4 Tibits For Online Tradeshows

The in-person, 3-day conference our organization normally hosts each year contains a full tradeshow. When we transitioned to an online experience, we wondered, “How in the world do you take (150) 10×10 booths and move them online?” We had a vision. We found an online platform provider who could take that vision and make it a reality. For more on selecting an online platform, see my blog post 5 Time-Saving Tidbits When Researching Online Platforms. We reviewed other online tradeshows. We researched tradeshow platforms and their features. Ultimately, we created our own. We pushed, negotiated, and were unwilling to compromise on the attendee or vendor experience. Here are four tidbits we discovered through this process.

1. Less is more. A well thought out, clean, user-friendly online “booth” doesn’t require fancy bells and whistles to be effective. We researched some platforms that were as sophisticated as having a 3D-style experience in a virtual world. While you can’t go as basic as simply linking a button to the vendor website, having a visually pleasing page that includes information about the vendor, content for the attendees to interact with, ways for the attendee to connect with the vendor, and motivation to do so, was very well received by both the attendee and the vendor.
2. Expectations are different. It was very important to us as an organization that we communicated with each vendor about the change in expectations around an online booth versus an in-person booth. We listened to what their goals and objectives were, weighed them against research from other online events, and helped set realistic expectations with regards to the amount of sales and potential contacts they could expect. As has been said before about the entire event experience, you can’t simply take the in-person experience and move it online, the whole thing has to be reimagined.
3. Active participation is important. To be successful and keep attendees engaged, you can’t just create a stagnant booth or online tradeshow web page and leave it there hoping traffic will find it. The vendors need to be actively participating in their “booths” to keep the momentum going throughout the event. How can they do this? Options are available. Email me to hear what we did or check with your online platform provider to see what is possible. Trust me, it’s possible.
4. The host/vendor relationship is critical. The host of the event must also actively participate in creating traffic flow to the online booths or tradeshow web pages. Throughout the event, schedule times that are dedicated for the attendees to “roam about” the tradeshow. Incentivize participation with games and prizes. The host and vendor can work together in partnership to come up with creative ways to get the attendees engaged in conversations with the vendors.

The tradeshow that was created for our online event was amazing. It had so many elements to it that both the attendee and vendor praised the functionality and engagement of it. One great thing about an online tradeshow is the ability to capture more metrics with a computer than you can visually watching people walk in and out of a booth. Providing vendors with the activity report after the event will help to show the level of engagement they received and allow you to see which vendors were participating in the event.

Have you had to create an online tradeshow floor? Please share your experience
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