Talking Trade and Thinking Beyond the Booth

Audience engagement technology is transforming the trade show and exhibition sector, moving it towards more transactive and data-rich experiences.

The concept of modern-day trade shows can be traced back to the Great Exhibition, held at Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, from May to October 1851. This pioneering event blended educational exhibits, innovation, and traditional retail under one roof, attracting over 6 million visitors during its five-month run. It served as a vital hub for business, networking, and envisioning the future.

The enduring success of this formula, centred on face-to-face interaction, tangible information sharing, relationship building, and the excitement of discovery, continues to be a hallmark of today's trade shows and exhibitions.

How the pandemic drove digital transformation

Just as the Great Exhibition broadened perspectives on what was possible, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic compelled a rapid shift to a new, digitally-led paradigm. Trade show organisers had to quickly adapt their offerings to new formats to reach their audiences.

This transitional period saw a surge in video conferencing platforms like Zoom, Google Meet-up, and Microsoft Teams, often integrated with various networking tools. While some events successfully transitioned, others faced challenges.

Effective events leveraged video conferencing and other IT tools to maintain stakeholder networking capabilities. This digital approach also expanded audience reach, as geographical and travel constraints no longer hindered participation.

The rise of hybrid events

In the reshaped post-pandemic world, trade shows and events are once again adapting, this time as hybrid models that combine offline and online elements. However, these solutions often fall short in fully fostering engagement between organisers, exhibitors, delegates, and visitors.

Mid-2022 saw the emergence of the Audience Engagement Platform (AEP), a cloud-hosted Software as a Service solution. Initially designed for visitor attractions such as museums, cultural heritage sites, aquariums, and wildlife parks, the AEP is now gaining traction within the conference, exhibition, festival, and trade show sectors.

For trade fairs and exhibitions, where footfall is paramount, an AEP offers significant advantages for both exhibitors and organisers. It promises enhanced engagement, increased insights, and more transactive experiences.

Key features of Audience Engagement Platforms (AEPs)

Seamless integration and essential services

AEPs are API-friendly, allowing easy integration with existing event tools, and also provide organisers with their own suite of advanced services. Digital ticketing and contactless registration are straightforward to implement and increasingly essential for any event. The platform also amplifies the ability to create immersive and interactive experiences for all stakeholders.

Advanced data insights and tracking

Where AEPs truly excel is in the depth and type of content they deliver to stakeholders, alongside the valuable data insights they provide to organisers. Functioning as a hybrid of a CRM and CMS, an AEP allows organisers to deploy technologies such as geo-fencing, heat mapping, and beacon triggering to track delegates throughout the exhibition area, provided they have downloaded the event app.

• This tracking offers invaluable insights for organisers, sponsors, and exhibitors.
• It reveals which talks, exhibitor stands, or displays attract the most traffic, and which do not.
• Armed with this data, personalised push notifications can be sent to delegates to gather feedback and further insights via surveys, polls, Q&As, or quizzes.
• Engagement parameters can be automatically triggered or manually enacted by the organiser.

Optimising event performance

Understanding what resonates with attendees is crucial for event organisers, as is providing detailed feedback to sponsors and partners. An AEP not only furnishes valuable sales metrics for clients but also informs conference organisers about optimal layouts and tracks the effectiveness of exhibitor placements.

Enhancing the delegate experience

Delegate satisfaction is a key priority, and AEPs facilitate deeper relationships between organisers and delegates, as well as between exhibitors and delegates. While many organisers might use an email database for blanket communications, an AEP enables tailored communications.

• These communications can be layered, sparking two-way conversations.
• Real-time questionnaires, surveys, polls, special offers, and event notices can be delivered in the moment or even after the delegate has left the venue.
• Follow-up communications can include more in-depth content, such as company videos.

Additional revenue streams and convenience

For trade show organisers, AEPs present an additional potential revenue stream by allowing intelligently profiled advertising to be served to specific audience segments, adding value for sponsors and exhibitors.

Delegates can digitally plan their day, receive reminders, and navigate to chosen locations using built-in wayfinding tools, saving valuable time. This eliminates the need for costly printed guides, as the accompanying app provides real-time exhibitor information, mapping capabilities, and transforms the exhibitor and visitor journey into a more personalised experience through interactive triggers like beacons and QR codes.

For future shows, an AEP makes it easy to maintain contact with past delegates, informing them of relevant upcoming exhibitors and speakers based on their previous foot traffic and time spent at various stands.