How to launch successful virtual events

Do you want to build, grow, and scale your business by hosting a virtual event?

Marketing events are now becoming virtual events with over 52 per cent of the marketing leaders claiming that marketing events drive more business than other marketing channels.

What is a virtual event?

A virtual event is an organized interactive event that occurs entirely online rather than in a physical location. These events can range from large- scale conferences with thousands of attendees to small question and answer sessions, depending on what the specific goal of the event is. Virtual events can bring together a selection of experts on a topic to present. These events have known to help grow the audience, increase engagement, and generate revenue for the business.

Different kinds of virtual events

1. Conferences and shows – In today’s times’ conferences have also become virtual and so have many live concerts. These conferences serve as a great platform for networking and meetings can be integrated into them as well.
2. Training and courses – For complex topics that require training and for courses, webinars, and online workshops work well. These help in delving deeper in specific themes, skill sets, tools etc.
3.  How to, tutorials, and classes – Virtual events are good to launch a new product, answer FAQ. You can schedule an online class on how to tutorial for products and services. Many examples can be found today especially with online fitness classes becoming a rage and popular chefs holding cooking classes online.
4. Behind the scenes tours – Followers can be given a behind the scene tour. Museums, galleries, national parks theatre, etc offer glimpses of what to expect when they visit. Sometimes giving a tour of workshop, factory, office generates more curiosity than talking about the business.
5. Performances and Interviews -In house experts should be used to share their knowledge through a Q&A session. Speakers and artist can be invited too for a talk or a performance.

Why are virtual events great?

Virtual events offer compelling benefits which are as follows:

• Lower Cost – Virtual events cost less to execute. There is no spending on hospitality, travel, and venues. Hence, the ROI is significantly higher.
• Less Lead Time – There is no need for movement of product, people, or physical display for virtual events. This helps in delivering faster virtual events than the in-person events. It takes on an average 3 to 4 weeks to plan a virtual event vs six to eight weeks for an in-person event.
• Offers greater flexibility – It is easier for people to attend these events as there is no need to travel thereby offering more flexibility.
• Data and insights – Since everything s online, the marketers have access to a large pool of engagement data of the attendees, which is not the case for in-person events.
• Easier to scale – It is easier to scale up virtual events. With the right infrastructure in place, a large audience can be managed.

All events come with logistical challenges. To ensure that there are no hurdles during the virtual event there should be:

1. A clear understanding of the audience – It is important to understand the audience and their psyche. There are certain questions that should be considered in order to build a demographic profile for a successful virtual event like
2. What subject areas are the audience most interested in?
3. How tech-savvy are they and how active are they on social media?
4. What type of offers and giveaways to they respond to?

Surveying the target audience or starting online discussions is a good way to get answers to the questions.

• Have a plan in place – All events be it offline or online should be based on a well thought out strategy. Defining the goal and the concept for the event is very important. Before hosting a virtual event, answer the following question:
• Will the event have gated access or free access?
• What is the best time for the event?
• Will the event require registration?
• What kind of experience do you want to deliver?
• Will the event be live, on-demand, or both?
• Will there be access given to people post the event?
• What data are you looking to track?
• Where would you want the content to be seen?

• Define success for all stakeholders – Before the development stage for an event, it is important to try and foresee what the success will look for the audience, the sponsors, and for the sales team. This should serve as a guideline to develop the virtual event.
  
• Pay emphasis on the event experience you are trying to create – If the audience has difficulties with registration and getting to the virtual event, the purpose of it is defeated. Creating an overall experience is more important than the actual virtual event. Carefully thinking through the steps leading to the event like researching the event, registration on the web page, receiving a confirmation e-mail, attending sessions, and closing the event. Try and visualize how all these steps should look and feel and then define the requirements for events.

• Choose the right time – Picking the right date and time for the virtual event is very crucial. Before sending out any information regarding the event to your network, research well. You need to ensure that your event does not clash with any other event holidays that will impact attendance. Taking time zones into consideration is important if you are hosting a global event. In case of a global event, make sure that the recording is available post the event. Use analytics to help you see when the target audience is online to plan and schedule the event.

• Promote the event – Focus on the key selling points for your virtual event. Whatever you choose, make sure the value proposition is clear in marketing. The details of the event should be shared through all social media channels and through e-mail. With many social media tools available, an event countdown can be created to add buzz and excitement around the event. Speakers for the event can act as influencers for it, drawing in the people who follow them. Always remember that every virtual event should have a link leading then either to the registration page for the event or to the business profile. Create a hashtag for the event and share it. This will help in event promotion and will drive conversations online.

• Decide on an online video platform – Focus on getting an online video platform which is more than a videoconferencing tool with the following features and benefits:
• Live streaming for high-quality presentations in real-time.
• Custom branding so the event portal reflects the brand logo, artwork as well as the personality of the brand.
• Social media channel integration to distribute the videos further which could either be related to event promotion of content for the actual event.
• Sponsor logo and Ad integration capabilities and analytics.
• Analytics that provide insight into how engaged are the attendees in the content of the event.
• Event registration and confirmation emails and integration with events and user management solutions.
• Support for tiered monetization models (e.g. free vs premium content)

• Make it inclusive – Virtual events should be inclusive and as accessible as possible. Large fonts, high colour contrast, and clear language should be used. Use captions and visuals where deemed necessary to get the point across. Ensure that the virtual event showcases a diverse range of voices.

• Encourage engagement – Create ample opportunities for engagement with your audience. Use pools and quizzes and encourage live-tweeting. Ask the viewers questions in chat tool or through comments. The more you engage with your audience, the more they will engage.

1. Make it about connections – People who attend events do so for the networking opportunities they present. Virtual events should provide the same by integrating peer to peer chat and networking tools into the event enable conversations and keep them going.

1. Make it fun – Provide unique entertainment is a way to deliver a genuine virtual event experience. Many companies are able to recreate fun elements of in-person events for virtual events like digital happy hours, giveaways, gamification, etc.

Virtual events involve a lot of work. To plan and execute a virtual event needs much more than just an event platform. The above tips will help you host successful virtual events that will help scale, grow, and build your business in today’s time.