Three Ways to Make Virtual Trade Shows Pay Off

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June 2009, Issue 64

Lead-Generation Best Practices
Three Ways to Make Virtual Trade Shows Pay Off
By Amy Bills, Director of Field Marketing, Bulldog Solutions

Behind the Scenes

The recent buzz about virtual trade shows is being attributed in part to belt-tightening, as marketers look for less expensive, greener ways to connect with prospects and maintain a brand presence. It's also being fed by online publications and BtoB sites who are themselves testing the virtual trade show waters as a new lead-generation offering for sponsors.

Here at Bulldog, we're not only participating in virtual trade shows for our own demand generation activities (we just wrapped the BtoB Leading Edge a few days ago); we're also helping our clients figure out how to make the most out of their investment if virtual trade shows are part of their integrated marketing plan.

If you're not familiar with virtual trade shows, here is a little primer from a recent issue of Inc.:

"The (virtual) trade shows, which resemble virtual worlds such as Second Life, may last only a few hours or span several days. As with any real-world trade show, there are presentations from speakers, exhibit halls, and even lounges."

Indeed, virtual trade shows share many of the hallmarks of a real trade show, such as ample opportunity to converse and access to information such as white papers, case studies, Webinars and demos. And in some ways they have a competitive edge: Because they're online, they're eminently trackable (you know not only who came by your booth but exactly what they were interested in), and that makes it easier to engage with leads from the trade show based on their interests. On the other hand, they do lack the face-to-face connection of a live trade show. And the cocktails.

If your organization is considering or has committed to virtual trade show activity, I'd like to share some tactical ideas we've come across to make the investment pay off. By the way, not every platform will allow you to use every creative idea you have. It's our expectation that the platforms that stay ahead of the game on flexibility and functionality will be the winners.

Make the Chat Feature Work for You.

Real-time chat is a function of virtual trade shows just as it is in-person trade shows. Don't squander that opportunity to connect. At a recent HIMSS virtual trade show, Intel Health really took chat to the next level. They created a "Mobile Point of Care" lounge and a chat schedule featuring specific subject matter experts at specific times. They changed the generic "chat" to an ongoing, focused conversation. As noted in the blog "It's All Virtual":

"Staff your booth with your product experts ... be sure they're available to interact with your booth visitors as well. When your expert has won over the respect of an attendee, then that attendee becomes more comfortable with your company's products and services."

Organize by Persona, not by Presentation Type.

Another very effective idea, also with an Intel Health example. Most virtual trade show booth tabs are organized by generic buckets—there's a tab for "About Us," a tab for "Webcasts," a tab for "White Papers." But you don't necessarily have to organize your booth that way. Intel Health, for example, organized their tabs by buyer persona, with tabs for Clinicians, Administrators and IT Professionals. Booth visitors knew exactly where to go for information most relevant to their issues. You could also organize by topic, pain point or motivator.

Doing this effectively requires that you've gone through some kind of persona development exercise so you understand what kinds of information your prospects will react to. You can read more about that here.

Let the Buyer Drive Your Follow-up Plan.

Your trade show participation is going to give you a range of leads with varying levels of engagement with your company. If you're planning to communicate with every single contact with the same exact message and call to action, you're missing a big opportunity. Shouldn't prospects who are in your sweet spot in terms of their profile, and have shown interest by chatting with your team and downloading a lot of material, be treated differently than registrants who never even visited your booth? You can take this as far as your imagination and your marketing automation platform let you: All the way to personalized URLs and a high-value call-to-action for high-value prospects.

Some other resources for Virtual Trade Show ideas:

Virtual Trade Show Best Practices

Best Practices in Virtual Events

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Amy Bills is director of field marketing at Bulldog Solutions, the lead-generation optimization and management company. Visit www.bulldogsolutions.com to learn more.

Marketing Watchdog Journal is a monthly newsletter from Bulldog Solutions, a lead optimization and lead management company dedicated to helping our clients generate more, better leads and turn them into revenue. We welcome your feedback on this newsletter's content and design, and encourage you to share your ideas for topics you would like us to cover in future issues. Please send your comments or questions about Bulldog Solutions to Amy Bills, Director of Field Marketing.