Earlier this month, Jessica Sibila, CMP, CTSM, executive director The Exhibitor Advocate, held a webinar with Joe Federbush, president and chief strategist, of EVOLIO Marketing: The Uncomfortable Truth, What Exhibitors Really Think and Why It Matters. Sibila and Federbush wanted to discuss the results of an ongoing survey The Exhibitor Advocate and EVOLIO Marketing are conducting to analyze the current state of event marketing from an exhibitor perspective.
The survey was to identify forces shaping participation and investment in events, and explore the evolving exhibitor-organizer relationships. As Sibila states: “We wanted to see how exhibitors are making investment decisions today and if that has shifted at all from a year ago. And then we also want to see what’s changing in the perception of the relationship that exhibitors have with their show organizer.”
They compared the results of the survey (involving 100+ event professionals with an average of 16 years in the event industry) conducted both at the end of 2024 and 2025. What Sibila and Federbush found both interested and concerned them.
To start, event marketing remains essential to exhibitors, but there is an express need for demonstrable value and stronger partnerships. While three quarters of the respondents rate their tradeshow program as excellent or good, half believe the rising costs of exhibiting outweigh the value.
“Most companies still really, really value trade shows and event marketing,” Federbush stresses. “There’s no question about that. The concern is more around the value that’s being delivered from the investments being made in tradeshows. It’s getting to the point where the costs may start outweighing the value.”
Sibila starts with good news. “75 percent of exhibitors rate their event program as excellent or good,” she says. Pointing out that exhibitors are getting more strategic about show selection, Sibila refers to research The Exhibitor Advocate did for Exhibit City News that shows exhibitors are continuing to see value in the shows that are supportive of their particular association.
“Exhibitors are telling us those association shows are a ‘we have to be there’ type of show for them,” Sibila says. “We had one quote from an exhibitor who said, ‘We have to go to the association show. The impact of us not being present is a slap in the face to them. We’ll never not be there.’ ”
Sibila notes another element that exhibitors are finding value in is events that provide quality data that supports their exhibiting measurement.
“Part of that equation is the exhibitors have to ask for data,” Federbush says, stressing the need to ask. “Not every organizer and association is just putting that information out there to the depth that exhibitors want it.”
But part of that gathering of information is clearly identifying objectives for participating in shows. This goes for both organizers as well as exhibitors, Federbush observes.
So why participate in a show? The survey revealed a number of reasons. The default is, of course, to generate leads. But according to Federbush, there have been shifts over the years, especially post Covid. “Number one,” he says, “is to increase brand and product awareness, followed by seeing existing customers, then generating leads.”
Those reasons can vary show to show. Federbush illustrates, “An exhibitor could go to show A where generating leads is number one because it’s a highly competitive environment, or they’re really well known in the industry. But that same exhibitor could go to show B where they’re not so well known, and the priority is building brand awareness or introducing a new product.” Organizers need to keep that in mind if they are to help exhibitors achieve the best ROI.
What about costs? When it comes to budget, one third say their budget increased from a year ago, while half say it remained the same. That can sound good, but Sibila points out that the costs of exhibiting have increased by some 30 percent. Now compare that with reported budget increases of about 20-25 percent and you can see a problem. Are exhibitors doing more with less? Sibila says no. “They’re just having to do less. They don’t have the budgets to keep up with where costs are going.”
Then you have 85 percent of respondents who say they are unable to prove ROI and success (up 10 points from 2024); that makes the budget crunch even tougher.
Is the money being spent effectively? Respondents state 62 percent of budget is non-revenue generating/ non-promotional. Exhibit space and show services are the top two expenses of their budget. Great for the industry, right? Not exactly, says Sibila. “When you hear from other stakeholder groups that the industry is thriving, it is because the money that exhibitors are spending is going into the pockets of those other stakeholder groups.” But exhibitors are not seeing the money driving business. “This is why exhibitors are implementing solutions to reduce costs. They had to cut the fat. They are now cutting to the bone.”
Of the respondents, 55 percent say increased costs outweigh the value of their investment. One solution? 43 percent say they prefer holding offsite activities instead of exhibiting. In fact, 64 percent are scaling back overall presence at events.
Sibila talked with one exhibitor who said, “The tradeshow model isn’t really working for us now. It’s so much easier to figure out what’s working in other channels.” So he took his budget away from his tradeshow marketing budget and shifted it to a sponsored lounge. That exhibitor got the data that they needed from the people that visited the lounge.
“If that doesn’t scare everybody who makes a business out of this industry, then we’re not paying attention.” Sibila is emphatic, “Our role in cultivating these trade shows is to bring people to the show floor. If we’re making it more difficult for exhibitors to get onto the show floor, then we’re not doing our job.”
Do exhibitors feel valued and understood by organizers? Sort of. 72% of exhibitors say organizers value their company’s participation, but half question whether the organizers truly understand or support their business objectives. Says Federbush, “(Half) is not great. It could be a lot worse, but they should be better. It should be at least two thirds, not one half.”
But both Sibila and Federbush espouse the positive. “Exhibitors absolutely still believe in the power of events,” Sibila re-emphasizes. “They still find value in trade shows. But the rising costs and the scrutiny from leadership teams demand a new approach to the way we think about the industry. I truly believe that success comes when we collaborate. We have to be working together to manage the costs that are being thrust upon our exhibitors, to foster transparency, understanding, and value in what we’re getting for those costs to create those meaningful partnerships that really are what live events and face-to-face events are all about.”
To view the webinar in full, click here exhibitoradvocacy.com/the-uncomfortable-truth-what-exhibitors-really-think-and-why-it-matters
