📝 How to Create a Successful Virtual Event
In 2020, the number of companies planning to host a virtual event doubled. Attendees like the freedom of being able to attend an event from the comfort of their office or home, and for over 80% of organizations, a virtual event is less expensive than an in-person event.
Whether you plan on hosting your first or tenth event, you should use these virtual event best practices to increase attendee happiness and improve your chances of reaching event goals.
Virtual Event Best Practices
If you want to replicate an in-person event, you’ll need to follow the best practices to avoid making common mistakes. A little preparation can go a long way in making your event a success.
1. Choose an Event Type
What type of event will you hold? A few options are virtual:
Conferences
Fairs
Trade shows
Others
When you choose an event type, you’ll be able to come up with objectives and goals that you want to meet.
2. Start the Planning Process 8 to 10 Weeks Ahead of Time
Virtual events are just as tedious to plan as an in-person event. While some aspects of the planning process may be easier, you still have a lot of decisions to make. Allotting enough time to plan your event is key.
Ideally, you’ll allow 8 to 10 weeks' time to plan, organize and throw the event.
Don't forget to plan out the promotion so that you have enough time to attract attendees and make the event a success. We'll be discussing how to promote a virtual event in the final section of this article.
3. Reach Out to Speakers or Panelists Early On
Will your event have speakers or panelists? If you won’t be the only speaker, you’ll want to reach out to these individuals as early as possible. You'll need to spend time with these key individuals to:
Train speakers on how the event will unfold
Plan schedules for the day and training
Set guidelines on what you expect from the speaker
You'll want to make sure that the schedule you set isn’t overly booked. You'll need to allow breaks and keep the time of the event at an acceptable level. If you overbook the event and some speakers aren’t able to speak, you may upset attendees and ruin your chance of repeat attendees in the future.
4. Offer Interactive Content
Viewers will engage more and be more inclined to continue attending your event when you add in interactive content. Bloggers use content to strengthen their brand. You have a lot of opportunities to offer interactive options while not overwhelming the viewer. In one survey, 91% of respondents claim that the main goal of a virtual event is to keep members connected. Interactive content offers deeper connections for all members.
A few opportunities to create interactive content includes:
Question and answer panels
Quizzes for educational events
Polls during the event
You should give all attendees the opportunity to leave feedback and also share the event. Open discussion forums, chats and even challenges can really make viewers part of your event.
Generate Reports
How will you know if your event is a success or failure? Reports. You should be collecting data during the event that you can refer to when judging the event’s success. A few of the key data points that may be important for your event are:
Signups for your mailing list
Calls to your business
Product or services purchases
You'll find that the ROI can take days to really be determined. It's important to optimize your KPIs beforehand to determine if your event met your expectations or not.
Reports will show you a clearer picture of how well your event was executed.
Of course, you’ll also need to know how to properly promote your virtual event. If you don’t promote properly, your event will not be a success.
How to Promote a Virtual Event
Promoting your event will lead to attendees in their seat and hopefully, engaging during your event. The promotion techniques that you choose will be vast, but they will most certainly include some, or a mix of, the following:
Facebook ads and promotions on your own page should be a go-to option for promoting every event. Your network is integral to your success, and chances are, a lot of people in your network have connected with you on Facebook. Over 50% of event planners use Facebook to promote events.
Three-in-four marketers claim that email marketing is the leading way to generate registrations for an event. If your organization has been growing an email list, it’s time to invite all of the people on your list to the event. Don't forget to send out event reminders, too.
Opt for co-branded events. There are times when a business is just starting out and doesn’t have an audience that is big enough to drive attendees to the event. Co-branded events often have larger audiences and an easier time landing speakers.
Issue a press release that will generate buzz about the event you’ll be holding.
Leverage your speakers and their networks. Ask everyone that is part of the event to help share and spread the word about your virtual event.
If your event has sponsors, also ask them to promote the event on their social channels or newsletters. These sponsors are stakeholders that can be a powerful marketing tool for your business.
Paid search or ads on social media channels can help you attract highly targeted leads to your event registration form.
Promote the event on your social media channels, including (but not limited to) Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and any other platforms that you use already.
Conclusion
It's important that you explain exactly what your audience will see in all promotional material. The right copy on your registration’s landing page can attract higher signup rates.
As a virtual event planner, you also need to consider the time you hold your event. ON24 reports that the best time to run events in the United States is 2 p.m. EST because you’ll avoid many viewer conflicts in the process.
If you follow the virtual event best practices above, you’ll increase your chances of running a successful event.
Until next time,
—Casey