(Reposted from June 28, 2011)

This month, Exhibitor Magazine posted the results of a readership survey on the use of virtual events. Trade show exhibits are the industry communication tool of choice for serious marketing strategists, who have been watching with increasing interest to see if virtual events will change how businesses find new customers and close deals. The results: “face-to-face marketing is safe and sound – at least for the time being.”

The perception among responders was that virtual events are less effective than traditional marketing efforts like staffed exhibits. For the 40 percent of respondents who led or participated in virtual events, only 28 percent said the effort “met” or “exceeded” their expectations. Of the 40 percent, more than 2/3 said they missed the “energy of a live event.” While more than half said virtual exhibits helped them with brand awareness, sixty percent reported that virtual event costs were more or equal to face-to-face exhibits. Only 10 percent said virtual events attracted customers they would not normally have reached.

For now anyway, face-to-face conversations and interpersonal communications still seems to be the way to move the meter from “simply interested” to “interested enough to act.”