Expo West is a significant opportunity to directly engage with retail buyers. With improved packaging, 4 new SKU’s, an experiential booth and an excited team, is it worth an investment that may be $25,000?
Reading up on best practices, you began outreach to retail buyers, brokers, investors, and the media before the show. Your investment in Expo West, based on your revenue, was significant but, as compared to the more established brands, it didn’t compare. Your booth was out of the way and hard to find. Still, your team was energetic and engaging throughout.
Your booth location was less than ideal, so you made fewer connections than you had anticipated. Post-show, you followed up with every contact.
Now, you’re asking yourself: “What’s the real ROI from the show?”.
It depends. You did everything “right”, and it’s crickets. You may not know your real ROI for months; patience is required.
Enter ECRM, a different kind of approach to trade shows.
Rather than display in a huge convention center with thousands of other brands, ECRM sets brands up with a curated set of buyers who are looking to add products like yours. You meet with the buyers individually, either in person or virtually.
For the 3-day in-person sessions, attending includes networking opportunities, relationship-building, cocktail receptions, meals, and lodging. It’s like an all-inclusive resort vacation. (No, I’m not sponsored or paid to say this)
To be sure, ECRM isn’t cheap, but it is less expensive than Expo West. By comparison, for emerging brands, it’s priced at $5,652.00 for the 3-day session. All in all, that’s reasonable.
ECRM is the parent company of RangeMe, the wholesale marketplace that focuses primarily on food, beverage, beauty, and pet supply brands.
What’s the drawback of ECRM? Exposure. ECRM sessions may not attract as wide an audience as Expo West. In other words, you may not get the same brand visibility.
In summary, different trade shows are best for different brands. Find the platform that most benefits your business.
At Crafted Kitchen, we turn foodpreneurs turn their side hustles into success stories. We’ve got tons of free resources to help you get there. Want to talk about it? So do we! Let’s chat.
Crafted Kitchen is a shared use commercial kitchen in the Arts District of Los Angeles. We offer flexible kitchen rentals to small food businesses. Rent a kitchen today!
key phrase: rent a kitchen
Leave a Reply