Marketing Plan In Action

Photo credit to Laila Alsaif

The Challenge of Tradeshow Marketing in the Oil and Gas Industry

Tradeshows are a key marketing channel in my region, but the company I work for it’s a business decision to make to attend or not, not a marketing decision. As a marketer, I’m responsible for creating the marketing plan, executing it, and tracking the effectiveness.

ADIPEC is the largest Oil & Gas event in the Middle East region, and we attend it every year, but I still hear the sales and commercial teams say the same objective every year, which is increasing awareness. So, I decided that maybe we need to change our approach this year and think strategically about this tradeshow instead of executing it the same way every year.

Building a Strategic Marketing Plan for ADIPEC

I started working on creating a strategic marketing plan using these steps.

Identifying Target Audience and Brand Awareness Gaps

First, I identified the target audience. This is important so I know how to tailor my message.

Once I identified my target audience, I then started to analyze what they know about the brand and what the gaps are. In this case I wanted to know where I would meet them, how much they know about the brand? What are their needs?

The third step was setting my direction, which was meeting our customers where they are.

Finally, I built my tracking plan to measure effectiveness.

Executing an Integrated Tradeshow Marketing Strategy

Then I started executing this plan by using mix of tactics: digital ads, booth signage, prints, and press releases.

Measuring Tradeshow Marketing ROI: Qualitative and Quantitative Results

My tracking plan included quantitative and qualitative data. The qualitative data was moving from people walking by the booth asking “Who are you” to “I know this brand, it manufactures this product”. This is because of the booth signage, prints, and press releases. For the quantitative data, it was mainly the digital ads and the impressions were great.