Advertising a Business Via Online Exhibitions
It is common sense that advertising a business today, particularly online, is not an easy task. With the plethora of online business directories, most of which seem identical to each other, it is hard to find places where your business can get noticed and the link to it have any real value. One alternative to the traditional ways of online business promotion is that of online (or virtual) exhibitions, which comes to fill this need in a creative, interesting and effective way.
Online exhibitions can be seen as the evolutionary descendent of business to business directories and one of the most worthwhile ways of business online advertising. In essence, they are a graphical interactive interface with what your business is and what it has to offer, mimicking the traditional trade shows. The great advantage virtual exhibitions offer in relation to their physical counterpart is that you can access them from wherever you are, be it your office, your home, or your smart phone. Moreover, apart from the unavoidable internet connection cost, they are completely free for the visitor. Furthermore, as online exhibitions are something virtual, there is no usage of natural resources, making this business promotion method very eco-friendly, a truly green advertising means. Finally, unlike traditional exhibitions, virtual exhibitions are accessible 24/7, merely a few clicks away from any internet user around the world.
Apart from the above advantages, online exhibitions are also an excellent way for business networking. Say that you are producing telephones and you are interested in finding a company to help you promote them in your country, or abroad. By visiting a virtual exhibition you can network with potential telephone merchants and eventually find a trader/importer you can work with. All this can be done after checking out what each one has to offer by visiting their virtual exhibition stands. The latter can usually offer more information than their company websites, and in a more direct way (e.g. via an online chat feature).
Currently they are a few companies that offer this kind of business advertising service. All of these charge an annual or a 6-month fee for this service, which is quite cost-effective.
All in all, online exhibitions can be an excellent advertising tool, which can be effective and fun to use, both as an advertiser and as a user. Although it may not replace the existing ways of promoting a business anytime soon, it can certainly enhance the business networking experience by offering something more than the traditional online business directories, at a quite competitive cost.