Why are exhibitions one of the most important aspects of the B2B marketing strategy?
This is because,

You cannot buy your marketing leads in Japan.
You cannot buy any leads without permission for the personal because of strict laws of personal information protection. All leads for your marketing and sales activities in Japan, you need to obtain within your own marketing activities.

Their main goals to get information rather than having a business meeting.
The main goals of people who come to exhibitions is getting information about products and services that will be useful for the future of their business.

Exhibitions will be a touch point with people who cannot be met through online content.
Exhibition is where you do the branding and where you introduce your solution, your services, your company, and all those kinds of things.

For more details, please refer to the article " Why Exhibitions? ~Exhibitions at COVID-19 situation" here.

Now, we would like to explore "Why to Exhibit at Exhibitions in September to November".

No matter what day or season an exhibition is held in, exhibiting at an exhibition is still one of the most important activities for B2B marketing. However, deciding to exhibit at an autumn exhibition may be due to some special goals.

To understand this, let us first look at the workflow of Japanese companies.

Understand the workflow to approval!

In Japan, when introducing a new system or service, it is often required to obtain the agreement of all parties involved. Therefore, the larger the size of the company, the longer it takes from drafting to approval, sometimes taking more than a month until settlement.

Although there are some companies that have been using workflow systems for some time, many others have taken COVID-19 as an opportunity to introduce these workflow systems. However, the approval process to obtain agreement from all parties involved is often complex and non-standardized, and it takes time to get approval, especially if it crosses departments, even with the workflow systems in place.

Know when to apply for a budget!

In Japan, about 75% of companies start the new fiscal year in April. Most budgets for the year are applied for in January. If you are planning to introduce a large system, service, or product, you will need to have a draft ready by the time you apply for a budget.

Why exhibit at an exhibition held from September to November?

As you may have already guessed by this point, it is said that more prospective visitors come to exhibitions from September to November to gather information in time for the next year's budget application. RX Japan, an organizer of various IT-related exhibitions, has announced on its website for the October show that "Exhibitors and visitors engage in practical discussions for sales and orders of products and services, consultation on IT projects, quotations, and other information, such as implementation schedules.”

From March 2020, the number of exhibitors and visitors had dropped dramatically due to COVID-19, but now these visitors are slowly returning. There is the impression that “physical events are back” and face-to-face business is resuming as well. I know you may be unsure about exhibiting, but I urge you not to miss out on these kinds of business opportunities in Japan.

List of IT Exhibitions in Tokyo area

Let's deicover what exhibitions will be held in the near future. Below, you can download detail of the list.(You do not need to enter any contact information.)