Does attending Car shows/events as a vendor pay off?

Tintguy09 · February 5, 2017

Hey everyone! Business has been pretty good lately! Recently I saw their was a BIG car meet right down the road from where I live so I figured i'd make fliers and go hand them out to potential customers and it worked very well. Not only that , it was just great to get to know new people and potential customers in the future. Yesterday I saw that their is a big Import event (Show/Drag Racing events) coming to a popular Drag strip very close to me and I am seriously considering paying to be a vendor at the event . I contacted the event coordinator and he told me I would be the only window tinting company their as a vendor. My question is, Has anyone paid to be a vendor at an event like this and if so, was it worth it in the long run? This would be the first time I've ever done something like this so any advice I could get would be much appreciated. THANKS GUYS !

Ryker · February 5, 2017

You will get everyone wanting a "cub" discount or they want FREE so they can show you as "sponsor"

I doubt it will be a worthwhile time or money investment.

DynamicATL · February 5, 2017

We have done it all from small local meets to big events. The smaller meets a good because they are usually free...so even if you get 1-2 customers out of it, it could be worth it. Keep in mind though, a good portion of the people that goes to these shows are there because it is free...so usually no big spenders there. The bigger shows can be expensive and usually do not have a return on investment. You have to calculate how many new customers you need to attract to pay you back the investment so you could actually turn a profit. If that number is unlikely, then usually not worth it. We no longer do them because I would rather invest that money in online advertising that reaches a much broader customer base and brings me more customers.

Roach · February 5, 2017

Interesting topic. I've always wondered if they were worth doing. :chin

Tintguy09 · February 6, 2017

Hmmmm....I was really hoping someone had a good experience with it. its supposed to be over 10,000 people at this event so I figured if anything it would just be worth the money to get the name of my business out there. It only costs $250 to be a vendor for the day which isn't much at all. I don't know.......Now I'm on the fence about it. I tell ya what, I started paying for Facebook Advertisements and either Its bullshit or I'm just not doing something right. Aside from the occasional Like on my business page, I'm not seeing very much feedback from it. Any advice Dynamic? I know you run a lot of facebook ads......do you customize your audience or just run ads in certain general areas? I've spent WELL over $200 on facebook ads and haven't received one damn phone call. Went to a local car meet and handed out fliers and scheduled 5 Jobs that night. Any suggestions?

Roach · February 6, 2017

While I can't really comment on car shows, since I don't do cars, I have done home shows for flat-glass, which may or may not be similar. (car enthusiasts vs. homeowners)

If it were me, I would invest the $250. At the end of the day, it's not very much. I would get a high-end car to sit in your 'booth' - I assume you'd have a spot - to showcase the tinting. Have cards and/or postcard type flyers for people to take with them.

I dunno... doesn't seem like much of an investment, but like I said - two totally different markets so I could very well be way off base. :dunno

DynamicATL · February 6, 2017

13 hours ago, Tintguy09 said:

Hmmmm....I was really hoping someone had a good experience with it. its supposed to be over 10,000 people at this event so I figured if anything it would just be worth the money to get the name of my business out there. It only costs $250 to be a vendor for the day which isn't much at all. I don't know.......Now I'm on the fence about it. I tell ya what, I started paying for Facebook Advertisements and either Its bullshit or I'm just not doing something right. Aside from the occasional Like on my business page, I'm not seeing very much feedback from it. Any advice Dynamic? I know you run a lot of facebook ads......do you customize your audience or just run ads in certain general areas? I've spent WELL over $200 on facebook ads and haven't received one damn phone call. Went to a local car meet and handed out fliers and scheduled 5 Jobs that night. Any suggestions?

$250 is not bad for that amount of audience.

As far as Facebook, I run two types of ads. The first one is promoting the page itself, which sounds like what you are doing. I only spend $2 per day doing this which increase our Likes along with getting some interaction. The mainly spend money on promoting specific posts which gets a lot more interaction. So you post something up promoting a specific car you tinted, highlight a specific film, you just a post about your services...then you Boost just that. Below is an example of that in action. I also promote to our whole state even though parts of it is 4 plus hours away. I would atleast go out 50 miles because you will be surprised how many people are willing to drive for a quality job. This is where you will get the most bang for your buck. However I spend most of my money with Google since that is where majority of people search.

https://www.facebook.com/DynamicAppearance/posts/1756102457787067?ref=notif&notif_t=like&notif_id=1486072516533663

Edited February 6, 2017 by DynamicAppearance

Tintguy09 · February 8, 2017

Thanks for the feedback guys!! I'm thinking I might do that Roach. having a car set up and tinting it would be a cool way to kind of showcase what it is we do. that's what I was thinking! $250 for a whole day at an import event with thousands of people seems like a small price to pay to even just get word out and pass around my number. especially if I'm the only tint shop that is gonna be there. I couldn't believe the event coordinator said id be the only tint shop there. seems like a great venue to be at to me. thanks for all the feedback about facebook Dynamic. I actually do the exact same thing. I Boost posts to friends of people who have already liked my page and I do $7 a day everyday for my page to get likes. It seems that boosting pictures of high end cars I do gets WAY more feedback.

DynamicATL · February 8, 2017

59 minutes ago, Tintguy09 said:

Thanks for the feedback guys!! I'm thinking I might do that Roach. having a car set up and tinting it would be a cool way to kind of showcase what it is we do. that's what I was thinking! $250 for a whole day at an import event with thousands of people seems like a small price to pay to even just get word out and pass around my number. especially if I'm the only tint shop that is gonna be there. I couldn't believe the event coordinator said id be the only tint shop there. seems like a great venue to be at to me. thanks for all the feedback about facebook Dynamic. I actually do the exact same thing. I Boost posts to friends of people who have already liked my page and I do $7 a day everyday for my page to get likes. It seems that boosting pictures of high end cars I do gets WAY more feedback.

Only difference is I do not boost to people who like the page and friends. I boost to the same audience I selected which is the whole state. I get much more feedback from new people that way.

Ryker · February 8, 2017

1 hour ago, Tintguy09 said:

Thanks for the feedback guys!! I'm thinking I might do that Roach. having a car set up and tinting it would be a cool way to kind of showcase what it is we do. that's what I was thinking! $250 for a whole day at an import event with thousands of people seems like a small price to pay to even just get word out and pass around my number. especially if I'm the only tint shop that is gonna be there. I couldn't believe the event coordinator said id be the only tint shop there. seems like a great venue to be at to me. thanks for all the feedback about facebook Dynamic. I actually do the exact same thing. I Boost posts to friends of people who have already liked my page and I do $7 a day everyday for my page to get likes. It seems that boosting pictures of high end cars I do gets WAY more feedback.

I wouldn't try to be tinting at the show. Hard to talk to people if you are and the actual time goes so fast when tinting a window.