Tips og råd
How to calculate the ROI of a trade fair trip
A trade fair trip is a real investment. Here's a practical framework for measuring the return — beyond just counting business cards.
A trade fair trip for three people typically costs NOK 60,000–90,000 all-in. To justify that, you need a clear sense of what success looks like before you go and a structured way to evaluate it afterwards.
Set your goals before booking
Define 2–3 concrete outcomes you want from the trip: number of qualified supplier conversations, specific technologies to evaluate, or new contracts to scope. Vague goals like "see what's new" produce vague returns.
What to measure
- Qualified supplier conversations— meetings with decision-makers, not just brochure-gathering.
- Estimated savings or revenue.If a new supplier delivers a 5% cost reduction on a NOK 5M annual spend, that single conversation has paid for the trip ten times over.
- Strategic insights.Harder to quantify, but a clear view of where competitors are heading is genuinely valuable.
- Internal knowledge transfer.Did the debrief produce concrete actions in the team?
Track over 12 months
Many trade fair benefits land months later — a contact made in April closes a deal in October. Build a simple tracking sheet of fair-originated leads and revisit it quarterly.
Use ourcost calculatorto estimate the investment, andget in touchfor tailored planning.
Om forfatteren
Erik Balslev - COO i Balslev Gruppen med over 15 års erfaring innen fagmesser og B2B-reiser.
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