While marketers overwhelmingly remain committed to exhibitions and events as a central campaign channel, the trade show industry is still seeing plenty of exhibitor caution when it comes to budgets, according to a new survey conducted jointly by BtoB and expo services provider Freeman.

Exhibitions are a heavily relied-upon channel, employed by 85% of marketers, according to the “The Future of Events,” an online survey conducted in September that collected 545 responses, primarily from general and interactive marketing directors and managers. Of those, 38% exhibit more than six times a year.

And yet the survey revealed an undercurrent of ambivalence about event marketing.

When asked how valuable exhibiting is for meeting market goals, 38% said that results are “about average” compared with other channels; 31% said the channel underperforms, while 29% said events perform better than average.

“I think this reticence about events is natural,” said Skip Cox, president of event marketing, measurement and research company Exhibit Surveys. “There's still some uncertainty about what the recession will bring. Even though we're seeing high levels of quality people coming to events, buying plans haven't yet kicked back up.”

Event budget plans reflect exhibitors' caution. When asked about planned exhibiting expenditures for 2010 and again for 2011, by far the largest percentage of respondents (45% and 49%, respectively) said spending is or will remain flat.

Even looking five years out beyond 2011, exhibitors are taking a wait-and-see attitude, with 42% saying they expect to keep their events budgets “about the same.”

“It seems to me it's more of a steady-as-she-goes situation,” said Ken Demith, director-customer innovation with Freeman. “When you think about all the traditional media that have declined for the most part, that's an extremely strong message.”

But for the nearly one-third of respondents who remain devoted to events as one of, if not the, best-performing channel, there's no substitute for face-to-face marketing.

“Trade shows we host and those we exhibit at are the best source of business for us,” said Kathy Vogler, marketing manager with SMS proTech, a telecom and wireless systems integration company. “I recently did three shows in three weeks and for good reason; there's always something good that comes out of every show we attend.”

Lead generation is an important or very important goal for 88% of exhibiting marketers, according to the BtoB/Freeman survey, with building brand awareness (79%) and engaging with current customers (77%) also key objectives.

“The main objectives of the trade show haven't changed so much, which is to obtain leads,” Demith said. “The question is what to do with those leads. There's still an opportunity to enhance and improve on that.”

And there's a strong belief that attendees gain a lot from exhibitions: 83% of respondents said “getting educated about your industry, products or services” is the main motivation for attendees.

“We host an educational series around the country and, even if they attract just 50 people, [attendees] care about what we're talking about,” Vogler said. “They want us to solve their problems. We arm them with education.”

Only 15% of respondents had not exhibited in the past year, and most of those—51%—said they had no plans to exhibit in the future. The primary reasons given: their products or services are not conducive to events and the costs of exhibiting are too high. Fully 35% of those with no exhibit plans simply said they “do not see the value.”

Even among regular exhibitors, almost a third (31%) feel the value of exhibitions is suspect, a sentiment that may fuel general caution about the channel.

“There is not enough measurement being done to really know what the value is,” Cox said. “Whether you're talking Fortune 500 companies or smaller exhibitors, people don't do a good job of tracking what kind of results they get from a show. The bottom line is almost always based on gut feelings.”

Sixty-three percent of survey respondents said collaboration and networking—which don't lend themselves to measurement—were highly important goals at events.

“Networking is probably the most important component for us,” said Amanda Carroll, marketing manager at Briefings Media Group, a human resources training company. “We do a lot of partnering with other companies, and probably the most beneficial part of exhibiting or attending is talking about what they're doing.”

Carroll said she employs other channels, such as email and direct mail, as her prime lead-generation techniques.

Virtual events are an intriguing option for many. In the BtoB/Freeman survey, 71% of respondents said virtual events—completely online experiences with cartoonlike “booths” populated by avatars, and with an assortment of audio and video presentations in place of in-person educational sessions—help attract more participants; 62% said they can be valuable for extending geographic reach.

“Virtual shows are on our front burner for 2011, and [the channel] is something I'd like to explore,” said Joshua Fuhrmark, managing director of LegalFish, a lead-generation company for attorneys. “But at the same time, nothing substitutes for a handshake and a smile.”

Fuhrmark said his participation in any virtual show would be to augment live activities, not as a substitute for them.

“People are coming to the conclusion that virtual events are ways of extending the reach and life of a live show,” Cox said. “Their advantage is leveraging what you've developed on the live side, in particular the content.”

However, as an emerging alternative, virtual events still aren't catching on with many people. Only 30% of respondents to the BtoB/Freeman survey said the tactic was “somewhat effective” in helping marketers reach their goals, and 48% stated that they “aren't sure yet” about virtual events' value.

Among those marketers committed to exhibiting, large annual exhibitions and conventions are a favorite, with 62% citing them as their most valued type of event. Other findings from the survey include:

The BtoB/Freeman survey was completed primarily by companies with fewer than 250 employees (56%), although 22% of respondents work for companies with more than 2,500 employees. Most (56%) work in smaller marketing departments with fewer than five staff members.

Industries represented by the respondents included high tech and communications (30%), non-tech manufacturing companies (13%) and financial services companies (9%).

“I think the events industry will experience a slow recovery, with the flagship shows in particular already making a comeback and leading the way,” Cox said. “What we're seeing is [that] exhibitors aren't saying they don't like shows; they just want to go about reaching people in a different way at shows, such as off-the-show-floor activities as part of the educational program.

“It's all about reaching the audience in the most effective way, not how much square footage you buy,” Cox said.