How to virtual.drupa – Exhibitor Edition

Only three weeks until we open our digital doors for our first-ever fully-digital drupa event and still so many things left to do to prepare! Do you have your showcase in the Exhibition Space ready to go? Did you upload your contacts to the listing of your company? Are you connected via Matchmaking and open to for meetings with other industry professionals? To make sure, you feel prepared and ready to open your virtual showcase with us and present your latest innovations, technologies and products accordingly, we want to provide you with this quick guide for a successful virtual.drupa 2021!

1# Preparation is Key

After applying as an exhibitor, companies get their Exhibitor Package and have the option to set up your showcase with our Online Ordering System (OOS). With drupa going fully digital this year, preparing your exhibit beforehand is more important than ever. The upside of a digital expo: you can edit and tweak your virtual booth to your wishes ahead of time from your desk! 

Our visitors are especially interested in learning about new print innovations with 74 % of visitors naming this area of their number one interest for virtual.drupa. Packaging production, including embellishing, labels and functional printing, makes up for 52 % and future technologies such as 3D printing, printed electronics and more, printing materials and prepress technology resting comfortably around 45 % visitor interest. And the overwhelming amount of visitors are looking to personally connect with inspiring exhibitors at virtual.drupa 2021.

#2 Gaining Exposure

Our virtual.drupa OOS doesn’t only help you with setting up your virtual booth and provides you with everything you need in that regard, it also offers additional services such as marketing packages to gain additional exposure for your company’s presentation. With an online event, it is especially important to catch the attention of visitors as they cannot just stroll around the halls of the trade fair and explore anymore! So we recommend considering one of our marketing packages to establish an optimal media appearance on all drupa platforms: the virtual expo on our website as well as our drupa app.

#3 Position Your Company

In addition to giving your online showcase your company’s personal touch and gaining exposure with our marketing packages, exhibitors also have the option to register themselves for a 30-minute web session. With this format, you get to present your products to a wide audience and create valuable contacts by positioning yourself as an expert in your field. Visitors can partake in these live streams for free. As an added bonus, you will receive all participants’ contact information afterwards, so that you can get in touch with potentially interested customers.

#4 Reach Out to Your Business Contacts

Sure, virtual.drupa is not your regular trade fair, but some things still stay the same regardless: After setting up your online presentation, you should get in touch with your established business contacts. Invite your customers, stakeholders and partners to visit your virtual booth. Work your database! Or as our esteemed drupa Director Sabine Geldermann would say: “invite, invite, invite!”

Pro-tip: Remember to increase your social media activities and adjust your posting schedule accordingly, too! If you provide your community with exciting content with added value, they will be aware of your participation and will certainly tune in. Under the hashtag #virtualdrupa, your posts will additionally reach relevant target groups and contacts who may not have had any interaction with your company yet. If you provide us with a statement about your virtual.drupa participation, we are happy to announce your programme on our drupa channels as well! We are ready to work our network for you as well, so don’t hesitate to reach out to the team and connect with drupa fans from all over the world. It’s definitely worth it – so get started and maybe your posts will soon be visible on the social wall on our virtual.drupa homepage.

#5 Become a Matchmaking Pro

But of course you do not only attend virtual.drupa to impress your existing business connections, you are also taking part in this virtual adventure to establish new, valuable business contacts! After a year of living with a global pandemic, stretching your “networking muscle” might be a little more challenging than usual – and with a digital showcase, you cannot simply hand out your business card or inspire a random passer-by with your products or charm them with your salesman charisma – so we have worked to improve our drupa Matchmaking tool to fit those new needs and support you in your networking efforts. Plan your meeting ahead of our virtual event with the advanced Matchmaking tool. Connect with other industry professionals to further innovation or simply gain new customers, schedule your meetings and hold them in one of our virtual meeting rooms in our Networking Plaza, all efficiently in one place. With our calendar option, it is also easy to keep track of your appointments. Our Matchmaking is available at all times, so even though the programme of our Conference Area is running on Central European Time, you can schedule your meetings whenever is most convenient for you. Our virtual meeting rooms will even be available on Monday and Tuesday after the actual runtime, so you get enough time to plan around your showcases or take advantage of it even for contacts made at the last hours of our virtual.drupa.

Visitors get to find potential business contacts by setting up a profile and naming their interests. To appear as one of those potential business contacts, we recommend setting up your profile as soon as possible, as our Matchmaking is already up and running for you to start scheduling meetings today! Don’t forget to link your contact persons in your company’s exhibitor listing as well, as visitors get to reach out to you directly from your showcase via Matchmaking, if you have provided the information necessary.

#6 Cover Your Bases

With all the talk of the advantages of virtual.drupa and the efficient features we have set up for our exhibitors and visitors, to make your drupa experience as positive and expedient as possible, it is still important to cover your bases for your ideal virtual.drupa. When engaging the world wide web, it is always essential to set up a reliable internet connection – you wouldn’t want your web session to freeze mid sentence! Otherwise: Stay hydrated and follow drupa on social media to get our coverage of the event and stay informed about short-term and spontaneous activities on our virtual “trade fair grounds” as well.

We hope you are as excited for virtual.drupa as we are! Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions surrounding your participation.