The devastating effects of COVID-19 have opened up an opportunity for the events industry to innovate and look at new ways to continue to keep people connected and educated while in-person meetings are not an option.
But the question remains, do virtual events actually work? In short, yes they absolutely do. We can say this confidently with first-hand experience and we have the case studies to prove it. If you’d like to know exactly why we think they work, keep reading below!
Global Reach
One of the key benefits to hosting a virtual event is the ability to connect and engage with people from all over the world. Technology allows us to meet in virtually at conferences, meetings, courses, workshops and even social functions. With accessibility to people from all over the world at the click of a button, virtual events have the capability to access people from different counties without the added time or costs associated with travelling to a destination. In person events very often have a limit on the number of attendees that can fit in a venue, whereas there is no limit to attendees you can have at a virtual event. Ranging from as little as 10 people up to 10,000 people without a significant change to your budget! Although if you are getting 10,000 attendees we do recommend maybe having some extra support staff on hand!!
Global reach isn’t just limited to attendees. World leading experts in all fields have never been more accessible and could be a major drawcard for your attendees.
Cost effective
Virtual events are cost effective in many ways. You don’t need to account for cost centres such as travel, accommodation, food and beverage, venue, out of office costs and the list goes on. With virtual events, attendees only need to register for the event and have access to a computer and internet connection.
Flexibility
Finding a date, venue and location that is suitable for your target market is crucial and often difficult when organising an in-person event. Virtual events give delegates the opportunity to watch the event live or at a later date at the comfort of their own home or office – wherever suits them – increasing the chances they will spend their precious pennies on a ticket to your event.
Having the presentations available to delegates post event will increase income as well as building your database of contacts. ‘On demand’ videos are becoming increasing popular (think Netflix style) and building a library for people to subscribe to and watch and your event at their own time is another value add for your community.
Collect Feedback
Feedback on the event is crucial to measure the success of an event. Virtual events give the opportunity for attendees to answer polls and surveys in real-time. Attendees are more inclined to answer these as they are easily accessible and will give a more accurate response.
Collect Data and Statistics
Virtual events make it easy to collect data and statistics as it is all online and can be easily tracked. You will get an accurate number of people who logged in the event and which sessions where more popular, who downloaded collateral and so much more!
While everyone loves in-person events, virtual events and hybrid events are here to stay!
