How to Make Your Virtual Trade Show Booth Stand Out

Are you planning to invest more in virtual trade shows this year or are you already preparing for in-person events? Whatever plans you have, keep going. According to statistics, 97% of marketers believe that we will see more hybrid events this year; hence, the increase in virtual events investment. If virtual events are unfamiliar territory to you, don’t fret! Here, we will show you how to make your virtual trade show booth stand out to maximize your ROI.

Read on!

Advantages of Virtual Trade Shows

If virtual events are a new concept to you, you’re probably caught between opting in or out. Understandably, the uncertainty of the unknown is always paralyzing that sometimes, you no longer see the good things that may come with it. Whenever you let fear overtake, you miss out on a lot of opportunities that can springboard your business to the next level. However, there will be times when there’s a lot at stake, and opting out is not an option, but a must, especially if there are stakeholders that depend on you.

We are facing today one of the most uncertain and difficult times—COVID-19. The movement restrictions and physical distancing alongside several virus mutations have rendered in-person events almost impossible. The current health crisis has tested the resiliency of different sectors, including the jewelry industry. In fact, there have been accelerated technology adoptions in the past several months since the pandemic started, which has kept some jewelry companies afloat.

Beyond staying afloat, virtual jewelry trade shows have more advantages than what’s being discussed. These advantages include, but are not limited to the following.

• Save on resources! Ditch travel and exhibition expenses, virtual trade shows cost less than in-person exhibits; thereby, allowing more exhibitors to participate.
• Borderless. Virtual jewelry trade shows attract more attendees from all parts of the world. Additionally, there is no need to worry about space and capacity issues. Attendees and exhibitors can come and trade from the comfort of their homes on their laptops and smartphones.
• Increased exposure. Unlike physical jewelry events that could only go on for one to two days, virtual jewelry trade shows can extend for as many days as you’d like without big exhibit expenditures.
• Big data. Virtual trade shows make big data tracking relatively easy compared to traditional attendance reports in physical events. With online jewelry shows, you’ll know where the attendees went, how they came, what they did, and with whom they interact. This is a lead haven for your lead acquisition and lead nurturing specialists.

Now that sounds promising, isn’t it? But first, let’s find out how you can set your virtual jewelry space apart from your competition.

3 Simple Tips on How to Make Your Virtual Trade Show Booth Stand Out

1. Design your virtual trade show booth to match your target demographic.

Who are your target buyers?

Once you have identified your target demographics, the next thing to do is to design your virtual trade show booth to match those demographics. Design goes beyond providing relevant content. It calls for a meaningful and rich virtual jewelry trade show experience.

For instance, JTA Connect, a virtual tradeshow platform that connects jewelry professionals, offers virtual platform features such as Aisle, lookbooks, and AR & Virtual try-on for product profiles.

With JTA Connect, you will have a designated aisle that JTA will design for you after you send them your logo, images, videos, and other graphics. This kind of support helps you save time, money, and effort as you won’t be needing to hire a virtual design consultant anymore. JTA Connect will ensure that your virtual trade show booth remains consistent with your brand messaging without being tacky or overwhelming.

The lookbook and AR & Virtual try-on features are also major considerations when choosing a virtual trade show platform. These features stimulate attendee engagement while adding more value to your products. Did you know that 82% of B2B marketers believe that attendee engagement is one of the critical KPIs for event success? By providing attendees with the ability to try on your products virtually, you help them understand your product more while extending their stay on your virtual trade show booth.

Another element of the design you must pay attention to involves templates and formatting. For example, are your sign-in buttons, Q&A tabs, and CTA buttons easy to locate? Avoid wasting attendees’ time by changing their locations too many times during the event and ensure that the appearance of these buttons is consistent regardless of the templates you will use.

2. Introduce virtual meet-ups to add value to your virtual trade show booth.

Aside from trade, what else can you offer to virtual trade show attendees?

Make your virtual trade show booth stand out by offering additional mini-virtual events. These virtual events may include workshops, webinars, Q&A talks, and simple virtual meet-ups, among many others. For example, you can offer a free jewelry-making workshop to your attendees. More than networking opportunities, this type of event provides attendees the knowledge that they don’t usually get from other virtual exhibitors.

Arranging mini-virtual events like the ones mentioned above work both ways. It doesn’t only benefit attendees, it also puts exhibitors at an advantage. While exhibitors and attendees exchange knowledge, the former can easily generate quality leads.

If you’re a virtual trade show platform provider, this feature is important. Allow exhibitors the space in their profile or virtual trade show booth where they can easily put their virtual workshop or webinar link so that the attendees will know where to interact closely with them.

3. Pull attendees to your virtual trade show booth through gamification.

One of the challenges you may encounter when joining virtual trade show events is virtual engagement. In fact, 67.7% of marketers find it difficult to keep virtual attendees engaged in online events. As such, virtual engagement tools should be a big part of your virtual jewelry trade show strategy.

There are many ways to increase virtual engagement, especially when you incorporate gamification. Gamification is the process of incorporating game mechanics into your virtual event to allow attendees to complete challenges within your booth to win rewards. Leveraging virtual trade show gamification is an important strategy because it can motivate attendees to take specific actions that can positively affect your event.

Below you will find a few gamification ideas to make your virtual trade show booth different from others.

• Scavenger hunts

In a scavenger hunt, exhibitors can give attendees a list of tasks to complete throughout the event. Depending on your goal, these tasks may include sponsor information, live event information, or workshop content, among others.

• Photo contests

Attendees love visual content; hence, a photo contest is not too far-fetched when it comes to encouraging interaction. For instance, if you are holding a jewelry-making workshop, you can invite your participants to upload photos or videos of their simple creations and vote on their favorite submission. Sending in selfies is another example. If you’re holding a hybrid event, you can invite participants to take a selfie featuring your logo or physical booth.

• Point-system interaction

Allocate points towards every process to encourage actions. For instance, designate points to attendees who will check in to your booth and another set of points to those who will inquire about your product or attend a workshop. Alongside this, consider giving personalized badges. People want to collect and earning virtual proofs of their engagement makes the interaction more fun.

When using gamification, lay down the rules as clearly as possible to avoid conflict. Promote the games and make the giveaways and prizes simple. Ensure that the attendees know how to join the game and where and how to claim prizes. Keep the rules simple to spark interest.

Have you joined any virtual jewelry trade shows before?

Virtual trade shows sometimes appear more difficult than physical trade shows because of the technology involved; however, with the right preparation and strategy, you can maximize your ROI or even better, exceed your ROI before. Remember that the key here is engagement. Learn how to make your virtual trade show booth stand out to pull attendees to your space and keep them engaged.

If you’re unsure how to start preparing for your first virtual trade show, we’ve prepared a brief checklist for you. Check it out and see you at your first online jewelry event!