We’ve all become acquainted with virtual events over the past several years. Everything from informal discussions to large-scale conferences has gone digital.
If you want to create and host a successful virtual event, you’ll need to do more than hold a free-for-all on Zoom. Keep reading to learn how to implement virtual event best practices to get more attendees and keep them engaged throughout the process.
Related: Create An Effective Virtual Onboarding Experience
Virtual Event Best Practices to Keep Attendees Engaged
Virtual events are great — the costs are lower than booking conferences, people can engage from around the world without spending money on flights and hotels, and it’s easier to attract high-demand presenters who can’t commit to in-person meetings.
Follow these virtual event best practices to ensure success for your company and its attendees.
1. Know Your Audience
If you want your virtual event to be a success, you need to know your target audience — who is the event designed for? Defining your audience will impact every part of your event, from the key speakers and topics you cover to the day and time you host it.
- What are the goals of the people you want to attend? What are their challenges?
- How will you inspire them to register and participate?
- What value can you provide that audience?
- How will you deliver that value in a virtual environment?
2. Consider the Event Date and Time
Virtual events are easier for most people to attend compared to in-person gatherings. However, even though attendees can join from anywhere in the world, you still need to put plenty of thought into the time and date of your event.
For example, if your target audience consists of corporate professionals, you won’t want to host your event during normal working hours or too early in the week. Planning it for the weekend can allow more people to attend, but it is unlikely to work well because your attendees want some downtime.
In this example, a Friday afternoon might be the best bet — they can likely take some time out of their schedule to attend, and it can almost feel like they get an extended weekend. In addition, you don’t want to schedule your virtual event near the holidays; attendance will suffer as many people will be preoccupied with personal plans.
3. Go In With a Solid Strategy and Objective
You need to have clear goals for your virtual event before you can attract attendees and keep them engaged throughout the entire event. These objectives don’t stop with your company — you need to consider what participants want to achieve during your event.
Take a virtual job fair, for example. Attendees likely want to find jobs or networking opportunities. You (or your exhibitors, if you’re sponsoring the event) want to get in touch with jobseekers and get them talking with your recruiters. And sponsors want visibility gained through that specific audience.
If you understand what everyone wants to get out of your virtual event, you can plan and host it much more successfully. And by focusing on their goals, you can add relevant features to keep them engaged.
Related: Common Challenges of Distance Learning
4. Brand Your Event
An excellent way to ensure your event speaks clearly to your target audience is by creating an event brand. Ideally, your event will have a unique logo, slogan, and message that you reinforce through each of your marketing channels.
Creating an event website can help you get detailed information about your event to attendees, describe your event’s goals, and give people a reason to attend. It also gives participants a place to learn about your event sessions and speakers, purchase tickets, and more.
Beyond that, you want to promote your event and draw people to its website through social media platforms. No matter where you market your virtual event, you want the branding to be consistent. Make the experience seamless — use the same fonts, colors, logos, voice, etc., throughout all of your materials so potential attendees know the message is coming from you.
How do you personalize a digital world? See how our platform allows you to brand any virtual space to leave a lasting impression on your virtual event attendees.
5. Make Interaction Easy
It’s challenging getting people engaged during in-person events, but when you shift to the virtual world, there are countless distractions you have to compete against to keep attendees’ attention.
Don’t settle for low engagement; instead, create opportunities for people to interact. Build audience participation into your events, whether in the form of polls, brainstorming sessions, or Q&As with your company and key speakers.
You can also break up participants into different virtual meeting rooms — they’re more likely to interact in smaller groups than with the entire conference. You can also create unique ways to engage participants, like encouraging them to participate in a group activity during the event.
6. Choose a Digital Platform Focused on Engagement
With so many virtual platforms to choose from, picking the right one for your event is a daunting task — where do you even start?
First, create a list of the necessary requirements the platform must meet to deliver your virtual event exactly how you want it. Talk to different providers, ask questions, see if they’ll offer you a demo, and keep inquiring until you’re 100% sold.
Some details to ask about include:
- Does the platform allow you to brand and personalize your virtual space?
- How easy is it to use for the host and attendees?
- What design options are available for the virtual environment?
- Will customer support be available for your event?
- What accessibility features does the platform include?
- Can you collect reporting metrics during and after the event?
Related: Going Virtual: Challenges and Solutions
Successful Virtual Events Start With the Right Tech Stack
Have you ever participated in a stressful Zoom meeting or Skype call where nothing seems to go right, and there’s nothing but frustration all around? It’s okay, we all have. So, how do you ensure your virtual event goes off without a hitch?
At The Qube, we set out to create a digital collaboration platform that’s as close to meeting in real life as possible (hint: it was a success). Make your next virtual event stand out with the right software that keeps everyone connected and engaged in a personalized, 3D virtual world. Make your next virtual event stand out with The Qube.
Want to see how the right technology can keep your virtual event attendees engaged and ensure everyone stays connected without issues? Schedule your free demo of the most immersive, realistic platform designed to keep your events on track.
