It’s less than five months until the industry’s main event returns to the NEC for its 10-year anniversary. As FIT Show draws closer, we ask event director, Nickie West, about the role that FIT Show plays in the marketing mix for its exhibitors.

As event organisers, we know how important it is to invest in our own brand in order to sustain that competitive edge and ensure longevity.

This, along with the loyal community that we have nurtured, has played a fundamental role in helping FIT Show succeed over the last decade.

Alongside our highly skilled inhouse team of marketers, we work with a number of third-party suppliers to bolster our branding and digital marketing efforts. We don’t sit still.

We are constantly looking at ways to evolve the FIT Show brand, broaden our offering and build our audience. We’re also fortunate to be backed by the Montgomery Group which has over a 100 years of exhibition experience across the globe. We have access to a wealth of expertise across the group which all contribute to FIT Show’s success.

When it comes to marketing, we take an ‘all channels on’ approach to ensure that we are sending the right messages, via the right channels, to the right audience, at the right time. We’ve spent time developing our audience personas, understanding their wants, needs and barriers and have developed a strategy that is designed to reach them at every stage in the buyer journey, moving them along the path to conversion with our multi-channel approach.

And the marketing engine that powers FIT Show also turbocharges our exhibitors’ marketing campaigns. Our exhibitors benefit from our investment in the FIT Show brand. We like to see ourselves as an extension of their marketing teams and adopt an ‘open door policy’ from the moment they sign up to exhibit.

The exhibitors who drive the best ROI from their involvement with FIT Show are often the ones that work closely with us to align our campaigns, and take advantage of the plethora of marketing support that we offer. From print advertising and PR through to digital marketing and radio, exhibitor filming days, email and direct mail – we utilise the full marketing mix to ensure that FIT Show, and our exhibitor brands, are firmly positioned front of mind for our 10,000 visitor audience.

It’s often reported that marketing is one of the first budgets to be cut during economically challenging times. However, we’ve seen a real shift in brands marketing through these times and reaping the benefits. It’s testament to the strength and resilience of our community, and its loyalty to the FIT Show brand, that we entered 2023 with more than 85% of the floorplan allocated for our 10-year anniversary event.

We know that roughly 80% of trade show attendees will not have been seen before by a brand’s sales force. And we also know that over 90% of these attendees plan to purchase in the next 12–15 months of visiting a show. FIT Show delivers a captive audience of 10,000 visitors who are all in the market to purchase the products and services on display.

It costs 22% less to contact a potential buyer at a show than through traditional channels, and that’s before you factor in the immeasurable benefits of being able to connect buyers with your products, en masse and in person. No other marketing technique allows a brand to connect and engage all the senses in the way that exhibitions do.

Exhibitions are about so much more than just generating business. They are the primary platform to reunite with lapsed customers, agents, distributors, friends and colleagues alike.

FIT Show really is a show like no other. We are excited to put on another first-class event this year and hope that you will join us as we celebrate a decade of FIT Show, and 10 years of being the number one event for the UK glass, glazing, windows, doors, hardware and components industry.