Why do companies exhibit at trade fairs?

Why do German companies exhibit at trade fairs? The trade fair association Auma wanted to know. The results are astonishing.

This article is part of the special topic Trade fairs for the craft industry

Expectations for participating in a trade fair are high. On average, exhibitors pursue more than eight different goals. Their primary goal is to establish personal contacts with customers. This is according to the results of the "AUMA Trade Fair Trend 2019" survey of 500 representatively selected exhibitors at trade fairs. 

The main goals

• Most companies attend trade fairs to cultivate their regular customers (mentioned by 90 percent of exhibitors),
• Acquiring new customers (89 percent),
• the presentation of new products and services (82 percent) and
• Improving the image of the company or its brands (83 percent).
• However, trade fairs are still important for exhibitors for sales and contract conclusions, both during the trade fair and in the post-fair business (67 percent).

Interesting development: More and more companies, especially large corporations, want to recruit new employees through their trade fair booths. In 2012, this was only 15 percent of exhibitors. By 2018, 23 percent of companies cited trade fairs as a recruiting platform.

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41 percent of companies with more than €125 million specifically seek new employees at industry trade fairs. Among small and medium-sized enterprises, the figure is at least 21 percent, or one in five exhibitors.

Source: Auma