Tradeshow Display Booths - Smart Budgeting for Your Expenses

Smart Budgeting:
Tradeshow Display Booths & Other Costs

The cost of tradeshow display booths represents only a small portion of what you need to allocate in your annual budgeting process to ensure you have adequate funding for your event marketing initiatives.

The following line items need to be considered for your tradeshow budget. This serves as a guideline and you will need to adjust the list according to your specific requirements.

Exhibitor registration fees based on the shows you plan to attend during the year
All costs associated with creating or updating exhibit displays, including design, graphics, materials, draping, equipment, accessories, signage and other display costs
Equipment for your exhibit display, including computers, furniture, podiums, audio-visual components, plants and flower arrangements
Marketing costs that may include advertising, direct mail, email marketing phone calls, etc. before, during and after the event
Venue services including booth cleaning, trash removal, fax and phone lines, lighting, power and other required contract services
Storage of your booth while not in use (if necessary)
Shipping costs to and from each show for your booth and related materials
Imprinting and producing promotional items (giveaways) to use at each show per your sales strategy
Travel costs, including airline, car rental, hotel accommodations, meals, and taxi for you and your booth staff
Staff compensation, training, name tags, and uniforms
Customer entertainment while at shows that may include dinner, hospitality suites, gifts, or other activities
Sponsorship costs you incur during events that may include speaker fees, seminar costs, hospitality suite and food expenses, etc.
Contingency totaling 8% to 12% of your total budget to allow for unexpected expenses or opportunities that present themselves over the course of the year

The benefit of annual tradeshow budgeting extends beyond standard expense allocation and management. Rather, your budget serves as an invaluable tool to measure the return-on-investment for your event activities.

The key is to keep close track of lead generation and sales -- per show -- to quantify your results. With this data in hand, you will also be able to better target your trade show plan in the future based on events that yield the greatest revenue for your efforts.