The benefits of using video at trade exhibitions

In a world dominated by websites, social media and search engines like Google, trade visitors no longer go to exhibitions with a Purchase Order pad in their pocket. Nor do they necessarily look to buy anything while they are there.

The modern trade visitor will go to an exhibition to view current market trends, gather intelligence, observe new developments, discover innovative ideas and uncover emergent technologies in products or processes that may impact or be of direct relevance to their business. The visitor will typically use the opportunity to network with their peers in a familiar environment, catch up on gossip and just maybe glimpse at something that will revolutionise their world – assuming they see it!

It could be said that generally the visitor, although highly qualified and knowledgeable, does not know what they want as they pass through the registration gate of the exhibition. If they did, it is likely they would have browsed Google and gone straight to the most relevant web site, watched the informative video describing the equipment they seek, and asked for a detailed proposal.

As visitors patrol the seemingly endless aisles of like-for-like exhibitors trying all sorts of ways to catch their attention, a thoughtfully crafted video will show the passing potential customer, at a glance, what your business offers that could be of direct benefit to them.

The exhibitor that uses flashing lights, free gifts or fancy gizmos to encourage visitors to listen to a pre-rehearsed pitch from a Sales & Marketing Assistant — usually specifically recruited for the show — will often end up promoting what may be the right product to the wrong person, allowing the right person to walk past a busy-looking but unproductive (and unsuccessful) stand.

The primary benefit of a strategically produced video at a trade show or exhibition is to maximise the marketing and promotional opportunity of your business in a qualified, educated, peer-to-peer networking environment, and to create the best use of the most valuable asset and resource shared by both the visitor and exhibitor – TIME!

In general terms, all Trade shows are visited by high quality, pre-qualified sales leads. People who are in a particular industry are normally very aware of their specific and individual needs, and will have a general purpose for attending the exhibition. They’re looking to update or improve on their established manufacturing or production process by looking at a display that will impact directly on increasing their market potential and eventually grow their net profit figure.

You can watch examples of videos we’ve created for trade shows on our portfolio, such as this video we produced for Southern Springs & Pressings to help showcase their business at the Southern Manufacturing Expo. In this instance we were able to give exhibition visitors a guided tour of their facilities and services right there, on the day. Want to see the real world impact of using video at trade exhibitions? Take a look at this video blog we produced last year.