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Virtual Trade Show success: What is the ideal number of exhibitors at an event?
(This question came from Focus Webcast: From Fad to ROI: How Smart Marketers Succeed with Virtual Trade Shows)
Is there a critical mass in terms of numbers of exhibitors needed to make a show a success?
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3 Answers
Depends on who you ask. Let's consider the (3) primary constituencies: HOST, EXHIBITOR, ATTENDEE
1) HOST
The ideal = "as many as my Sales team can sell" - it's true, though, the virtual trade show host is in the business of generating revenue from the show. So, they want to support as many exhibitors as they can, within reasonable limits.
2) EXHIBITOR
The ideal = "just me, so that I have the sole attention of prospects" - again, it's true, an exhibitor would love the host to generate the attendees and then have "100% share of voice".
3) ATTENDEE
This is probably what the question was all about - it's hard to put a precise number on this, so I'll say "more than a few". If there are 1-4 exhibitors, then that may not be enough to make it worthwhile for attendees. At 5-10, that provides many more companies, products & services to check out.
At 10-50, it becomes a challenge to figure out which exhibitors to visit, which means that the HOST ought to be designing experience(s) to best match attendees with the exhibiting companies most aligned with their interests and needs.
Sarah,
this totally depends on what type of event you are hosting. With todays technology you have few limitations. Our customers have held events with over 250 virtual exhibitor booths.
One such event was a virtual food show that was attended by restaurant chefs, gas station owners and others who could place orders directly on the show floor. Here is was important to have a good amount of exhibitors available, to make the event worthwhile for attendees looking to stock up their supplies.
At events that focus on training, it's important to have a good mix of exhibitors that provide subject matter expertise and are able to enhance the learning experience for attendees. Here is is less the number of booths, but more how they fit into the theme of the event that will determine your success.
If you are planning lead generation events, whith exhibitors competing for attendees, you need to look at the ratio of exhibitors to attendees. Just like at physical shows, I would make sure that there are enough participants to entertain conversations with your sponsors during your scheduled networking times.
In all cases, it is critical that your sponsors are staffing their booths appropriately, to be able to tend to all visitors promptly and provide a good attendee experience. For our own events we try to have approximately one booth rep available per 50 attendees.
I hope this helps
Hi Sarah,
This is really a case-by-case situation given virtual trade shows can serve just as wide and varied purposes as a physical trade show. No one trade show is alike, and the same will be said of virtual events. If it is truly a "trade" show then the number of virtual exhibits needs to be representative of the industry and solutions within the marketplace. Creating more targeted subject matter and tighter event focus will help you define the marketplace and how big your virtual show floor should look. So, I am not sure there is a limit, or range, that applies to your question, but instead a challenge of how you present virtual exhibitors.
I do feel that if you have more than 25-30 exhibits then you need to begin categorizing and presenting them in virtual "halls" of like solutions or product categories. Much like the physical event, your categorization of exhibits will need to make sense and should be easy to navigate. Multiple halls of 20 exhibits is not a stretch, and I believe acceptable to attendees if logically laid out and easy to navigate.
Bottom line is your exhibit floor should meet attendees needs and expectations based on the event name and subject matter. Attendees' time commitment to a virtual event is much less than that of a physical event, but just as valuable.
Finally, I believe the bigger challenge for show managers (and exhibitors) in the virtual space is creating a more compelling virtual experience. This is ultimately what will make it worth the time to visit virtual exhibits and engage in a valuable exchange, whether it is 5, or 500, exhibits.
Thank you for your question. I wish you the best.
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