The Coronavirus pandemic has put us all in an unprecedented situation, and has evolved into a crisis of a magnitude that was unforeseen only a month or so ago. And as the spread of the virus has left many of us counting the costs of being in a lockdown situation for an unknown period of time, it means that for many businesses it is impossible to even operate right now.

With many workers now working from home and many others having been furloughed, there’s no escaping the fact that the impact of coronavirus on business and economic activity is going to be felt for some time to come.

Not surprisingly, the live events industry has been particularly hard hit by the crisis. From the Olympics to music festivals to exhibitions, anything involving a mass gathering of people simply won’t be happening this side of September.

In the meantime, social distancing and the forced cancellation of mass gatherings has seen a rise in many businesses turning to virtual exhibitions (at least until this was still possible). But as useful as these digital exhibitions have been in providing a temporary solution for exhibitors during this time, nobody should expect them to ever replace actual exhibitions.

Despite the advantages offered by digital marketing, the bottom line is that it doesn’t allow you to meet your clients in person. And this vital need for human interaction is precisely why exhibitions will never lose out to modern technology. Even in 2020, people will put more trust in you and your business when they can meet you in person.

As you already know by now, if your business was planning on exhibiting over the coming months, your show will now have almost certainly been postponed until after August. It is also worth remembering that the vast majority of exhibitions scheduled for the spring and summer have only been postponed, not cancelled.

But with so much uncertainty hanging over us all right now, and so much for your business to consider as it tries to survive and move forward, it can be difficult to remain focused on making plans for your autumn exhibition. In the current circumstances, this is understandable.

But, now more than ever, it is vital to keep working on your marketing strategies to help ensure your business can overcome the challenges it is currently facing, so it can come out of all this in a strong position once normality is resumed.

With your business missing out on a number of marketing opportunities right now, there will be a lot of lost time to make up for. This is why your autumn exhibition will help you regain lost ground. Exhibiting in the autumn will provide your business with the unique opportunity to gain a huge number of high-quality leads in just a few days.

According to The Centre for Exhibition Industry Research, 83% of exhibition attendees have buying authority and 79% use these events to make big purchase decisions about their business. This means your autumn exhibition is an excellent opportunity to get back on track and take advantage of these game-changing benefits.

The current lockdown might already feel like it’s going to be a long time, but when it comes to organising your exhibition it is necessary that your business allows at least six months to prepare. From that perspective, the autumn isn’t too far away at all.

From setting your budget to your pre-marketing strategy to finding the right stand design that will drive traffic to your stand, there’s a lot of preparation involved when it comes to ensuring your business has a successful exhibition.

Plus, given the current economic slowdown, it will be more cost-effective for your business to arrange your exhibition now, rather than get stuck with extortionate late fees or rush costs weeks before your planned event. And with many exhibition contractors offering limited period discounts to help businesses like yours during this difficult time, it would be a mistake to miss out on these deals.

With difficult times ahead, these savings will help your business during the current crisis and to invest properly in your exhibition. If you are planning to exhibit this autumn, by booking your stand now there are significant savings to be made for your business.

If you are planning to exhibit this autumn, then now is the optimum time to plan for your autumn show.

In the meantime, good luck with your exhibition planning, and stay safe and well!