So the most important step you'll take toward generating any kind of virtual presence is to ascertain the interest and skill level of your current audience. While people in some high-tech or electronic-related industries take to virtual events like Labradors do water, those from other industries – construction, heavy equipment, farming, etc. – rarely even dabble in social media much less frequent the virtual world. That's not to say that the latter audience can't partake in virtual events, but you'll need to include robust tutorials and instructions in your pre-event marketing efforts.

Thus, to make sure your proposed program matches customers' needs, talk to your clients and prospects about their comfort level with virtual events and their interest in any proposed activity your company is considering. Also, ask for suggestions of what types of virtual events they'd most like to attend and what content they want included, and for examples of successful strategies they have experienced. If this type of audience survey doesn't give you a clear direction, consider the following virtual tactics, which can meet many marketing objectives and actually generate leads of their own, yet they don't require a long-term commitment or massive cash outlay.

Virtual Booth
Rather than creating a stand-alone virtual experience, develop a virtual extension of your live trade show exhibit, and promote the two events in tandem. More likely than not, many of your customers and prospects never attend live trade shows, or they only do so every couple of years. So tap into that stay-at-home market with a virtual exhibit that offers these people a trade show experience, minus the travel headaches.

A virtual-event provider can assist you in developing this experience for a relatively minimal cost, and you can integrate myriad components into this experience, including interactive product diagrams and/or catalogs, in-depth product-installation sessions not offered in the live booth, and videos of product demonstrations and presentations (either taped prior to the trade show or streaming live from the exhibit). And of course, you can – and should – recreate some of the one-on-one meetings and group conversations that attendees have in the booth in the online accompaniment. To facilitate this, virtually staff your booth with a live person to answer attendee questions, pose questions for visitors, and attempt to engage visitors with one another in interactive chat sessions.

This kind of virtual exhibit is a great way to extend your presence to a whole different audience. Plus, by pairing your online booth with a live trade show exhibit, you can leverage the excitement of the show floor and many of the tactics you've already created for your "brick and mortar" booth. And once you create this online presence, you can reuse the experience again and again at future trade shows by selecting a "perpetual" license with your virtual event provider.

However, a theater-style presentation can certainly exist without any association to a live or virtual booth. In this case, your virtual theater could include streaming video of a live presenter, and the ability for online attendees to interact with him or her, along with other members of the audience. Just as with an in-booth presentation, this option could have a specific start time, at which point all members of the audience would join the virtual experience. But it could also have an open-ended finish time, allowing attendees to ask questions at the end of the session.

This option allows your company to disseminate product or industry information – or specific knowledge on countless topics that interest your audience. In the process, it generates company awareness and fosters connections between your company and your target market.

Another option is to include VIP content in other virtual experiences. For example, you could add VIP content to a virtual booth or provide special C-level presentations in a virtual theater.

By offering access to exclusive content and elusive speakers, VIPs would likely form deeper connections with your company while you further establish it as a thought leader. What's more, by merely mentioning the event's exclusivity, you're likely to guarantee a good turnout.

Play around with tactics you might use in more typical virtual events, such as presentations, live streaming, videos, etc., to create an applicant-resource site and online job board. Offer virtual chat sessions with recruiters or even initial live-streaming interviews. The idea here is merely to play around a bit to figure out what works best for your own skill set without having your target market witness the test drive.

As you can see, there are countless ways to integrate virtual events. So dabble, experiment, and test the waters. Talk with a virtual-event provider to see if it has scalable solutions, as many offer software licenses for everything from an intimate one-day show to a perpetual year-round open marketplace. Armed with this information and a little help from a supplier, you can surely dip your toes in the pond without getting soaked.