A lot of event planners, organizers, and attendees have struggled with the changes caused by the pandemic. Sadly, exhibitors are one of them, too. From a customary handshake and face-to-face interaction to virtual appearances and live chats, some of them have found little value in the virtual world.
Although physical events are returning soon, virtual events can’t simply be taken out of the picture. Although virtual events are a resounding success, the exhibitor’s ROI has not matched their expectations. However, this should not always be the case. Here are 7 ways exhibitors can get more out of virtual events.
Target potential customers early on
Start eyeing for potential customers before the event begins or as early as the event begins. This will help you to cater to the people who will find value in your business. If you are a photography company, keep an eye on attendees who want to get photography and videography packages. Or if you are a courier company, keep an eye on attendees who are planning to start a company wherein their products need to be delivered.
80% of leads are generated during the event. While 95% is generated before the event begins. This is why as an exhibitor, you must keep in touch with potential clients as soon as you can.
Customize virtual booths
Virtual booths serve as your first impression to potential clients. You can make your booth interactive through polls and gamifications. Aside from the fact that it increases engagement, it also helps you to get the attention of potential leads to your booth. Interactive booths allow you to interact with customers while providing relevant information about your business in return.
In addition to that, you need to make your booths visually appealing. Think carefully about what visual elements you plan to put in your booth. This can be banners, promotional videos, or powerpoint presentations. Check out how exhibitors in SEOCON 2021 designed their virtual booths in Delegate PLAY’s virtual event platform here.
Sponsor any promotional content
Most attendees spend their time watching content and sessions during events. By sponsoring one of the event’s promotional content, your brand gets more exposure and promotion as well. This helps your potential clients to see your brand and business easier.
Just imagine if your sponsored video content gets watched 3 or more times, you will have a better chance of winning that potential customer over. According to TSNN, for two-day events, 50% of leads were because of a sponsored session or content. While 60% was achieved for four-day events. If you’re running out of sponsorship ideas, you can check out more tricks and tips here.
Create engagement through giveaways and gamification
Gamifications and giveaways are a great way to draw attention to your booth. People are always drawn to participating in activities wherein they can get something in return.
You can use this approach before, during, and after the event. For pre-event activities, you can catch the attention of potential customers through social media giveaways. You can let them comment why they want to join the event and what they would do after. This will give you valuable insights on what to do during the event. The winners can claim their prize on the actual day of the event.
During the event, you can conduct a live give-away. You can keep this for 3-5 minutes only to keep the attendees alert and excited. Or you can also do online prize wheel, scavenger hunt, word search, or puzzles. Be sure to use images or content that will match your company’s image.
Once the event is done, you can hold a social media photo contest. Participants should post photos that show that they have been to the event. They can post it using the event hashtag and your brand’s hashtag too. Check out more ideas, tricks, and tips here.
Use the main stage or conference content
The main stage is one of the event’s main attractions. Maximize its potential by putting up ads, sponsored video content, or banners. This will definitely draw attention and traffic to your booth.
Although you may not get tons of traffic on the first day, once people see your brand on the main stage or in one of the sessions, they will definitely get interested and visit your booth in no time.
Stay until the end of the event
They say it’s not over until it’s over. Make every day count in making good impressions on potential customers and partners. Sometimes attendees wait until the last day to finally decide and visit booths. It means that they may be observing in the previous days or were just waiting for the right time to finally visit booths.
Don’t miss out on meeting new customers and partners. Always remember that you only have that one chance to make a good first impression. Usually after all the sessions are done, companies finally decide what solutions they need for their companies and businesses. So, do your best, train your team well, and make that one impression count.
Respond to messages immediately
Exhibitors lose the chance of connecting with potential customers when they fail to respond to messages. You need to stay alert and monitor your messages all the time.
You can assign one staff solely for that purpose. In order to fully engage with everyone on the platform, you need to keep your lines open and respond to all inquiries. This will help you to avoid losses and eventually make a meaningful deal after.
Start making your brand known with Delegate PLAY
With the right steps and planning, you can avoid making losses and start gaining for your business. Be part of Delegate PLAY’s team now and get all of the benefits you can get. Check out how exhibitors did in SEOCon 2021 and Delegate Virtual Wedding Festival here.
Delegate PLAY – An immersive virtual platform putting all uncertainty to an end
While the global events industry recovers and prepares itself for the new normal, it is the perfect time to look at best-in-class digital technologies to address client needs and preferences. To this effect, the recently launched Delegate PLAY is a game changer, enabling vendors to seamlessly host events and build connections. Delegate PLAY is a fully immersive virtual environment which allows users to host online conferences and exhibitions under one integrated platform. Event organisers, sponsors and attendees are therefore able to sync up and network in an online virtual environment, transforming a traditionally offline experience into an online format. To read more about it, click here.
Delegate PLAY helps optimize your events ROI by offering innovative features like custom virtual fairgrounds, real-time audience participation and engagement tracking, accessing events on the go from any device, and unlimited content without any geographical restrictions.
Planning your virtual event on Delegate PLAY? We would love to help make your virtual event a smashing success. For more information or a demo of Delegate PLAY, feel free to contact us via the form below. We promise to get in touch with you in a jiffy.
