Virtual events are not new but they have been thrust into the limelight in 2020.
Many event organisers know how to plan in-person events better than they know the back of their own hands. However, virtual events are a different beast and therefore have a different timeline.
Join us as we break down the steps to planning a virtual event below.
The Idea
At the beginning of the planning phase, it is best to establish what it is you are trying to achieve with your event.
Is your goal to make a profit from ticket sales? Is your goal to add new contacts to your database? Is your goal to improve your brand awareness?
Once you have this goal firmly in mind, think about the user experience and what functionalities you require to make it work. For example, if you are hosting a webinar, it’s likely you will need Q&A features. If you are hosting a fully virtual conference, you may require more features like virtual exhibitions, networking, and more.
The budget
Possibly one of the most important steps is to your event budget.
Will you be selling tickets? Will you be selling sponsorship packages? Are there any speaker costs? How much do you have to spend on a virtual platform and digital and graphic design?
There are so many variables when it comes to an event budget. You may consider engaging an events specialist to ensure nothing is missed. Even though this event is virtual, it will have a number of the same elements as an in-person event.
Graphic Design
Once you know what your event needs to be in order to achieve your goal, it is time to sort out your event branding.
Some events will not require extensive branding, as they can be branded with company branding and possibly an additional tagline.
However, if the event is not necessarily linked to an existing brand or you wish to differentiate from the brand, you should investigate the option of creating a new brand identity for your event. This can be especially useful if the event is recurring.
Program + Social Events
By now you have incredible event branding, a vision and a goal. But what will your event actually look like? What information are you trying to convey to your attendees? What will get them hooked and engaged?
Content really is king. Your event branding and marketing plan might be top notch, however, if your program does not look interesting you may not entice the number of attendees you want.
Do your research and find out what other events are happening that are relevant to yours and stalk their programs and speakers. Reach out to your industry connections and build a program that is desirable to your market.
How long will your event run for? Keep in mind that events over 1-2 hours generally require scheduled breaks or it can be hard to keep attendees engaged. Will you include a social element? Virtual social drinks are all the rage right now and may be a good addition to your program.
You may also wish to include workshops and learning management systems for attendees requiring Continuing Professional Development points.
Ask for feedback on your program to make sure your target market are happy with the content covered.
Platform
So now you have your vision, your branding, and a program! You should know exactly what your event needs to look like. So, now is the time to choose the virtual event hosting platform/technology that best suits your needs.
While this might seem like a simple step, there are a large number of platforms available. Some platforms are geared to suit some event types better than others. If you’re unsure, it is best to reach out to an events specialist who can assist with the decision and event the setup of your event technology.
Speaker Preparation
Once you have chosen your platform, you will need to prepare your speakers on how to use the platform. A lot of speakers may not have presented virtually before, so it is worthwhile giving them basic tips on lighting and equipment, as well as detailed instructions on how to use the platform and its functionalities like Q&A / polling.
As a precaution, it is worth obtaining a copy of your speakers presentation prior to the event should there be an issue on the day.
Sponsorshop
This step may not be relevant to your event, however, a big part of event revenue can come from virtual event sponsorship and partnerships.
Depending on the platform you have chosen to go with, it is likely you have a number of sponsorship opportunities you can monetise, such as podium time, banner adverts, sponsored sessions, virtual exhibitions and more.
You will need to put together a sponsorship prospectus outlining the details of the sponsorship packages. If this is new to you, consider engaging an events specialist or digital conference organiser (like us!) to design and create your packages and documentation.
Registration
It’s time to get some registrations!
Using your chosen technology platform, start collecting your attendees details. Remember you don’t need to ask very many questions for virtual events, and generally ticket types are more straight forward than in-person events.
You may wish to include a price increase in your strategy to drive a surge in early bird registrations. Alternatively, you may wish to offer premium or VIP ticket types that give attendees access to additional modules.
Marketing Plan
Be sure to include a number of different strategies in your marketing plan, including Electronically Distributed Mail (EDMs), social media, press releases, influencers and referrals, your event website, paid ads and sponsored posts.
Some questions to ask yourself when planning your marketing strategy include:
- Who is my target market?
- What platforms do my target market engage with?
- What kind of content is trending right now? (Easy answer for this one: video video video)
- What messaging do I need to portray?
- What are the key elements of the event that will get that person over the line?
Studio / Venue
Depending on your event you may consider the use of a studio. If budget permits, using a studio can take your event to the next level and can give your event a professional edge.
Typically, an MC will be at the studio with your audio visual team and the MC will help host the day, and keep attendees engaged between sessions. The audio visual team will assist to queue speakers and moderators.
Training
The world of virtual events will be very new for most people.
Speakers, moderators, exhibitors will need to be trained extensively on how to use your chosen virtual event platform. Also don’t forget, it’s likely that people within your team will need training on how to use the platform also.
Test test and test again
A lot can go wrong during a virtual event. Most of the time issues will occur on the users end, due to a poor network connection. However, this does not mean other things can go wrong on the day. Testing and testing again will ensure that if something does go wrong on the day, you will know what to do.
It’s here!
The day of your event is here! Take a big breath and remember that its likely something will go wrong, but you know how to handle it and you have backups and redundancies in place.
Post event
You made it!
Those not in the events industry may assume that when an event is over, we drop everything and move onto the next project. However, most of us know that there is plenty to do to make the most of your event and the content that came from it.
Firstly, you should prepare a debrief document outlining the successes and areas of improvement for the event. Having this on hand for future events will become invaluable.
Secondly, leverage your content. Chances are you have hours of brilliant presentation recordings collecting dust in a dropbox folder. By uploading these presentations to a webpage accessible to attendees, not only are you giving your attendees more bang for their buck, you could also monetise these recordings and continue bringing in revenue even months after the event.
Lastly, its always nice to send a big thank you message to anyone involved in your event that made it the success it was. This could be speakers, your team, attendees and sponsors.
