How To Host An Online Vendor Event

How to Organise a Vendor Event – Are you planning to host a virtual vendor event to grow your online brand? It is going to take a big marketing strategy to get fast results. There is a lot of work and planning that goes into organizing successful vendor events. In this post, you will find tips and strategies for hosting a great vendor event and see what works for you.

A virtual event is an event that occurs online rather than physically. It is a great opportunity to get in touch with global audiences using live webinars, chat tools, and more. Whether you are about to organize a virtual event for the first time or you're looking for tips to sharpen your skills, the question is- what does it take to plan a successful virtual vendor event? Read on to find a guide for your next event.

How to Organize a Successful Vendor Event in 5 Easy Ways

Set your objective

People often choose to organize virtual vendor events just because it is cost-effective. You should know how to get the maximum benefit from a virtual event. So decide your objectives, write them down, and use it for everything you decide to do. Your objective for a virtual vendor event will define your business and make it stand out and win over your audience.

Choose the right platform

Researching the right provider for your virtual events is as essential as planning for the event. You are giving away your platform a big part of the responsibility, and so you must ensure that they give you the best service and value. What you deserve is a perfect, visually impressive event that has tools that attract engagement abundantly. You can opt for successful event companies like CISCO and IBM.

Let your partners involve early

The importance of getting your stakeholders on board while planning for the virtual event is understated. They will get familiar with the requirements, how to prepare the materials in advance, and so on. Don't miss out on sending notifications to the concerned departments that you are organizing a virtual vendor event.

Set a good date for the event

You might be aware of how important a location for physical or in-person events. However, when it comes to virtual vendor events, it is all about the timing. If you don't set the right date or time, it is unlikely for people to show up for the event. Do your homework right and try to avoid holding your events on weekends, holidays, election days, etc. People are most likely to have plans on such days, and there are low chances for anyone to make time for other engagements.

Start marketing and promoting your event

Once you have set the right event goal, date, and got your partners onboard, all there's left to do is promote your event to attract several attendees. You can use your existing marketing channels like creating an email list, updating your website, or different social media platforms.

Try to promote your event on almost every possible platform. And while doing so, make sure to come up with attractive visuals, catchy headlines, discounts, and proper landing pages. Do not use long and boring texts while promoting your events. Also, make sure that your website is mobile-friendly and has a quick interface.

After you know the main strategies on how to organize events, especially virtual vendor event, it is time for you to understand more about how can you planning a vendor fair for the best result.

Hosting a vendor event virtually could be more challenging since you will not meet the participant and the vendor in a physical form. The needs of coordination and communication will be at your top priority list.

First of all, you need to know what a vendor fair is. What is a vendor fair?

A vendor fair is an event that can be a great place to learn and to network with others in a specific field. What does a vendor fair look like? Basically, a vendor fair will provide stands for the vendor participants to exhibit their product or service also to communicate with the participants that might be their potential clients.

Planning a vendor fair

To arrange the best planning for a virtual vendors fair, you need to check these helping steps on how to host a vendor event.

Set the cost and budgeting

After you set your objective in hosting online vendor events, the next step you have to do is set cost and budgeting of your event.

Why is it important to compile essential budget before you execute your action plan?

An event budgeting is like a forecast of what your event will look like and what will happen in the future. It is the frame of your event and scoping your event not to go out over the budget.

First, you can determine the biggest expense of your event, let's say the fee for using the service of platform to host your event virtually. Or the marketing strategy you have to promote your event.

Make sure you know the cash flow of your event. You can gain income by making your event as a paid event or you can charge the vendor that is interested in exhibiting at your event.

Find the best vendor for your event

After you set your budget in hosting online vendor events, it is the time for you to find vendor events correctly. Then, the question is how to find vendor events to attract the participant?

First thing first is do research! You can't merely googling your potential vendors then straightly invite them to your event. Do a research of the background of the company, the engagement rating to the customers, the product or service they have. Make sure you are picky when you want to cooperate with the vendors.

Your events looking for vendors more when you held a virtual vendor fair. Not only sleuthing through the internet, you can ask for referral or go to your listed vendors' website to see the feedback or comment of their customer.

Looking for vendors for an event can be done by seeing around to other event might be your chance to find your potential vendors for your event. Utilize the opportunity you have when you come to other events.

Create the event invitation

Later on after you find the vendor events for your online vendor fair, the next step you have to do is creating the event invitation through email. Why email? By using email, it will give your vendor time to consider your invitation or give the opportunity to discuss with you first easily.

Here is one example of invitation for vendor event ideas through email.

planning a vendor fair

Dear, [The name of the vendor's PIC]

I am glad to announce our upcoming virtual vendor fair, [name of your event] to you. The virtual vendor fair will take place on [Your virtual venue] on [Date of your event] start from [Start time] to [End Time].

The [Name of your event] is [describe your event]

We are looking forward to a successful event, therefore after analyzing your vendor, we are interested to invite you to be the part of our vendor fair. We have limited vendor space available, if you interested to exhibit with us and need to know more about us, please kindly reach us out by replying this email.

Feel free to reach out. I would be glad to answer any questions.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon. Thank You!

Regards,

[Your name]

Attract vendors to your event

It's not always you who approach first the vendor to invite them to be the part of your event. Change your mindset that you don't need vendors for event, but the vendors need you through your event. Then, how to get vendors to come to your event easily?

You can attract them by helping them to sell their product or service even sell their name. Meet their objectives and find the mutual interest points of your vendor and your participants. Therefore, finding the right vendor for your event can also lead you to gain their trust and attract other vendors.

Appreciate for what your vendors have and do. You can appreciate them by following their social media, treat them well and make them feel special, or you can also offer for help for a better relationship.

Last but not least is you can boost their brand by also marketing your vendors to be recognizable to your participants and get their loyalty.

Those are several points you have to consider on how to attract vendors to your event.

Establish post event engagement

Dont't forget your post event activities, pals!

What you should do after your event has finished?

First thing first, you should appreciate your participants, your vendors, and anyone else that have already participated and taken a big role on your succsessful event. Send them a thank you note by email. Sending a thank you note will make it easier for you to plan future event and gain participants.

Ask for a feedback! Asking for feedbacks to your vendors and participants will give you a room to improve your event more. Don't forget to organize the documentation. Even you held your event virtually, you just can't forget the documentation. Save the documentation of your event such as list of contacts, photo, financial report, etc). Store or keep it in a neat folder. This action will also help you to plan easier event in the future.