How To PreMarket Your Brand For Virtual Trade Shows

For B2B marketers, the disruption of trade shows from COVID provided a massive challenge. Trade shows are a great opportunity to network with your business partners, meet new customers, and promote your brand within your niche industry. As a result many marketing professionals looked to replace in person trade shows with virtual trade shows. However, just like with in person trade shows, it’s important to pre-market your virtual trade shows to ensure attendance. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Build Buzz On Social Media

A great strategy is to start building a bit of buzz on social media. You will want to strategize a schedule and content to post during the time leading up to the show. You can post about your attendance, ask people if they are attending, and offer meetings. It’s also a good idea to highlight the things you are most excited about attending during the conference. You can also throw in some specials, quizzes, or competitions. The goal is to build excitement around attendance and let other professionals know you’ll be available.

Use Email Marketing To Your Advantage

There are several ways to use email marketing to your advantage. First, you can send out a blast to your network letting them know you’ll be at the next trade show. Then you can send individual invites to attendees to set up meetings. Finally, you can put a banner in your email signature letting people know you will be attending and how to find you at the show. All of this will help you create more opportunities for networking. The same techniques can also be used for in-person trade shows.

Advertise With The Virtual Event

Trade show organizers offer a lot of opportunities to advertise with their organization both before the event and after. Many organizers have newsletters they send to attendees before the show that highlight presenters. They also often have opportunities for banner and tower ads on their webpage. Purchasing some pre-show ad space can help build interest in your brand and can help generate leads during the conference.

These strategies will help you build a buzz around your virtual trade show so you can hit all of your goals. If you are looking to host a trade show of your own, we can help with that as well. We recently launched a virtual trade show platform called the Nexhibit Hall. You can learn more about the features here or contact us and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you have about the platform or process. We’re here to make sure that all of your trade shows, whether virtual or in-person are a success.