Back in September, we were once again an exhibitor at The Print Show in Birmingham. VB Media has exhibited at every Print Show since its inception and this is because it’s an event that always yields fantastic results for us. The Print Show brings together all corners of the print industry, from manufacturers to print service providers and software vendors.
Having experienced a phenomenal year at the 2023 event, we were delighted to experience an equally positive show this year.
Drawing on the expertise of large-format trade printer Venture Banners, we opted for SEG fabric pop-up exhibition display graphics, a stretch fabric oval counter, a stretch fabric premium stand, and fully-recyclable Honeycomb-board constructed materials for demo desks. The result was an open and inviting stand, drawing visitors in with vibrant and clear graphics which were recyclable and reusable.
A fantastic way to have valuable face to face conversations with existing and potential customers, our open stand design fostered the ideal space to discuss how simple, quick, and cost-effective setting up an e-commerce offering can be for print service providers of all sizes.
At The Print Show 2024, we were excited to launch our brand new ‘Sell Print Anywhere: An Online Playbook’ Guide. As e-commerce continues to boom following the 55% surge during the Covid-19 pandemic, your print website is now so much more than an online version of your company brochure.
Recognising this, our guide provides a handy checklist of things to consider in order to boost the profitability of your online print offering from SEO and email marketing to generating repeat business and building loyalty.
When you consider the fact that the global market for print ordered online grew from US $21.4bn in 2018 to an estimated $25.1bn in 2023, it’s no surprise that our guides flew off the shelves with both existing customers and visitors without a VB Media site finding useful and valuable takeaways from it.
You can read our blog highlighting the key takeaways from the guide here.
Another benefit of exhibiting at industry events and trade shows is the opportunity it provides us to offer live demonstrations and walkthroughs of the features our VB Media websites offer, and at The Print Show 2024, this included updates to our orders section. Whilst video tutorials are a convenient way to learn in the comfort of your own home, the opportunity to ask questions and have a one-to-one demonstration tailored to your needs is invaluable.
During these demonstrations, visitors were able to ask our team of experts simple and one-off questions which would have been much more time consuming over the phone or email. We were able to clarify and support with a large number of queries as a result and our customers were able to leave The Print Show with tangible and useful advice and knowledge to take back to their operations.
During the three-day event, common queries that kept cropping up from visitors interested in the idea of a VB Media site but not yet having adopted one included the amount of work it would take to get set up and running with a VB Media site, the process involved in adding products, and the integrated suppliers available.
Through live demos and face to face conversations, our team was able to demonstrate how straightforward and simple it is to adopt a VB Media site with our platform being built from the ground up, in house, on modern architecture with no plug-in ‘soup’ - everything is native which makes integration simple with no reliance on third parties.
Whilst our Admin Area has everything you need to get up and running, we also offer a one-off set up service which can also be taken out at a later date from implementation - you decide!
Selling print online has never been easier with our range of easy-to-add products from our list of connected suppliers. From Route 1 Print and Solopress to Tradeprint and Venture Banners, prices sync automatically and are always up-to-date, leaving you to send orders to suppliers with just a click of a button.
From plugging in APIs to white label new products, or simply making sure that your marketing efforts are doing all they can to drive traffic to your website, The Print Show provided the perfect space for us to support both our customers and the wider print industry with their web-to-print queries.
Those who weren’t able to make it to a live demo during The Print Show are encouraged to sign up for one here.
Following the success of The Print Show 2024, we are now looking forward to exhibiting at the 2025 show which will be co-located with The Sign Show for the first time, providing us with an even larger reach to support the industry with their online print sales.