Four Ways to Use Interactive Content to Succeed at Virtual Tradeshows
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The pandemic has affected almost every aspect of our lives, including the way we present and market our products and services. Industry events and tradeshows have been hit especially hard. Typically calling for gatherings of hundreds or even thousands of people, those affairs have been pretty much impossible to pull off in the current health climate.
A full 70% of event holders have moved a portion, if not the entirety, of their in-person events to a virtual platform. As for format, 69% decided to do webinars and 62% livestreamed their feature events.
Although it is fortunate that technology provides us with such options, moving from live to virtual platforms means that a lot of communication gets lost in translation. When a virtual event has no interactive elements, people are not as attentive. It can be difficult for businesses to explain how products work when buyers are not able to see them in person and interact with them.
So what can companies do to make up for that lack of personal touch?
This article presents four approaches that will make it easier for you to communicate your product's benefits via a virtual platform while adding interactive elements to make your presentation more engaging.
Interactive product demos are effective for clearly explaining how a product or service works and what benefits it provides.
By using an animated format that allows viewers to clearly see product features and components and how they operate, such demos take the audience through the workings of a product from beginning to end. Illustrated motion provides an interactive experience that makes potential clients feel as if they are turning and touching the product themselves.
Here is an example of how an interactive product demo works—in this case, a 3D video of a reefer container by PinkSquare that shows how the container operates. Viewers can rotate it, open it, and check out its features.
Videos and other interactive elements can be used in conjunction with audio and text, or they can be used as a visual only.
Options for including multimedia elements in your presentation are numerous. Here are a few things you may consider adding:
Combine educational elements with interactive games to make learning and discovery more attention-grabbing. Gamification can be both an alternative to in-person events and an addition to virtual events and tradeshows.
Adding elements of gamification will also add a sense of competition to your presentation that will increase excitement.
You can include games in your presentation in various ways. The easiest and most obvious is to include quizzes, which is something we already touched on. But here are some ideas to make your presentation even more exciting:
Something as simple as leaving time for Q&A can make your presentation more exciting. Try to answer all the questions and concerns your group may have. but if you are working with a larger group, you may have to set aside time to answer their questions after the meeting.
Static images and regular voiceovers are not enough to win at a virtual tradeshow. Take advantage of multimedia elements and interactive experiences to take your digital presentations to the next level.
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