John Smith | Participating in international automobile trade shows and exhibitions can be an effective medium, to access foreign markets. Trade shows offer a single venue to network, promote, and check over competitors and innovation.
There’s a good chance that an auto trade show exhibits your automobile products or services. According to industry analysts over 14,000 trade shows are held each year in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and South Africa alone. The Nigerian automotive industry and trade shows are defined as large events organized to facilitate commercial transactions, between businesses from all over the world.
Why go to trade shows and expos?
More customers and less time: A good opportunity to the network, find clients, and get new leads, trade shows cum exhibition serves as a specialized marketing tool, designed to hasten relationship building and sales; by connecting buyers, sellers, and other stakeholders from common industries.
Personal contact and receptivity: Live shows and events help international automotive suppliers. appeal to wholesalers’ and importers’ senses, when showcasing products or services and highlighting competitive advantages. The venue of an automobile tradeshow offers a unique opportunity for direct personal contact, vital for building confidence and closing a sale. Dealerships themselves are accessible since they are actively looking to take advantage of having multiple vendors in one place. They want to ask questions. They want to physically check and experience both products and the people behind them. Auto exhibitions and shows can also be a great way to impress and attract business owners and managers and /or reconnect with existing clients and maintain a positive image.
Higher return on investment (ROI): Auto Trade shows and exhibitions are a powerful, non-mass media tool to promote your company and its products, new and existing. The African Global Competitiveness Initiative calls out trade shows as extremely accessible, best practices for connecting to new markets. Automobile trade shows exhibit higher rates of return than found with direct marketing; which is mainly successful in instances where the industry is compact, organized, and scarce in supply. Or when the makeup of the consumer market is crystal clear. Simply put, one day spent at an auto exhibition provides access to more clients from more places than, you will ever visit during a typical workday.
Assess your market: consumers, competitors, and innovation: Just being present is many times a cost-effective way to conduct market research; stay updated on industry trends. And look the competition up close. It is also common for trade shows to include workshops, training, seminars, trade talks, and similar activities purposed for expanding the skills, capacity, and knowledge of participants. If you’re not ready for the investment needed to host a full exhibition, registering as an attendant will still offer you the opportunity to establish contacts and collect market intelligence.
Sum Up
Summing up, clearly pinpointing your export and business objectives, before even considering attending an automobile trade show and exhibition; will allow you to make the right decision about which auto show will bring your business the most value.