How to succeed in the era of virtual events?

Over the past 2 years, the events and virtual conferences sector has seen some of the most significant changes in the past 10 years. The underlying reason for these adjustments was, of course, the pandemic and all the large-scale restrictions associated with it. Initially, everyone tried to adapt to the new circumstances, focusing mainly on the postponement as a temporary solution. However, it quickly became clear that nothing would change for the foreseeable future. Then everyone got together and started discussing the possibility of holding the event online.

What are virtual events?

Online events are a type of virtual meeting where spectators are not physically present at the location but are connected to a remote event. As a result, all communication with the viewer takes place exclusively online.

Why are virtual events important in today's world?

Mass events with the participation of more than 5 thousand people suffered the most, in contrast to the same corporate and few team events. However, the growth dynamics of cancellations is disappointing. The psychological factor, coupled with the constantly deteriorating epidemiological situation, also had an effect. Event agencies had no choice but to quickly change their format to focus on online for a successful virtual event. So in 2020, about 40,000 online events were organized in the field of cultural events alone, with a total number of spectators - more than 110 million people.

The need for social gatherings and networking events has only grown, for example, for areas such as marketing, SEO and management, as well as in order to discuss or tell how to rebuild the business and its aspects in the new realities.

Will virtual events be popular in the future?

You can try as much as you like to analyze the dynamics of the growth in popularity of the online virtual event planning trend and, based on this data, try to predict how long the “online era” will last.

During the online experiments, the organizers discovered many new opportunities, such as the free iMind application and effective viewer interaction mechanics, as well as analytics. This does not mean that successful organizers will abandon offline altogether. Most likely, they will try to combine both formats and use each depending on the task.

Every week new tools, technologies and formats appear to increase the effectiveness of online events. It seems that the duration of the online trend will depend on their results. That is why interest in virtual events is only growing. And they definitely have a great future.

How to succeed in virtual events?

To be honest, organizing a large online event is not an easy task, and it is often quite easy to fail. We've put together a few tips for you to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Use an intuitive platform for virtual events

Online there are no restrictions on the number of participants and space design, it is possible to recreate a dream site that did not exist in reality before, to create your own unique universe. There are no restrictions - there is only your imagination and its embodiment.

Quality and ease of use

When organizing a large virtual event, you need to be sure that the quality of video, sound, and engagement will be as high as possible. No one wants to attend an event when something is constantly not working. Also, make sure the platform is easy to use as not all of your audience may be tech geniuses.

Networking

The more the viewer participates in the process of an online event, the more he is involved. The viewer needs to be stimulated to start watching and keep their attention throughout the broadcast. You can motivate with prizes, gifts, the ability to connect to the event in real time and personally ask the speaker a question. Plus, great online activities in the form of games and metagames will be a great bonus.

Online has significantly enriched the event market and will remain on it for a long time. Today, this is still a new direction, but, like everything related to digitalization, it is developing by leaps and bounds and will soon take its rightful place in the niche of effective business tools.

I really want to believe that the online direction will develop not only from a technological point of view, but also from a creative one.