Benefits of Hosting an Online Fair

Virtual events have revolutionized how professionals, educators, parents, and students connect in the digital age. These sophisticated online gatherings, sometimes called virtual open houses or online fairs, can offer an immersive, interactive digital experience bridging geographical and logistical barriers.

Why host or participate in an online fair

Whether you’re putting on the fair or one of the participants, virtual fairs are a great way to reach geographically dispersed audiences while saving time and your budget.

• Online fairs dramatically reduce operational expenses. You don’t have to worry about renting or traveling to the venue, finding accommodation, or renting equipment. Instead, you can use your budget for other event needs like advertising and marketing, content creation, social media, and tech support.
• A virtual fair requires almost zero travel time for participants and attendees. You only need a computer to connect from the comfort of your home or office.
• These fairs increase accessibility for everyone by removing geographical boundaries. Whether you’re on the East or West Coast — or living or working abroad — it’s easy to attend a virtual event. And many platforms like Zoom, Whova, and Cvent include accommodations for people with visual or hearing disabilities.
• Because they’re online, virtual fairs increase your reach — and the potential for engagement, networking, and lead generation.
• The platform you use facilitates data collection, especially when paired with your martech stack, to help you glean deeper insights into the participants’ interests, preferences, and behaviors. You can use this information to create and deliver more personalized follow-up messaging and improve future events.

Generating interest in an online fair

The most successful virtual fairs have a good number of attendees. TeenLife publicizes all the fairs on our website, in newsletters and on social media, but you can help generate leads, too, by getting the word out with these strategies:

• • Blogs: Write a blog post or two to advertise your participation in the virtual fair. It’s a great time to showcase your program, include a testimonial from a former participant, and share what’s new to build excitement and interest.

• Email marketing: Leverage your CMS database to send personalized invitations, follow-ups, and reminders to inform your target audience about the fair, build anticipation, and keep them excited.

• Press releases: Announcing your participation in an online fair can generate potential attendees' interest, gain media attention, and shine another spotlight on your program. 

• Social media networks: Leverage your social media accounts to generate interest. Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube are good platforms to promote your participation and gather leads. You can create event pages, share updates, and engage your audience via stories, posts, reels, live sessions, and more.

Creating the perfect presentation for your audience

When it’s your time to present, capture (and keep) the attention of the attendees — and create even more excitement — by using these strategies.

• Define your goals. It seems obvious, but it’s still a good idea to clarify what you hope to accomplish by participating. For example, are you showcasing new additions to your program? Hoping to increase brand awareness and generate leads? 
• Think about the details. What does your background look like? Will you use your organization’s logo or something else? Opt for business casual — a solid color logoed shirt works well — and avoid busy patterns that can distract. Maintain good posture and eye contact (keep your camera at eye level). 
• If possible, use multiple monitors. If you have a slide deck, consider pulling it up on your laptop & presenting from there. A bonus? The camera’s already at the right height, and it will appear to audiences that you’re looking right at them. Have everyone’s faces on the second monitor to gauge reactions and interest.
• Lean into body language. Do you typically talk with your hands? If so, don’t resist the urge to sit on them. It’s okay for your hands to show in the camera. Don’t sit too close, either. And visuals (like a slide deck) are perfect for helping your audience see what you’re talking about and work less hard to understand your message.
• Add other media. Incorporate a video clip or two into your presentation (but test the tech first). To optimize the sound quality, enable your system audio before sharing your screen with the video player. 
• Connect with each participant. You can’t maintain eye contact with everyone when you’re presenting visually. But you can imagine you’re talking to one person on the other end. To help maintain engagement and high quality, channel all your energy into communicating one-on-one with that single connection.
• Monitor the chat. TeenLife’s moderator hosting the online fair will keep track of the chat box and let you know if someone has posted a question or comment you should address.
• Have fun! Remember, the attendees have joined because they’re interested in your organization's offerings. If virtual presentations make you a little nervous, practice first so you’re more relaxed on “fair day.” You can engage your audience by asking for a show of (virtual) hands, requesting feedback in a poll, or encouraging them to use the chat box.

Connecting with online audiences is easier than you think. It just needs a different approach. TeenLife’s here to help. You can also check out these other practices for virtual presenters, which offer more tips on managing your technology for optimal performance.

Want to learn more about participating in one of our future virtual fairs? Please contact us.