AUMA and Bonsai - Good news for the trade fair industry

More than two thirds of exhibiting companies (71%) will keep their trade fair participation constant. Around 43 percent of companies are planning to increase their trade fair budgets. These are just two of the results of the AUMA Exhibitor Outlook 2024/2025, in which we were once again able to show that special target groups are a specialty of Bonsai . 

AUMA, the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry, has published its latest study, which we conducted, and reports on it on its website: "This AUMA Exhibitor Outlook 2024/2025 is unique in the German-speaking world, both in terms of its objectives and the quality and quantity of the companies surveyed: 400 companies were surveyed in October and November 2023 that last exhibited at trade fairs. The highest-ranking person responsible for marketing/trade fairs was interviewed. In almost half of the companies, this was the top management, i.e. the management, owner or director level itself. The sample reflects the structure of exhibiting companies at German trade fairs, i.e. mainly small and medium-sized companies are represented in the survey."

"In its reporting on the study, AUMA has thus summed up what was important in the survey of this high-profile B2B target group, which we interviewed on its behalf via CATI," says Michael Voss, Client Partner Media & Analytics at Bonsai.

Special target groups are our specialty

Special target groups are a challenge - and a specialty of Bonsai: from B2B target groups (as in this case marketing managers) to banks or car dealership customers. We also have to deal with particularly selective (and sensitive) target groups at Bonsai Health , where, for example, we not only survey pharmacists and PTAs, as well as general practitioners, specialists, dentists, veterinarians and MFAs, but also doctors who offer certain treatment methods, or patients with certain medical conditions - as well as family caregivers, midwives, dieticians and, and, and, and... 

But back to AUMA. For a reliable forecast, it was crucial that the sample reflects the structure of exhibiting companies at German trade fairs - i.e. that small and medium-sized companies were predominantly represented. Two results are indicative of the breadth of the respondents: exhibiting companies with a turnover of over 125 million euros spend an average of 27.6 percent of their marketing budget on trade fairs. Smaller companies with a turnover of up to 2.5 million euros even spend 44.7 percent of their marketing budget on trade fairs. The sample also revealed differences between producers and service providers: For example, the average value of the trade fair budget share is between 33.2 percent (retail) and 40.1 percent (manufacturing industry). Service companies spend an average of 37.9% of their marketing budget on trade fairs.