Weigh trade show costs including stand, travel and staff time against the pipeline it produced.
Return on investment restates profit as a percentage of the money put in, so a small campaign and a large one can be ranked on the same scale. The return multiple is the gross figure (revenue ÷ cost) that marketing teams usually call ROAS. A trade show can grow revenue and still destroy value; ROI is what tells you which side of the line you are on before you scale the spend.
Trade Show ROI
ROI = (Pipeline value from the show − Stand, travel and staffing cost) ÷ Stand, travel and staffing cost × 100
ROI = (Pipeline value from the show − Stand, travel and staffing cost) ÷ Stand, travel and staffing cost × 100 Return on investment restates profit as a percentage of the money put in, so a small campaign and a large one can be ranked on the same scale. The return multiple is the gross figure (revenue ÷ cost) that marketing teams usually call ROAS.
A trade show can grow revenue and still destroy value; ROI is what tells you which side of the line you are on before you scale the spend.
This calculator takes 2 inputs: Pipeline value from the show, Stand, travel and staffing cost. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.