Trade Shows & Exhibitions
An accurate trade show foot-traffic count can be the difference between a potential exhibitor agreeing to spend their marketing dollars with you or at another event. Find out how to use the latest heat map analysis for trade shows to get the most accurate traffic counts, optimize flow and create a better trade show experience for your exhibitors.
When you talk to potential exhibitors about your trade show, one of the first questions they’ll most likely ask you is about location analytics. Specifically, they’ll want to know about your show’s demographics and foot traffic.
Why Does Foot Traffic Matter?
And after a trade show, foot traffic is also metric exhibitors use to measure the success of the show. If there is a lot of foot traffic – even if it isn’t to their exhibit – they may consider exhibiting again. But if they don’t see the numbers, they know their time should probably be spent elsewhere.
An accurate measure of foot traffic is not only important to exhibitors but to trade show hosts as well. Relying on hand counters at entrances or on ticket check-ins and ticket sales only provides a rough estimate of the numbers. Plus, these methods are outdated. What’s the most accurate way to measure traffic at your trade show? Heat map analysis.
Heat Map Analysis for Trade Shows – What is It?
A heat map is a graphical representation of traffic flow and volume during a trade show. Different colours are used to represent the data, with darker shades of each colour representing larger values, and lighter shades representing smaller ones.
During your trade show, areas visited by the most people would appear in dark red and the areas that nobody visited would not show any colour.
Heat Maps and Traffic Patterns
In addition to telling you where attendees gather, heat map analysis will also show you how they moved within the venue. Map colours correspond to the traffic during a particular time period. For example, red areas typically represent the most-visited areas, while green spots represent lower traffic.
Additionally, heat map analysis for trade shows can reveal how long people stay in particular areas. This lets you know what exhibits your visitors are most interested in. Data can be analyzed hour-by-hour to see how traffic changes throughout the day. It also helps event planners learn what areas are most valuable. With data on traffic patterns, it’s easy to identify areas for which exhibitors would pay a premium.
Providing exhibitors with accurate foot traffic information helps them to justify booking your show again. Mapsted’s location analytics tool features heat map analysis for trade shows to streamline the task and provide excellent accuracy.
For more information on location-based technology, check out these blogs: What Is Location Intelligence and How Can It Be Used in Business?.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What can heat map analysis tell you?
A: A heat map is a simple two-dimensional data visualization tool. It depicts populated areas in warmer tones, while less crowded space is depicted in cooler colors. Using a heat map is a great way to track trade show floor activities over time and deduce patterns.
Q: What is the best tool for heat map analysis?
A: Mapsted Analytics is the best heat map analysis tool on the market. It offers all tools you will need to analyze your attendee traffic flow.
Q: Why not use Google Maps for heat map analysis?
A: Google Maps is a useful tool for outdoor navigation, but not for indoor visitor activities. It does not provide more accurate data than other standalone heat map analysis tools. This is one of the factors that leads businesses to seek Mapsted analytics solutions.
Q: How does heat analysis influence decisions in smart factories?
A: Heat map analysis can improve plant safety, worker health, and productivity. This would otherwise be a difficult task for data analysts because they would have to interview and focus on vigorous data collection, which is neither cost-effective nor timesaving.
Q: Why does heat map analysis matter at trade shows?
A: A thorough analysis of foot traffic is required to measure the success of your event. Heat map analysis connects data that completes the picture in a way that simple headcounts cannot.
