Innovation #4: Spruce Up a Marketer’s Venue for Engaging with Prospects Once a sponsor or exhibitor succeeds in actually capturing the attention of an attendee, they need access to a virtual venue where they can put their best foot forward when engaging with their prospective customer. These vendor-specific online destinations embedded within a virtual event venue are sometimes called “exhibitor booths” because they try to mimic the functionality of the marketing stands that vendors use to meet customers at on-site tradeshows and conferences. In practice, the virtual versions of these “exhibitor booths” serve as a place where vendors can post sales materials and product videos, and manage one-on-one video meetings with prospects. In many cases, the materials presented by vendors in their virtual booths are simply a subset of similar marketing assets repurposed from their corporate web site. But, to maximize the opportunities offered in virtual event venues, these destinations should do more than serve as online libraries of corporate sales brochures. Most notably, sponsors and exhibitors should look for booth-building solutions on virtual event platforms that make it easy for them to initiate and expand conversations with attendees who visit their online destination within the virtual event. Ideally, exhibitors have a way to greet visitors quickly via on-screen text messages that can easily graduate to a one-on-one video call with a booth visitor. Other commonplace tools can make a big difference in enhancing the impact that booths can have in fostering engagement with sales prospects. Better scheduling solutions, for instance, can make it easier to set aside time for exhibitors to meet with prospects interested in meeting with them. Once the meetings are on the books, sponsors and exhibitors would benefit from having access to video solutions that incorporate green screen capabilities that allow individuals to overlay different photo settings onto their video frame. Such chroma key tools can make it possible for booth managers to embrace a background look-and-feel that is in sync with the design of the rest of their company’s virtual booth destination. Also attractive to sponsors are virtual event platforms that bring engagement tools into the virtual booth design process. Organizations able to leverage gamification or entertainment options within the confines of their virtual event booth can extend the duration of an attendee’s visit to their virtual destination. Longer duration sets the stage for more engagement, boosting the odds of a successful sales outcome.
©2021 Wainhouse Research, LLC
25% 25% of all survey respondents say that “having one place to meet with multiple vendors / suppliers of interest” is one of the top two features driving their interest in attending virtual events
9
