Virtual trade shows have often played second fiddle to in-person events, but it’s time to give them their due. Attending a virtual trade show can be hugely beneficial to your business, just like attending a live trade show.

If you’re not convinced, consider these top five benefits of virtual trade shows.

1: They’re Affordable

It’s no secret that putting up a physical trade show booth can be a significant investment. There are travel costs, lodging costs, booth rental costs, printing costs, and many more. Virtual trade shows are much more affordable by comparison.

If a budget on the smaller side has kept you from exhibiting at trade shows, virtual trade shows are the perfect option. Even for those with larger budgets, virtual trade shows can offer a higher return on investment on their relatively low costs. Keep your bills low with a virtual trade fair exhibition,

2: They Provide a Wealth of Data

Data may be the big winner for virtual events. Unlike in-person events where you only get an attendance report, with virtual trade fairs, you gain access to unprecedented levels of information.

You’ll have data on how attendees arrived at the event, what they looked at, who they interacted with, and more. All the interactions that attendees have on the trade show platform will be tracked and recorded. That data, if used correctly, can be incredibly useful to your business.

Wouldn’t you like to know which pieces of your content garnered the most audience interaction? With virtual trade shows, that’s possible. From there, you can adapt your future content so it generates more audience engagement and conversions.

You can also use the data to develop a highly personalized follow-up strategy. The amount of data that virtual trade fairs provide can be a game-changer.

3: Virtual Trade Shows Can Have More Attendees

Virtual trade shows have more exhibitors (more competition) but they have even more attendees. If you’re hoping to reach a very wide audience, there’s no better way to do it than with a virtual event.

Since attendees don’t need to travel and there are no space limitations, virtual conferences often attract larger audiences than comparable live events. If you can establish some great marketing tactics ahead of time, you can bring in a wide group of people to view your exhibit.

A larger attendee pool means a larger and more diverse pool of potential leads. You may be able to connect with people that you never would have had the chance to meet at a live event. People from all over the world can join a virtual event so take advantage of that opportunity to build a wide audience base.

4: The Exhibits Have Longer Lifespans

Another unique quality of virtual trade shows is that the exhibits have much longer lifespans. With a live event, your booth either just sits collecting dust between shows or gets completely dismantled. In both cases, your exhibit isn’t doing your business any good on the days without a show.

Virtual trade show exhibits are different. You can easily continue using your virtual trade show exhibit even long after the online trade show is over.

One way to do this is to make your exhibit available for viewing on your company website. This way, even those who did not attend the virtual show will be able to get something out of the content.

If you don’t want to go that route, you can still reuse pieces of the exhibit in other ways on your website. The exhibit content can become social media posts to advertise future trade shows, product showcases, or even training materials for booth staff. Content that continues creating leads even after the trade show is over is a powerful tool.

5: They’re Sustainable

If you’re trying to be eco-friendly, virtual trade fairs win over in-person trade fairs by a mile. By attending an online event instead, you avoid all the traveling that comes with going to an in-person event. Traveling long distances significantly adds to your carbon footprint, but luckily, you don’t need to travel at all for a virtual event.

There’s also the issue of paper. Attending live trade fairs requires a ton (perhaps literally) of printing. You print flyers, business cards, posters, etc. and that’s not environmentally friendly in the least. Plus, those materials will ultimately end up in a landfill alongside all sorts of other waste from the event.

A virtual trade fair changes all of that. Instead of printing all those marketing materials, you can simply share them with attendees at the push of a button. There’s no paper, no garbage, and much less energy consumption. That’s one way to do your part for the environment.

Worth It

When you weigh all these benefits of virtual trade shows, it’s clear that they’re a great alternative to in-person events. Try out a virtual trade show to help your business, and improve your bottom line.

If you are interested in creating or attending a virtual trade show, please call Lab Exhibits & Services to set up a consultation at 630-896-2500.