A recent survey by B2B Marketing Zone and Webbiquity LLC found that 65% out of 450 marketers plan to reallocate a portion or most of their live event budgets to virtual events, according to EventMarketer.
Virtual events are some of the fast-growing developments in the e-commerce industry. This is because they are low-cost strategies that enhance business growth for both small and large enterprises.
Compared to conventional marketing tactics, virtual or online events can benefit your business in many ways. Here's a list of reasons your next company event should be virtual.
Affordable Marketing and Operating Costs
Regardless of how many stakeholders you intend to host, the costs linked to planning a virtual event are low. Because all of your marketing efforts will be online, you don't need a budget for printing banners, booklets, or brochures. As a result, you'll save a considerable amount of money on ads while you enjoy better control of ROI through email marketing and SEO. Likewise, you'll cut operating costs as you won't be traveling, or spending money on a venue, or VIP accommodation.
Easy to Manage
Unlike in-person events, running a virtual conference is less stressful. You have greater control over the function because you don't need to be present in different places at the same time. This means you can use the time spent meeting service staff and stakeholders to focus on delivering a successful event. Besides, there are many virtual event software you can use to create a seamless experience.
Tools like Socio, ConnexMe, Whova, Hopin, and SpotMe VX have interactive and collaborative tech features that help you transform your event into a great experience. With the right software, you can provide high-quality live videos and connect speakers to multi-presentation forums using familiar platforms like Zoom, Skype, or Webex. You can also personalize networking and gamification, live and on-demand webinars or meetings, and 2-way breakout sessions.
Increased Audience Reach
Organizing an online event reduces your concern about the attendance dropout rate by more than a half. You will have nothing to worry about your target demographic missing out on a workshop due to limited seating capacity or traffic. Virtual conferences entice a broader audience because they allow participants to attend from any location.
Your audience will only need access to the internet and computer or mobile device to participate in the online conference. For any business, reaching out to a broad demographic is vital for increasing brand awareness and creating opportunities for consumers to learn, grow, and interact with others.
Creates New Opportunities for Interaction and Engagement
Many people attend physical events because of their networking opportunities, including hallway conversations with speakers and like-minded individuals. Although you may not replicate these aspects in the online space, there are many ways participants can interact virtually. For example, attendees can connect with keynote speakers during question-and-answer sessions. Alternatively, your audience can have a one-on-one meeting with speakers, board chair, or CEO via live chat.
Incorporating surveys and knowledge tests, games, and “ask me anything” sessions are excellent ways to keep attendees engaged. So, make your event engaging by granting access to live chats. Also, provide small-break out rooms where people can interact while playing memory games.
In addition to low costs and better audience engagement, virtual events create room for additional income streams. Since virtual event platforms allow you to record content, you can repurpose and sell it to individuals who missed the main event. You will also spend a small portion of your budget to keep participants engaged throughout a webinar or conference.