Close
Quick Tips for Hosting a Virtual Trade Show

 Quick Tips for Hosting a Virtual Trade Show 

Hosting a virtual trade show is something that many organizations have considered, particularly with lockdowns causing widespread pausing of such events taking place in-person. If you’re thinking about hosting a virtual trade show that you can actively engage a large group within, consider these quick tips to help you plan and host the upcoming event. Beverly Boy Productions is proud to offer a variety of tips as well as our professional services for those who are ready to host a virtual trade show. Give us a call to learn more of keep reading!

virtual conference

What is a Virtual Trade Show?

A virtual trade show is any trade show, conference, expo or similar event in which viewers or attendees come together to actively engage online with vendors or hosts. Trade shows have long flourished at fairgrounds, large stadiums, or other sorts of venues, but many of the same techniques and tactics that marketers and vendors utilize at these events in-person will work just as well online or virtually. Thus, virtual trade shows are similar events that are held online so that attendees can engage, interact, and approach vendors online via a platform host.

Industries hold virtual trade shows in order to bring audiences together to engage with vendor booths, book appointments, and interact as well as to purchase products, service or individual brands.  Exhibitors provide audiences or attendees with insight into their products, services, or programs in hopes of encouraging them to become paying customers.

Benefits of Virtual Trade Show Events

Virtual Conference

For the host, and for vendors, there are a number of benefits that come from hosting a virtual trade show rather than an in-person only event. Virtual trade shows are typically a bit less expensive to host simply because a large venue isn’t required nor is a lot of overhead including security, food, beverage, or things like chairs and tables for conference rooms. Instead, the majority of the overhead is involved in the production of the virtual trade show event but production is something that hosts generally pay for whether the event is held virtually or in-person the method of delivery simply changes.

Additional benefits of hosting a virtual trade show include:

  • Increased audience reach. Trade shows that are virtual can go global whereas those hosted in-person require local attendance or travel.
  • Less time away from work, home or other responsibilities for attendees.
  • Higher attendance due to flexibility and ease of access.
  • Greater visibility for vendors, exhibitors and sponsors which generally increase sponsor engagement with your event.
  • Improved overall exposure. Vendors, sponsors, and others involved in the event love this.
  • Lead and information gathering from attendees. The amount of information that can be gathered from those in attendance is incredible compared to live events where attendees might not be willing to share such data. 

Realistically, the benefits of hosting a virtual trade show are going to be as great and more than those that would come from hosting an in-person event because your audience has the flexibility to attend and grow, your business will have the ability to grow, and the engagement opportunities that can be coordinated for a virtual trade show are limitless.

How to Host a Virtual Trade Show

If you’re wondering what it takes to host a virtual trade show, it’s important to understand that this is where technology becomes key to the overall success of your event. It certainly requires some advanced technical knowledge in order to host a virtual trade show over an in-person trade show, but many of the technical needs that come up are likely to be handled by your production company and the truth is, you were probably going to hire a production company to film your trade show even if you held it in-person, so this isn’t an added expense, either!

Working with a professional film crew, and virtual trade show production company like Beverly Boy Productions will ensure that your trade show goes without a hitch. We’ll start by helping you figure out a venue for the event that will work to host the various trade show vendors and exhibitors while providing plenty of room for our team to get around and capture footage or otherwise capture details for our broadcasting or other event production needs.

We’ll work with you to coordinate appointments with vendors, trade show booths, and anyone else that will need to be part of the production for the final trade show video content that is released. Our team also helps with the virtual trade show platform decisions, and in setting up the right platform for your needs. This is where things can get a little complicated if you’re not fully aware because virtual platforms can be difficult to understand and to coordinate but once they are configured the outcome is amazing for your audience and for your business, too!

There’s certainly a lot that goes into planning a virtual trade show, and production is just one of many elements that you’ll be responsible for. However, Beverly Boy Productions can help you create a virtual trade show that’s going to amaze your audience, your vendors and exhibitors, and anyone else involved in your big event!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *