The LogiMAT fair for intralogistics took place in Stuttgart between 19-21 March 2024. It was a significant event attended by experts from the logistics industry worldwide. The event focused on warehouse solutions for automated storage, autonomous vehicles, software innovations for transport management, packing developments for global distribution, developing logistics infrastructure, and much more. There was plenty to see for companies active in the logistics, transportation, and distribution markets.

As always, it was also a significant sales and marketing event. Why is that so? As usual, companies at the venue competed intensely to gain maximum attention from visitors and generate the most leads. Trade fairs are exhibitions about amazing people and winning their favor, no matter how rigid or conventional the industry may be. Such fairs need to stand out from the crowd. This is a tough task, especially when competing with 1,600 companies and over 60,000 professionals. See our short summary of marketing and sales developments observed during the LogiMAT event in Germany.

If you already have some statistics from above, we need to briefly clarify the event stats here as well. There is much more to say about LogiMAT. From our perspective, this was the most significant event in Germany this year and beyond, on logistics and transportation, serving as a substitute for Munich's Transport & Logistics event, organized every two years or Transport & Logistics Antwerp 2024. We also attended the last edition of that event in Munich or in Antwerp.

Here are some basic stats from the LogiMAT 2024 event that should give you a picture of how big this event was:

• Approximately 35% of exhibitors came from outside Germany;
• Total attendance was 67,420 industry professionals, an increase of 8.1% compared to last year;
• A total of 1,610 exhibitors presented at the show, a rise of 6% compared to previous years;
• More than 120 innovative products were showcased during this fantastic three-day event;
• The net exhibition area increased by 2,000 square meters, reaching 67,000 square meters;
• 101,649 visitors, exhibitors, and media representatives attended LogiMAT 2024 (so quite a lot, right?);

Here is a short video from the event organizer: 

Successful execution of marketing objectives requires an initial analysis of the sales funnel. This is the vast majority of trade fair events and the main marketing task for any company that will attend such fairs. The starting point for any analysis is the correct approach to accessible market data. So, in the case of the LogiMAT event, we could carefully check on all the companies that can visit the event and those that will have their own stands.

That's right. At an event of the size of LogiMAT, you can often find some room for conversion not only from visitors but also from companies that have booths. For this purpose, event organizers release a full list of exhibitors. Many thanks for this!

A company that wants to be precise with its strategies must obtain the correct information from all accessible sources relevant to the business. So, marketing needs to validate its previous successful stories with events (if any) and then elaborate on what can be displayed during the event. It is also crucial to map precisely what attendees may expect from such an event, in this case, LogiMAT, and further prepare the entire funnel for this, whether it is sales, marketing, or both.

Before a company creates marketing content to attract customers at events such as LogiMAT, it is crucial to obtain the correct data. Many companies have a good understanding of who their customers are and what their basic needs or habits are. The problems arise when the company wants to become more competitive and thus needs to know more about the customers.

Demographic-based mapping is a commonly used method in marketing analyses to get the most accurate picture of customers. Here are essential conditions that can be evaluated based on demographics:

• End users of the product or service: The market size, the number of employees, and potential customers (end users) can help understand the scope of the possible offer.

• Logistics and distribution: Distance from the customer's location(s) to the company's shipping points (if applicable, as it may not be important for software providers).

• Market demand for services and products: Availability of customer service and compatibility of products or services with the customer's business needs. 

To be more effective in marketing, companies should use psychographics-based mapping to accurately examine the values shared by the individuals within the customer organization. The results of this type of analysis can be crucial to the company and enable the creation of more adequate operational assets for future content. Here are essential conditions that can be evaluated based on psychographics:

• Business reputation: What characterizes a company, how people view it, and how extensive is the network in which the company operates? These pillars can help in the condition of the offer.

• Openness to innovation: It is important to know if a company is willing to invest money in new products and strategies that are also visible through its online activities and marketing.

• Quality over quantity and way around: How the company maintains the quality of its services and products, helps adapt its offer, and may also help avoid a "weak MQL" (the term means that you can actually target ads to companies that are not in a position to buy your products or services because they may not need them; sorry, we've seen this too many times before to not mention this now, so don't be fooled by the fact that you get a lot of visitors to your booth).

During the LogiMAT event in Stuttgart, we can observe a substantial shift towards marketing expenses. For many years, marketing has been neglected, but now everyone is moving forward with pouring money into expensive booths and demos. That's great! But what is the outcome?

A deep marketing analysis is still missing in the marketing operations at the fairs. Many companies are still merely scanning badges and collecting irrelevant leads. Afterward, they start massive cold-calling campaigns that yield no results. This is related to poor sales personnel training and a lack of time. Many salespeople wish for assistance from an extra person who will help tighten their PowerPoint presentations, make cold calls, send emails after the fair, and classify their leads, among other tasks.

That would be amazing, but salespeople don't have the time and resources. Their lack of knowledge doesn't allow them to sort out proper leads. So, that is a significant issue for today's fairs. Another issue is the lack of marketing activities around the event. Somehow, it's hard for me to imagine how companies can pay up to €50,000 for a booth at the fair without investing in all-around marketing activities, which could consume a maximum of 5%-10% of the total cost of the booth.

Unfortunately or fortunately, all that depends on companies with bigger budgets can find themselves in better positions during fairs. Firstly, they can pay more for better and larger stand space. More considerable means they can acquire more square meters at the venue for presenting their products and secure a better place in the hall, perhaps near the door or in another area strictly considered preferable by event organizers. They can also pay more for marketing outsourcing and other resources and involve video marketing and business photography in their on-site presence.

Despite that, there were many factors that you may consider regarding the impressive ways to present businesses. It's obvious that fairs have a vital role in building strong market presence and can be widely used for PR purposes.

A company that wants to improve the skill of its sales and marketing should place more emphasis on in-depth market analysis. Evaluating based on demographic and psychographic mapping allows for a better understanding of customer behavior and better prediction. So, if you operate in the logistics industry, wheter your software solution provider, carrer, logistics services provider, you can reach to us and get to know more about logistics marketing.