ROI · 6 min · 2026-05-17

Calculating trade show ROI: the formula no one uses (and should)

Booth cost, flights, hotels, staff time: a trade show costs around €35,000 on average. Here's how to know whether it was worth it - and which one to do again next year.

Three quarters of B2B companies attend trade shows without ever measuring their ROI. The result: they renew their participation out of habit, or cut it out of budget panic. Here's a simple method to decide in 30 minutes after each event.

The complete trade show ROI formula

ROI = (Pipeline generated x Historical conversion rate x Average margin - Total cost) / Total cost. Let's break it down.

• Pipeline generated: the sum of opportunities created from the show, valued in euros (average deal size x initial probability).
• Historical conversion rate: your pipeline -> signed deal conversion rate, calculated over the last 12 months.
• Average margin: the gross margin on your typical contracts.
• Total cost: booth, travel, lodging, meals, AND staff cost (days x daily rate of each rep mobilized).

The classic mistake: forgetting the staff cost

Three reps mobilized for three days at a daily rate of €800 represents €7,200 of hidden cost. This omission systematically skews decisions and creates the illusion of a positive ROI on shows that actually destroy value.

The decision threshold

An ROI below 2 should trigger a rethink: a change of objective, a smaller setup, or dropping the show the following year. An ROI above 5 justifies increasing the investment (booth size, team mobilized) to capture even more pipeline.

The benchmark to build

Keep a table year after year: cost, pipeline, ROI, 48-hour first-contact rate. After 2 years, your trade show calendar optimizes itself. You stop the courtesy events and focus your forces on the 3 or 4 shows that really build the pipeline.