Hybrid trade fair: Trade fair event digital & in-person – The new trade fair marketing management for event managers

Trade fairs offer companies the ideal platform to present their products and services. This is no surprise, as exhibitors can optimally connect with their target audience and, ideally, close lucrative deals. Visitors, in turn, can experience products firsthand and have their questions answered in person. However, the potential of physical trade fairs can be further enhanced by combining them with virtual elements. The resulting improvement in the visitor experience and interaction opportunities makes hybrid trade fairs an attractive alternative for a growing number of companies.

Related to this:

• The trade fair 4.0 solution with Pocket-Booth – pandemic-ready
• Pocketbooth.io – Your trade show appearance from your pocket with Pocket Booth™

The practical advantages of trade fairs are offset by the considerable effort involved and several other limitations. Besides the high costs for exhibition fees, stand construction, and personnel, their temporal and spatial limitations are particularly significant drawbacks, as the duration of the events is usually limited to just a few days.
Furthermore, personal interaction is only possible with trade fair visitors. The product range cannot be presented to all other potential customers for whom the trade fair dates might not be convenient or who live too far away.

Related to this:

• Events & Trade Fair Experience 2022: Virtual trade fairs with SmartVenew – The direct path to your own virtual showroom

These disadvantages mean that trade fairs are far from realizing their full potential. Hybrid trade fair models offer a remedy, providing an ideal solution for combining the advantages of in-person events with those of virtual ones. For example, the virtual trade fair app Pocket Booth can easily extend the visitor experience. Developed by the Regensburg-based IT specialists at Vuframe, the application enables companies to transform their offerings into the digital realm and make them tangible for potential customers in a vivid 3D environment. Thanks to numerous interactive features, visitors can digitally experience products up close with AR support, just as they would otherwise only be able to do in a physical trade fair setting or showroom.

Furthermore, a virtual trade fair booth allows companies to significantly expand the reach of their live marketing. Instead of reaching a temporally and geographically limited circle of their target group, they can now reach the entire global audience, around the clock. This occurs within user scenarios that the users themselves define. As a result, potential customers can engage with the offering whenever it suits them best. In this way, the virtual extension of the trade fair experience leads to increased receptiveness, which significantly improves the company's sales opportunities.

A similar effect can be achieved with the smart 3D visualizations of the Vuframe app. This app also allows companies to present their offerings virtually to potential customers anytime, anywhere, without requiring any special technical expertise. A major advantage of these digital presentations is their cost-effective, long-term implementation: unlike the traditional trade fair model, they can be used indefinitely without the need for significant investments in physical presence.
It is up to the companies themselves to increase the appeal of their virtual presence. In addition to realistic 3D simulations and diverse AR experiences, maximizing visitor frequency can be achieved, for example, by integrating new content. A short email with a relevant link is all it takes to inform previous trade fair visitors about exciting new features in the virtual showroom. In this way, companies create incentives that encourage customers to repeatedly immerse themselves in the experience of their trade fair app, even long after the actual event has taken place.

One advantage of in-person events is the numerous conversations that take place daily at the exhibition booth. Exhibitors receive valuable leads and helpful feedback, while visitors are provided with the information they need.

However, every exhibitor and visitor has surely experienced the frustration of a missed appointment or being unable to reach a contact person during the hustle and bustle of a busy trade fair day, as they are already occupied with other visitors. Here, too, the hybrid model can offer efficient support: visitors and exhibitors can easily continue a conversation started at the trade fair in a video call later if there isn't enough time on-site to clarify all open questions.

Furthermore, digital trade fair apps facilitate the initiation of new conversations. If a suitable contact person is not available at the booth, visitors can easily contact the company via the app to discuss products and services virtually, face-to-face. Exhibitors can support this process by actively promoting this offer at their booth. For example, visitors can be invited to schedule a later meeting with a customer service representative via clearly displayed QR codes. This is another example of the successful integration of the physical and virtual trade fair worlds, which offers significant advantages to both exhibitors and visitors.

Exhibitors will likely appreciate the new post-show follow-up options offered by Pocket Booth. Whereas previously every conversation at the booth had to be painstakingly documented to later provide contacts and leads with the relevant information, apps like Pocket Booth and SmartVenew make this process effortless. They allow users to easily send digitally presented products and details via email to contacts, who can then immerse themselves in the virtual product world of the exhibitor using a PC, smartphone, or tablet.

Vuframe's SmartVenew app impressively demonstrates the realism of virtual 3D spaces. This digital showroom is easy for users to set up and can be used in both personal and computer-generated environments. Thanks to its smart display and diverse interaction options, the app allows booth staff to optimally present their products on screen. Especially for large facilities, such a simulation is often the only way to vividly demonstrate the product range in the spatially and temporally limited trade fair environment. After the event, visitors can download the application to their mobile devices and take it home, instead of having to lug around heavy catalogs.

Digital app solutions demonstrate how they can extend the trade fair experience for visitors, enriching it with greater convenience and information. This optimized user experience ensures that interest and the likelihood of purchase increase, even long after the actual trade fair has ended.

SmartVenew™ is a smart, virtual 3D space that you can set up online yourself, fill with products and content, and easily change and update at any time.

• Online lead generation

  e.g. via chatbot, contact form, “Call Me” button

• Virtual demonstration in a digital conversation

  via Skype, Microsoft Teams, GoToMeeting, Zoom, etc.

• Send products as “virtual demonstrators”

  via email, WhatsApp/Messages, newsletter, etc.

More information here:

• Virtual showrooms with Vuframe

• Unlimited range

  The virtual showroom allows you to reach people worldwide, regardless of location.

• 365 days a year

  Unlike a traditional trade fair, your virtual exhibition is open to customers and prospects all year round.

• Innovative customer experience

  Product demonstration with a “wow” effect. The virtual showroom is not only fun, but also memorable.

• Present products virtually

  Showcase your products in 3D, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality.

• Digital presence

  Showcase your company digitally and impress with a visually appealing and interactive presence!

• Virtual exchange

  Whether via chat, phone or email – keep in touch virtually without shaking hands.

Data is reviewed and its relevance assessed at regular intervals. This process typically yields a wealth of interesting information and documentation, which we then compile into a PDF presentation: our own data analyses and marketing intelligence, as well as external market research. Click on the image above to access the trade fair library.