Exhibitions go Digital !

You’ll Attend Your Next Trade Show From Your Living Room—And this is great :

Your business relies on trade shows to connect with new customers or find new products—but during the 1rst wave of Covid 19 shows were canceled because of stay-at-home orders, new dates were planned, but the shadow of a second wave is already in the landsape . Anything can happen and exhibitions can be cancelled or postoned again and again. While that, your possibilities to connect new customers are frozzen. Luckylly, a new kind of trade show, the virtual trade show, is taking its place. Here’s how to make the most of them and boost your sales.

The Trade Show Advantage

The trade show has been at the heart of trade for decades, and we all know why: They are naturally exclusive—thanks to purpose-built venues with limited space, attendance fees, and curated supply and demand—and attract a discerning, purpose-driven community of buyers and sellers. Panels tend to be interesting, entertaining, and informative, and there are excellent opportunities for networking, In other words, trade shows bring together all of the necessary ingredients for dynamic commerce under one roof.

Most valuable source for new B2B customers,

Best way to encounter new ideas, learn about innovation, and find new suppliers.

Deconstructing the Experience

As an entrepreneur, if you are able to allocate money and time well, growth and profits for your company are likely to follow. The truth about trade shows is that while they are indisputably essential and valuable, they often come at an exceptional cost of both money and time, which is especially problematic as many businesses adapt to the new normal.

Here are some common problems with trade shows that need to be addressed.

1. Traditional trade shows require a lot of time. You need to factor in the duration of the show itself (typically, three days), plus the setup, travel to get there and back, and packing up, if you’re a vendor. There’s also pre-planning, the gathering of resources, and schedule management.

2. The hard costs to attend can add up just as quickly: There’s the attendance fee, the cost of transportation, and the booth itself as well as promotional materials.

3. Shows are all about finding customers, so a lot of your time on the ground is spent networking over drinks or meals, which can pay off spectacularly—or be disappointing.

4. To create an effective sales environment, you have to devote resources to planning your booth and managing all of the logistics (shipping, setup, giveaways) well in advance.

5. Finally, being at a trade show means being away from home and family, which can be hard.

The good news? The new virtual format goes a long way to solve each of these.

Reimagining the Trade Show

The trade show as we know it is going through a revolution.

Drawbacks like the ones above, coupled with the limitations ushered in by Covid-19, are forcing trade show companies to rethink their approach as cities remain shut down and people aren’t able to move freely. Some companies are postponing shows until the fall, while others are thinking bigger and rolling out an exciting new virtual format as a way to reduce expenses and increase return on investment.

These new virtual trade shows offer even more opportunity, with fewer costs and distractions. In only two hours, people from around the world can now meet high-quality supply in a selective environment that uses preferences and data to create efficient matching. This creates digital connections that foster the trust necessary to build trade, and gives business owners critical time and resources back. If you can accomplish a week’s worth of work in two to four hours, you can reallocate that “free” time to build your business in other ways, and more efficiently allocate your most valuable resource, capital.

If you are considering attending a virtual trade show from a company or organization in the coming months, be sure to treat it with the same thoughtfulness that you would a physical show to reap the most benefit, and keep in mind that preparation still counts. What you share, show, say, and how your “digital booth” looks matters. If you will be the one presenting, be ready to communicate the capabilities and benefits of working with your firm. If you’re a buyer, remember that the vendor will be assessing you, too. Internally, be sure to let colleagues know you’ll be attending and otherwise unavailable and put up an out-of-office message and turn off alerts to truly dedicate the proper time and space. The virtual trade show is a powerful new tool for small businesses, and you’ll get out of it what you put into it.

Inpired by J.Caplan