Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, conducting on-ground events became merely impossible. To keep the wheels rolling, many brands came up with the idea of hosting virtual events in a virtual space.
No doubt, physical events seem to be more convincing than virtual events. But after the massive hit of a global pandemic, hosting virtual events became the only choice amid the widespread of the virus. But does that mean virtual events are not worthwhile?
As soon as the world started adapting to the new normal of home quarantine, virtual events boomed exponentially. Soon people started finding virtual events more feasible and convenient than they used to be in a physical event. Although virtual events are becoming the talk of the town almost every day, there is one thing missing! It is the social gatherings we used to have in person.
We know that for the past few months, nothing has happened the way we expected or planned. But there are some good things that happened to us! Want to know what positive impact did the new normal bring along with it? It’s building stronger bonds with our family and friends, it’s how people started to co-create what they lost, it’s about innovations, and it is about the rapidly growing tech industry.
In the following segment, we have enlisted a few key features that you must know and include in your upcoming virtual events. Read the complete article to know our take on virtual events.
What are Virtual Events?
Virtual events to put simply is an event similar to physical events but with a virtual set-up. After the global pandemic entered our lives, virtual events became an integral part of many big businesses and event planners. The scope of conducting an online event is unlimited. Here are some of the benefits listed below:
- A virtual event platform enables you to reach remote participants enabling them to interact with people without any interruption.
- A virtual event platform allows you to network like a pro by offering some exclusive tools like- Networking lounge wherein you can schedule a meeting with potential exhibitors, speakers, or attendees. Apart from this, you can also exchange business cards with other brands, AI-powered matchmaking to build empowering connections with people holding similar interests like yours, and much more.
- A virtual event platform enables customers to personalize their products according to their needs. You can include multiple dynamics, design your platform the way you want, add music, tab icons, touchpoints, etc. to uplift the overall ambiance of your event.
- We know organizing a virtual event can be challenging at times especially when it comes to keeping your attendees engaged throughout the event. So to avoid any distraction add on these following engagement tools in your event- Live polls, Gamification functionality like- spin the wheel, temple run, crosswords, or you can also embed your own games. Apart from that, you can also include a signature wall, social wall, photo booth features at your event.
- A virtual event platform also offers an organizer to curate detailed analyses about their attendees via a data footprinting tool that tracks the overall journey of the participants in the platform.
Features that you Must inculcate in Your Next Virtual Event:
In the following segment, we have included some of the key features that you must know and inculcate in your virtual event.
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Reporting And Analytics
To curate a successful virtual event having insightful analytics and reporting is a must! This tool will help you determine how well your event took off and was it able to deliver the message to your target audience. Unlike physical events, these tools are much more unified as they have multiple digital touchpoints.
Today, we see many virtual event platforms offering basic analytics and reporting tools, it is vital for you as an organizer to choose wisely. Go beyond basic, offer not only valuable insights but also data that will help you derive the overall success of the event. Another effective idea would be to incorporate analytic platforms like Facebook Pixel and Google Analytics.
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Customer Support
Like any other feature, having customer support for your platform is really important! This helps in understanding one of the most critical factors- Your virtual attendee’s journey.
As mentioned earlier, no doubt virtual events are convenient but the challenges are equally emplaced. So if by chance any interruption occurs it can be easily fixed right there and then.
This is why you must have an enthusiastic customer manager ready on call while the live event takes place to make sure things go smoothly and according to the plan.
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Event Management Functionality
Organizing an online ceremony is no cup of tea, it needs a lot of planning and strategizing. After 2020, virtual events did become the talk of the town. Event professionals have adapted themselves to the new normal which is great! But conducting an event should be as easy as possible for event planners and the correct software considers these all.
It is vital for online event solutions to offer features that help in the management of the overall event such as advertising, branding, registrations, etc.
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Engagement and Interactive Features
One of the most important factors why people used to prefer physical events over virtual events was because of the benefits it provided to organizations. But after encountering that virtual events can offer the same networking and engagement features, they gained more popularity.
There are endless interactive and engaging features that a virtual event platform can provide, they are as follows- Q/A sessions, live polling, follow-up surveys.
Having this tool is essential to keep your attendees involved and have fun during the event. Add on some integrated features like social walls, games that you like, GIF photo booths, quizzes, and more!
For your participants to seamlessly get in touch with their interested speakers, sponsors, or exhibitors, you can include tools like group or individual chats, audio/video calls, etc.
Over to You
All in all, the pandemic has tossed up the conduction of a large number of events in 2020 and a similar thing is happening in 2021. Many people had to bear unforeseeable losses, especially the event organizers, owners, sponsors. Thanks to virtual events, now we don’t have to wait for infrastructural development in terms of internet and broadband services to hold our events in a virtual environment.
In case you are considering hosting a virtual event, we hope this article helps you organize one effectively. Meanwhile, let us hope things stabilize soon and we opt for virtual events by choice and not by circumstantial compulsions.
