Little did we know when we entered 2020 that it would be disruptive for us in so many ways. Not only has the pandemic disrupted our everyday routine but it has also forced us to embrace a new normal. An implication of this has been a slumped economy, and certain sectors of the industry have suffered heavy losses in this quarter. With the uncertainty of the future looming in the background, brands that had once relied on face-to-face engagement and audience interaction are now searching for new ways to still stay connected with their audience base. This is exactly why the brands are longing to go digital and ascertain the initial steps to hosting a successful virtual event.
Virtual Events have been rapidly on the rise and are becoming one of the essential marketing tools through which brands and organizations are communicating with their existing and potential target audience. Virtual events are scalable and provide measurable benefits to brands and organizations. Be it traditional on-ground events or virtual events on a digital platform, the base remains the same and extensive planning is required to pull off a successful event. Virtual Events need planning in order to accommodate the shift in the user experience that has happened over a short period of time and attention has to given to the fact that we are now replacing once valued in-person interaction with digital engagement.
Steps To Hosting a Successful Virtual Event: Explained
As one of the initial steps to hosting a successful virtual event, you first need to understand and define your target audience who will be willing to attend your Virtual Event. The more grasp you have of your target audience, the more you can customise the event as per their expectations and needs. This way you make sure that your event is relevant amongst the attendees and you reap ROI from it. In order to understand the pulse of your target audience, their current economic foothold etc, in-depth planning is required.
Content must be paid utmost importance whilst planning a virtual event. Unlike physical events where there’s a lot of gimmick to keep the audience engaged, Virtual Events rely on their content to keep the audience attention transfixed to the screen. It is essential to create compelling content that has value for your audience. Getting renowned speakers will be much easier given the circumstances and this will enhance the quality of the content consumed by the participants. You can also get industry experts who not only provide great insights into the industry but also engage the audience with their views on how to overcome such a crisis and what the future holds for us.
Even though Virtual Events have been an option for sometime now, the general public still considers it as a novelty and something that they will take time getting used to. Hence it is important to actively promote your event and amplify its presence on social media. The wiser the reach, the more people will sign up for your event.
Keep the end objective in mind while planning for a Virtual Event. Why are you hosting one? If it is to generate revenue then virtual events provide scalable data. Hosting polls, networking lounges and other gamified activities help in understanding how much of the content has been consumed by the user and hence have to be planned accordingly.
A Virtual Event cannot be a mundane session for your audience and hence interactive engagement has to be well thought through. The goal of hosting one through precise planning is to create a memorable experience for those who attend it and generate leads for the organisers.
