Ah, the time of year when the snow starts to fall, the temperatures dip, and the smell of pumpkin spice is in the air. Yes, it’s budget time, and we know how stressful that can be. So to help you proactively plan for success in the year ahead (and allocate funds appropriately), we consulted internal experts regarding their advice on budgeting for your 2025 trade show program.
Review Historical Expenses
Best care scenario, you have centralized database with all your program’s itemized expenses for the past few years. But given the volatility of several line items, including skyrocketing show service fees, your 2022 costs aren’t going to be super helpful when guesstimating 2025 expenses. In fact, 2023 costs aren’t likely to give you an accurate picture either. But knowing what you spent at shows in 2024 should give you a pretty good idea of what 2025 events will run. So assuming you have this information at your fingertips, let’s begin.
First, separate the capital expenses (CAPEX) from your operating expenses (OPEX) for each show you did in 2024. Assuming you’re reusing the same exhibit in 2025, you can ignore your CAPEX … for the most part. You should anticipate a few minor repairs and/or replacement costs in the event exhibit elements have been damaged or are showing their age, but your experiential agency should be able to provide estimates for any refurbishments you may need to consider. You will also want to think about any graphics that might need to be changed to accommodate shifting messaging, new products, or updated logos. Again, your agency can estimate the cost for any graphics that must be reprinted. Aside from that, your CAPEX costs shouldn’t recur annually, unless you build a new booth every year, so you need only be mindful of the amortization schedule of those assets.
Next, look at your OPEX for each show. This includes shipping, show services, labor, etc. I recommend noting the total for each event individually (especially if it’s a show you plan to attend again in 2025), as well as the OPEX per square foot of booth space. Your 2024 total-show OPEX rates should be within 10 to 15 percent of your 2025 rates, assuming you’re deploying a similarly sized exhibit with relatively the same level of complexity. Meanwhile, the per-square-foot OPEX cost, averaged across the entire year, can help you make an educated guess on what a new event you haven’t exhibited at (or haven’t exhibited at since before the pandemic) might cost.
Sadly, not all of us have robust records. And if I had a nickel for every exhibit manager who has relayed horror stories about coming into a new company to discover the previous exhibit manager kept no records whatsoever, I could fully fund your trade show program for the next 12 months. So if you find yourself in that camp, read on! All hope is not lost.
Guesstimate Budgets Based on Booth Space
If you literally have no historical data on which to base your budget, I recommend one of two options. The first is to take the cost you spent on booth space (before any deductions or discounted rates based on sponsorships or show management promos) and multiply it. For decades, research from Exhibitor Magazine has shown that booth space accounts for roughly one-third of total-show costs (not including new construction or purchased AV equipment for a new booth, which would be a capital expense), meaning you should be able to use a factor of three. But considering that show services and shipping rate increases are far outpacing booth-space rental fees, I no longer trust that calculation, which is why I recommend a multiplier of 4, which should give you a more accurate picture. But keep this in mind: That’s the industry average.
You know your program and events well enough to know whether or not the way you show up is considered “average.” If you routinely own each event with more bells and whistles than a Cirque du Soleil show, “average” isn’t likely a wholly accurate measure. Similarly, if you exhibit with a folding table, two rented stools, and a six-year-old banner stand, you’re not exactly average either. Additionally, if you are in an industry that requires on-site refrigeration, meal-prep equipment, and a high volume of consumables, you are going to be looking at a higher multiplier. So adjust up or down as you see fit. If you want to dominate the show and have the best booth in the exhibit hall, you’re probably looking at a factor of 5 or more. If you’re a bare-bones DIY exhibitor that eschews all the traditional trappings of an exhibit, you can probably get away with a factor of 3 to 3.5.
Another option is to consider the average cost per square foot, which is the subject of much debate. This data point is wholly dependent on whether or not the methodology behind the stat strictly defines the cost per square foot as CAPEX, OPEX, or both. The problem is that most surveys I’ve seen on this do a poor job (at best) of defining what survey respondents should include in that figure. So just as you adjusted your multiplier based on whether or not your exhibit is considered “average,” you must also weigh that in this calculation. Low-end averages run roughly $200 per square foot, whereas high-end exhibits with lots of AV, rigged elements, and complex structures run as high as $500 or more per square foot. Based on our internal research, these figures often include both CAPEX and OPEX spend for a new booth making its show-floor debut. Having said that, if we look only at operational costs, our clients’ OPEX fees ran an average of $94.45 per square foot in 2024.
Given that data, you can multiply your total square footage for an event (or for your entire annual calendar) times $95 to determine a data-backed budget that should prove relatively accurate (while taking the aforementioned “average” caveats into consideration).
Review Existing Events and Consider New Ones
It’s unbelievable how many marketers continue going to the same shows year after year without evaluating whether or not those events are still of value to them. After all, targets shift, shows ebb and flow, buyers evolve, etc. If your company is focused on new-business acquisition as its primary goal for 2025, you might want to consider dialing back your investment in events that have a disproportionately high percentage of known buyers (i.e. attendees who already know your brand and are well aware of what you offer). Or maybe it makes sense to eliminate that small association show you’ve been going to for a dozen years and redirect those funds to testing out three different events you’ve never considered.
If you’ve never done a comprehensive audit of your event schedule, let’s get on it. When the economy dips (and that’s not an if but a when), you need to be able to optimize every precious marketing dollar. And even if you’re rolling in dough, you should still be able to justify that investment at any time. Additionally, having the data to back up your rationale behind why stakeholders should consider increasing your at-show spend at this event and tightening the purse strings for that event is gold. This is the kind of thing that differentiates an exhibit manager from an exhibit marketer, in my opinion. Hitting rinse and repeat on your show schedule every year is easy, sure. But analyzing each event and being able to proactively optimize your spend has a strategic swagger to it that won’t go unnoticed, benefitting your program and likely your professional prospects.
For that reason, if you can negotiate even a meager slush fund, it’s not a bad idea to test out a new event each year, even if that means a small booth with a bare-bones budget. Alternately, you can allocate funds to attend an event, walk the show floor, and observe which (if any) clients, competitors, or prospects are there. Worst case scenario, you’re able to check that show off your list (at least for the time being). Best case scenario, you identify a new opportunity for your program to generate leads from a previously untapped audience – and now have the data on which to base your recommendations for next year.
Partner with Your Partners
Thankfully, budgeting is not an exercise you must complete independently. It’s a time to lean on your partners (especially vendors with which you have a longstanding relationship). They will have not only historical data in the event you do not, but also a broader understanding of what’s happening within the industry as a whole, which cities are experiencing the highest cost increases, and how those increases are likely to impact your program, based on the labor and show services necessary for your specific properties.
In the event you are facing budget cuts, they can help you identify ways to reduce costs, from mapping out your entire annual calendar to minimize shipping expenses to identifying lightweight materials or modular elements that may be able to save you money on drayage or labor. What’s more, they should be able to identify potential savings on line items from storage to swag, helping you make the most of your trade show coffers and optimizing your exhibit investment.
Lastly, your experiential agency should be able to assist you in pushing back on blanket budget cuts. For example, if you are arbitrarily told to trim 20 percent off your 2024 spend, they can arm you with information about what that haircut might mean to your exhibit-marketing presence. In some cases, cost cutting can be a good thing, assuming there’s fat to trim. But many programs have been operating without much waste since trade shows rebounded following the pandemic. In these instances, it may not be realistic to reduce expenses by one-fifth without nicking an artery that could have long-term consequences.
For example, opting for a smaller footprint at a given event might mean a less-than-ideal location that could have serious implications on your booth traffic. Or it could mean forfeiture of a legacy space that your company has enjoyed for decades. Skipping an event for one year might have significant ramifications that could impact your priority points for next year’s show, meaning years of bad booth spaces until you once again work your way back up the ladder. And watering down a booth the year after it debuts could kill the marketing momentum you’ve established in an attempt to position yourself as a leader in your sector, effectively nullifying last year’s investment.
There are countless unforeseen realities that can come from shortsighted budgeting, and while a solid argument isn’t enough to make every proposed cut go away, it’s important you and your stakeholders are fully aware of what a reduction might mean so that you can make fully informed decisions. So lean on those who have been there, done that, and seen the regret on clients’ faces. They can help you at least make a solid case before blindly accepting budgetary reductions.