OGC’s Captivating Virtual Property Trade Show Dramatically Improves Lead Quality

The Background: The Overseas Guide Company

The Overseas Guide Company (OGC) was launched in 2017 by the Smart Currency Exchange company to help people invest in legitimate properties abroad. Investing in property overseas without validating its legitimacy can be a horrifying experience. OGC takes care of that by helping private clients and businesses connect with trusted property experts in their choice of country. 

OGC also hosts its flagship networking event: Your Overseas Home. This event aims to provide private clients an opportunity to meet and build a rapport with trusted property partners in several locations around the globe.

The Problem: COVID-19 Shuts Down On-site Events

In 2020, OGC was unable to take their usual events to trade show venues. The pandemic forced them to consider remote solutions for their events. But the options that were widely available in the market couldn’t bring their event to life quite like they wanted. These solutions resembled webinars and conference calls. 

So, what did OGC need? OGC needed a platform that could simulate their in-person events, shine light on their partners, and provide diverse networking opportunities to their visitors.

The Solution: A Realistic Virtual Event Platform, vFairs

By this point, the team had analyzed a score of different virtual trade show platforms. But the answer came almost accidentally. A member of the team had attended a virtual CIPD event. Now, this event seemed more like an event simulation and less like an online meeting. And what do you know? It was hosted on vFairs. 

And that was the turning point. OGC got in touch with the team, discussed their requirements, and designed a virtual version of the Your Overseas Home event. We connected with Josephine Harkjaer, Event Coordinator at OGC, to discuss how things unfolded and what happened next.

They called on their property experts to exhibit at the event. Convinced of the potential, the partners went ahead to sponsor it and come on as exhibitors. Each of them had their own personalized booths, ready to speak to visitors. The event went live and saw a massive turnout, engaged attendees, and trackable prospects. 

“It’s been really, really, really good for us.”
– Josephine Harkjaer

This made vFairs the tool of choice for OGC for all of their virtual events. That’s why they went ahead and did another one with the team.

Why vFairs?

“How the overall platform works was just what we were looking for.”
– Josephine Harjacker 

vFairs was able to bring benefits for all stakeholders of Your Overseas Home. Let’s take a closer look into how the virtual property trade show won visitors, sponsors, and the organizer.

Event Visitors

1. The platform was highly intuitive and very easy to use for OGC’s higher demographic.
   
2. The trade show was vibrant and arranged by location (flags) so visitors could easily view property experts most relevant to them without wasting any time.
   
3. Property experts delivered live and interactive sessions that answered both general and highly personalized questions via the Q&A feature.
4. Your Overseas Home remained online for 30 days so visitors were able to attend the event whenever it was easier for them. They could also keep coming back! 
5. No more having to spend hours in the car just to get to the event. Or worse, fly to it. Attendees could connect with their choice of expert from the comfort of their homes.

Event Sponsors

1. The property experts got the limelight they deserved with highly customized booths, downloadables, and sales opportunities.
2. Event hosts were able to moderate and manage each track. 
3. The sponsors received highly targeted leads at the end of the event.

Event Organizer

1. The platform customizations enabled OGC to design the virtual property trade show just like they would design it in-person.
2. OGC could offer highly targeted leads to their partners by tracking event analytics, such as booth visits and resource downloads.
3. The same project management team for both their events enabled OGC to 
4. The attendance was much, much higher. From 30% for their on-site events, Your Overseas Home virtual witnessed attendance up to 50%.

Conclusion

Both of OGC’s events with vFairs were seamless and went beyond their expectations. Considering this, OGC feels that virtual events could be the future. It’s definitely something that they’ll be sticking to during the pandemic, and then years after it.

“We’ve only done two so far, but I do know that we want to do virtual events. We want to have virtual events in the pipeline for the upcoming months and even years.”
– Josephine Harjacker