According to "The State of B2B Event Marketing," 58% of marketers see determining event ROI as the key benefit of marketing automation, with the ability to personalize communications (47%), integrate automatically with a CRM system (46%), and drive attendance prior to an event (46%) also viewed as major benefits. However, marketers generally are not well-equipped to measure event success after the fact or to take advantage of it.  So how are we going to change this for our trade show exhibitors in 2012?  

Event managers need to prove the value that a show has to the company based on all the costs for the trade show booth itself, the exhibit space, the people (time and money), and the marketing tactics used.  Typically the success of a show has been determined by the number of lead generated.    

But have you ever tracked your website activity before - during - and after the show? There are several sources to track your website activity - the best of which is Google analytics.  But whatever you do - keep track of your before and after activities so that you can prove to management that for a variety of reasons - having your trade show booth at an event is helping you grow your business.

My suggestion would be to develop a spreadsheet of the costs of the show and then the leads obtained, customers met, website activity, closed sales, new potential clients, etc.  The list goes on.  Best of luck at your next trade show event!!