely take the same approach though, without hiring the online content producers to make sure online lead generation will pay off for them. If I'm selling washing machines, I want to use inbound channels for example, but the vast majority of my sales will come from traditional channels, for at least the next 10 or 20 years. I think inbound marketing currently is a fantastic mechanism for companies who want to teach others inbound marketing.  
 
I feel like a lot of companies on Main Street and even Wall Street however, are smartly going to continue to make the switch to inbound marketing in slow and measured steps. So I don't think this move by Hubspot is a harbinger of the end of trade shows, at least not for another decade or more. 
 

You say that you'd much rather attend and speak at trade shows than exhibit, but that assumes that someone else is willing to foot the bill for the show by exhibiting. What if the trade shows go away altogether? Two out of the four parts of your alternate strategy involve trade shows. Will your blog be enough to sustain your marketing? I think it's a question we all have to face as our investments in trade shows continue to decline and ITSMA research shows that those investments have been steadily declining for years). What will replace them? 
 
Chris Koch 
@ckochster

My cost for a trade show lead is 9 times more expensive than a web based sales lead. Yes, trade shows & trade magazines have serious issues. Here in Chicago, they are loosing trade show business due to their high cost.

This is a dangerous blanket statement. Where you spend your marketing dollars is dependant on where your prospects and customers are - are they online? Or are they at brick and mortar stores - or are they looking at niche trade magazines? Or at certain trade shows? Or maybe some of each? Each company needs to evaluate this issue for themselves, their industry, their stage in busienss and their customers/prospects.

Interesting to continue seeing an evolution in your marketing strategies as you learn more from the data your company collects. One number that stuck out in your post was "our blog generates 20% of organic leads". Just curious where the other 80% organic is coming from if not the blog?

The use of social media, email, and blogging has COMPLETELY and IRREVOCABLY changed the way our company goes to market. We axed trade shows a year ago, and with new strategy, are leads going through the roof. No more shows for us, either.

Wow... likely discussion! here are some answers to your questions. 
 
@Frank Reed - We love attending and speaking at events, and do want to support marketing industry events. But having a booth, sending multiple salespeople, printing collateral... is a pain and has a negative ROI. We WILL support events with speaking, content, promotion, and in rare cases a small cash sponsorship. And you'll see us out at events pretty often. But, we will NOT have a booth. 
 
@Matt Nelson – I think you are right, the decision might be different for each company. We just like to share what we’re doing, and see what folks think (like you). Don’t you love blogging? 
 
@Bernie Borges – True, but the speaking engagements we get are because of our blog, videos, webinars, ebooks, and other content has helped to build our reputation in the industry. While it was much harder to get to speak at events 3 years ago, I do think that any company can follow our path and do the same thing themselves, and use inbound marketing to get to the point where you are a thought leader for your industry and asked to be part of some events. 
 
@Brooke Suslak – I agree that in certain industries with high ticket items, you can make a better case for tradeshows. However, I do think that while the ROI might be positive in some industries for some companies, the ROI on tradeshows will still be lower than the ROI for inbound marketing –centric ideas. 
 
@Jep Castelein – Great point, and you are 100% correct. While Rebecca mentioned leads and cost per lead as the metrics, we did also look at closed leads and cost per customer when we made our decision. The close rate on leads we met at tradeshows was only marginally higher than many other channels, and did not come close to making up for the much higher cost per lead. We should have mentioned this more in the article. 
 
@Jay Zenner – Great points. We will still have a human presence at events to do the things you mention – talk to influencers, recruit people, meet new people, etc. – we just won’t have a booth which is very costly and ineffective. 
 
@Patrick Garmoe – I agree that washing machines will be SOLD through traditional channels for some time, however I think that mashing machine companies should use more inbound marketing to build brand preference for the people buying in those traditional channels. Just because I walk into a Sears to buy a product does not mean I didn’t use the internet to research my purchase beforehand. Imagine a blog with tips about managing a household or doing laundry better or faster. Imagine a community of folks trading tips about the best setting to use for different clothes or stains. Imagine offering amazing customer service using social media. I think there are lots of ways to use inbound marketing, for almost any business. 
 
@Chris Koch – If tradeshows do go away, we’ll probably do more webinars and virtual events. Events themselves are not bad. We’ll likely have a HubSpot User Group event sometime soon. We just have found that for us, having an exhibit at events was a waste of money. We also started the Inbound Marketing Summit, and we plan on being part of that event by providing content and speaking. 
 
@Internet Marketing Services(Luke Brown) – Just like Jep, you are 100% correct. Rebecca mentioned cost per lead, but we also looked at cost per customer and ROI, and were not happy with those metrics. We have found we’re better off doing inbound marketing and having our sales team follow up on the leads. We should have mentioned more about the analysis in terms of ROI and cost per customer.

I can see how trade shows will be less important for industries where the buyer's habits closely match the product/service being sold. Such as people online all day buying Internet services. Or someone who's job is to research already knowing what her options are. 
 
On the other hand, I have a friend who's company sells to the medical industry where they do not have the time to evaluate the options. I think his life will continue to be trade shows. For an example like this, a show is a big central place to spend minimal time while gathering maximum information.  

this is a great idea -- why have an inbound marketing company based on letting your content speak for itself and then have booths at trade shows? Plus I know from experience that the numbers never work out on COCA basis. Awesome.

This is a great post but I think a certain clarification should be added. This approach works once your company has reached a certain size. When you are still too small to host your own customer events, exhibiting at a conference can be a very valuable way to perform some very effective (though expensive) market research. It isn't so much about how many leads you get, but how much you can learn about the effectiveness of your message. 
 
I posted a reaction here that explains why conferences have been beneficial to us in the past and how we have applied what we have learned from interacting with attendees at conferences to our web marketing.

Hey Greg: I'm not sure why any of those goals can't be done online. Also, what do you mean by "size?" You can be HUGE 3-person company if you're content can be found everywhere.  
 
Also, why do you have to be an official exhibitor to interact with attendees? Why can't you be an attendee interacting with attendees?

I couldn't agree more. Tradeshows can be a bit useless for marketing. I do find, however, that many conferences will not allow you to speak at an event unless you're also a sponsor. I'm sure HubSpot can work around this particular issue. But for folks like me.... it's a problem.

Kristin Morris and Kate Glenn: 
 
Absolutely agree with you. People want to understand and get a good feel for a product before purchasing. - However, this can be done online. 
 
Anyone can experience the HubSpot product 24/7 through our free trial: http://www.hubspot.com/free-trial

Great example of how some basic analysis on your media channels, leads compared to effort/time invested, has provided actionable steps. Do you do any other monitoring on where your time is being spent, like the value of spending an hour blogging vs the same amount of time Digging, for example? Seems like there's good opportunity there.

There are MANY ways to 'work' a trade show without exhibiting. Here's an example: because we have a blog (about our industry, not ourselves -- and I think that's key), we go as PRESS and meet all sorts of people who know we're vendors but never treat us as such -- we're just one of the gang. See here for something we're doing, actually, right now at a trade now, WITHOUT an exhibit: http://simplek12.com/blog 

I completely agree with you. It is wiser to put your marketing dollars towards your own events where you can capture all leads and not just a handful.  
 
Thanks.

For Hubspot, the biggest reason not to participate in trade shows is a philosophical one: it's outbound! It goes against the grain of your identity ... who you are/what you preach as a company. I commend your decision.

Just don't lose sight of the fact that if no one sponsors trade shows there will be no events for you to speak at. You cannot ride the coat tails of the huge vendors for ever. Event companies could stop having exhibits but I do not believe the other models work as well.  

@Rebecca - I should have save "stage" instead of "size". Early stage companies are often still trying to figure out the basis of their marketing message. They know what they can do but they are still figuring out the best way to describe it.  
 
On a website you don't get the instant feedback that you do from attendees at a conference. You see results, but not don't hear reactions (except from a small minority that choose to comment, twitter, etc.)  
 
Once you are a little further along you can organize these events yourself, but when you are starting out a conference can be a good option. And most of them have some sort of all-in-one booth that is fairly inexpensive. If you are OK with having a relatively small booth then you can get a lot of good information for not too much money. 
 
But I agree, once you are past the early stages of your company, really once you have some sort of community, paying to exhibit at a conference probably won't provide much benefit. 
 
I guess the big difference with us is that we weren't primarily focussed on generating leads from the conference. Our main benefit was refining our message (in a very compressed amount of time) that would then generate many more leads for us via the web.

Great discussion here.  
 
A lot of the more popular marketing minds out there recommend this strategy. I'm actually surprised that HubSpot ever bought real estate at conferences to begin with. 
 
My initial thought: If you're measuring the ROI on the price of the conference itself, that's one thing. But if you use a conference as an opportunity to create valuable content, do you consider the leads generated by that content to be as a result of the conference, or of the media with which the content was published? 
 
For example, if you set up a video testimonial booth at a conference, and post a mash-up of those videos on your blog, do you think about the leads generated by that blog post as belonging to the blog or to the conference? I think that would make a difference in determining ROI.

Many consumers like seeing something in person..kind of the old Kick the Tire thing. With all the wordy blogs created to promote a product viewers will just Move On.  
I feel you will be losing out on a lot of potential connections with people who may not appear to be a lead at the trade-show, but will be someone who will 'Word of Mouth' market the heck about your product/service. I think you are making a HUGE mistake.

Your blog must be generating an amazing number of leads if it can put out more in one day than a booth at a show. Congrats!

It's logical that Hubspot needn't spend the $ on a trade show booth. Trade shows are an old school medium, but one that still has its place in generating awareness for novel products/services and networking, rather than lead generation.  
 
Anyone who hasn't been convinced of Hubspot's value through your webinars is probably so behind the curve that it would be like speaking to them in a foreign tongue. Glad to learn of Hupspot.TV.

I find this article very interesting, going into a tradeshow without a strategy is the problem, not the tradeshow it self. Stop being boring at the event, if you think you just show up and sales happen we all know how that works out.  
 
 
 
You can't replace face to face interaction with prospects, and build relationships with other companies that can help you in the future. 
 
 
 
You should be taking your online efforts driving those customers to in person events.

A bold and courageous move, based on rational thinking rather than follow-the-crowd mentality, that will give others a compelling reason to rethink how they spend their time and money.

Love Dave Morse's comment about outbound marketing being counter to your inbound culture (plus his use of the bold tags). So true, marketing programs need to match the company.  
 
A group of my fellow PR pros and I had a similar discussion, that trade shows were not as effective as other promotional strategies and have seen more clients go for more effective, budget friendly options. Lower costs + higher returns = happier bottom line. FWIW.

Interesting post. Disclosure, even though my role is social media, I have a bias towards trade shows based on my past. 
 
 
 
I agree with many of the posters and to some of the points in the post. You have done a nice job optimizing Hubspot for search placement. You are an inbound marketing machine. And, you have to drink your Koolaid for credibility. Events are outbound.  
 
 
 
For a sponsor of the IMS market leader, I am somewhat surprised. Do you not find value in meeting your customers and folks in your pipeline who might be influenced by f2f interaction at events who want to learn about enhancements, new offerings, etc.. Or, are they simply a way in your mind to generate more leads for you? Was that a factor in your decision or was it just lead conversion? 
 
 
 
Based on the lack of response in the past from Hubspot to some product questions we have had, I cannot help become somewhat suspicious when I see posts like this. 
 
 
 
 
 
In my opinion, I would say at a minimum you should have some type of presence in support of the markets where you are a leader and in defense of your position, to talk with customers/current prospects, to share insights, and perhaps generate some new leads. If you don't, competitors will capitalize on it. I am extremely busy and use events to see all the options in action. In fact, I purchased Hubspot after meeting you at the Inbound Marketing Summit. Otherwise, I may not have done so. 
 
 
 
As an attendee, I would not be happy to be pitched during sessions or breaks at a conference I paid for which appears it might be the direction of your future strategy. Furthermore, if the event producers allow that to happen, and no one exhibits, the whole conference will end up turning into one big sales pitch and professionals are smart, they won't go. The producer, the emerging markets, and the vendors, will be impacted. 
 
 
 
 
 

The lesson I take from this blog is not "don't do tradeshows," but rather: 
 
- Look at your ROI and determine where you're getting the most bang for your buck 
 
- Don't be attached to any specific tactics. They may work great today, but be phased out a few years down the road in favor of somethng better. 
 
- Constantly think about how you can tweak your existing tactics to improve your lead gen, which may not be a linear process. E.g., blogging leads to speaking opportunities leads to establishing company as expert, leads to lead gen. 
 
Great discussion!

WOW! That could be a knee-jerk decision without taking EVERYTHING into account. While I agree that cost per (raw) lead is higher than other forms of Marcomm, trade shows eliminate the cost of the initial contact and sales call by beinging prospects to you. And there is a BIG difference between NAMES/INQUIRIES that results from a blog vs LEADS that result from shows. There's not enough room here for my soapbox, so I'll just close by saying it's ALL in how you handle the NAMES/INQUIRIES/LEADS that prove ROI. I'm jus sayin...

This is an incredible tug of war between the past-current and the future. Once again Hubspot demonstrates leadership & courage. You got this amazing conversation going. Every company - regardless of where they stand on the Inbound Marketing continuum will benefit from thinking/re-thinking their marketing options -- including trade shows.

You and your HubSpot team are top-notch marketers, but I’d venture your skill set is more aligned with Internet marketing than trade show marketing. Just in case that’s true, I'd like to suggest 4 strategies that may improve your trade show marketing results: 
 
 
 
1. Inbound marketing at trade shows Treat trade shows as another inbound medium, driven by your excellent content, by offering mini-presentations in your booth every hour at the show, or by offering a new White Paper. Have your booth staffers engage everyone walking by your booth by saying, "Would you like to attend one of our ten 15-minute mini-seminars about inbound marketing?" or "Have you seen our latest White Paper?" If you are too shy to engage strangers in the aisle, hire crowd gatherers to do it for you. You will get many more of the right people into your booth and boost your ROI. 
 
 
 
2. Cut poor-performing shows, not all shows Just like publications, email lists, and websites, not all trade shows are created equal, or are a good fit for your offering. So rather than stop exhibiting at all shows, consider stopping exhibiting at the wrong shows, by evaluating the ROI of each show separately, and keeping the highest ROI trade shows.  
 
 
 
3. Exhibit where you speak Consider only exhibiting at trade shows at which you have a speaking engagement. It's great to speak at a show and promote your brand, but when you are a speaker it is against protocol to "sell" too hard in your presentation, and then there is no forum to take the conversation to the next level (when your presentation is done you’ve got to hurry out to give room for the next presenter). But you can switch gears once people meet you in your booth. I've had the pleasant experience of watching 10 people who attended a session I spoke at walk into my booth within an hour and become leads.  
 
 
 
4. More targeted pre-show promotions The average trade show has about 400 exhibitors, but attendees will only visit about 20. So while you may think you’ve bought an audience, what you’ve really bought is a meeting place with that audience. Make those meetings happen proactively. Email invitations to meet you in your booth to all the leads within a 100-mile radius of the trade show. Go further with prospects that have a higher potential to close based on your lead scoring, and personally invite them, either by phone or with a dimensional mailer, and give them a show-specific offer. Or, get the pre-registered attendee list, overlay that against your leads database, and again offer a personal demo at the show. 
 
 
 
As I said, you’re leading marketing experts and may have already tried these techniques to squeeze more results from your trade shows. You are better than just about anyone else at creating demand online with your content marketing approach, so it makes sense that you would want to divert all your funds to support that. But perhaps with some tweaks like the ones I’ve suggested you can create superior ROI exhibiting at trade shows and still remain true to your inbound marketing mission.

I totally agree, I'm in Sales/Marketing and our previous CEO used to send me to all sorts of franchise expo's etc and the only ROI I think we really got out of it was the Networking with other companies that were also showcasing. The ROI was a negative there's no doubt about it, very disruptive to your week especially in customer service.

Hello there - I think this is relatively simple and not rocketscience. I've worked across many sectors, and what is good for one proposition isn't good for another. It's all about making informed decisions. Hubspot have made an informed decision by measuring the return on their tactics. Why spend money using a promotional method that isn't as effective as another? It's all about getting the mix of the right methods.......pure and simple...

If by events you mean conferences, I wouldn't halt that one. 
 
In my experience, attending / being a speaker at conference is one of the best things you can do for your marketing.  
 
With tradeshows, however, I have to agree with you. Usually a complete loss of time and money.

Didn't intend to be anonymous when I posted the following last evening. 
 
 
 
This is an incredible tug of war between the past-current and the future. Once again Hubspot demonstrates leadership & courage. You got this amazing conversation going. Every company - regardless of where they stand on the Inbound Marketing continuum will benefit from thinking/re-thinking their marketing options -- including trade shows.  
 
posted on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 at 7:38 PM by  
 
 
 

I understand but suggest caution. I believe marketing is always tied to the four stages in a consumer's decision to purchase (need, awareness, trial, and commitment). If you're brand is unknown (awareness) and you spend all your marketing dollars on conversion (commitment) than you're going to struggle. 
 
Trade shows are a great way to educate the industry on your solution (especially B2B). It also is excellent practice for new sales teams, to test consumer response to new talking points, and generate residual presence (links, word-of-mouth, etc.). 
 
Let's not write off trade shows just yet. Let's make sure we measure event marketing correctly. And then let's find the right place for it in a marketing mix. 
 
My two bits. Thanks for the putting the topic on the table.

What you are really saying is that you have failed as an exhibitor. If you value shows as a meeting place to fly your company flag then you have failed to use all the tools available to you as an exhibitor at the shows you have selected to exhibit in.  
 
 
 
As a tradeshow industry consultant I can inform you that there are many different reasont to exhibit at a tradeshow. Lead capture is only one of the reasons. Your desire to speak at events, mingle at events and associate at events demonstrates the value you place on tradeshows and face-to-face marketing. Your stated position however demonstrates that you want to live off of the investment other marketers make in taking booth space at a specific tradeshow so that show can actually take place. 
 
 
 
My recommendation is to hire a tradeshow coach to help you do a better job in conceiving your tradeshow program, selecting shows to exhibit in, training your staff and setting a broader scope of activities and objective in your exhibiting efforts.  
 
 
 
With the volume of activity and connections on this blog and a well conceived and pre-promoted exhibiting effort you should be be able to effectively integrate in-person marketing and the bloggisphere to cost effectively move your business forward.

I could not agree more! Our company, Kyjen, has decided not to attend trade shows as frequently. Trade shows are difficult to track your ROI and as mentioned take up a lot of time and resources. Over the next couples years we will phase out of them completely, but for the time being are attending a few for political reasons.

Tradeshow and live event value certainly varies by industry, B2B or B2C and age demographics. (ie. the under 30's are very comfortable with real time web based interaction (ie virtual trade shows).  
 
I just got back from a huge Interior Design trade show in Toronto; 350 manufacturers. There is a tactile need to see, feel fabrics, paint, and meet designers face to face. BUT, all the sales reps at the booths said little real business came out of it. Good for designers attending however and THEY influence billions in sales.  
 
Seems the most effective shows now are very focussed ie. Sales 2.0 Conference. However, still a big time investment for small companies to travel all the way to SanFran or Boston for Marketingsherpa events, etc. 
 
In IT, telecom, software, I like local ecosystem Collaboration sollution events. 15-20 Complementary companies are organized to share a Celebrity hosted seminar / mini-tradeshow/ C level cocktail. All exhibitors are selling into the the same market ie. SMB's 50-500 employees, so sharing the event creates ROI in the top of funnel leadgen and cost. ie a major celeb can cost $6-10k for 6 hr. but split into 15 exhibitors = $400. 
 
Many of these companies are alliance partners, so they can present integrated solutions to 
their guests. 
 
15 companies each inviting 10 guests means 150 attendees and approx. 2,500 companies reached by html email- driving traffic to the web, etc.  
 
Collaboration = Synergy, Shared Cost and better event content for the end user clients. 
 
regards, 
Stuart