Online businesses keep looking for different ways to market their brand on digital platforms. Although hosting businesses events for promotion is not entirely a new thing, virtual events have come out as a powerful marketing tool. If you are planning to incorporate it into your digital marketing campaign for 2021, this article is for you.
From marketing to education and work, everything became remote in 2020. Although things are coming back to normal, some of the changes have become the new normal. Virtual events are one of those things.
Before physically attending an event, one has to make many considerations. Where is the place? How can I reach there? What are the timings? There are many challenges in attending a physical event. This is why before 2020, hosting events was not as significant a digital marketing tool as it has become after the virtualization.
Now, with the ease of being able to attend events, virtual events are becoming exceedingly popular. In fact, you must have signed up for at least a couple of them since the last year. However, it is not necessary that you attended all of them. It is also possible that you left some in the middle.
Are you anxious that this could happen at your own event too?
Well, your anxiety is justified. Virtual events are easy to exit just as much easy they are to join. If the attendees don’t find value in your event, or if you fail to keep them entertained, they may leave. And many of them might not even turn up even after registering.
But don’t worry, we got you. The list of tips below can help you can organize a successful virtual event.
5 Ways to Host a Hit Virtual Event
#1. Decide on an event format
Depending upon your objective, it is important to choose the right format for your event. There can be different kinds of events like:
- Tutorial
- Training
- Class
- Lecture
- Interview
- Performance
- Conference
These are some of the possible event kinds that you can use. Depending upon your objective, you’d need to identify what suits you best. For example, if you are introducing a product that needs explaining, you should organize your event in the form of training or tutorial.
#2. Set the right duration
Setting the time for how long your event lasts is crucial. While the ideal duration may vary for a number of factors, 1 hour generally works well for most. The point is you need to make sure that your event isn’t too long.
A long event can get boring and you may lose attendees long before you can even instigate conversion. No matter how interesting you make your event, people generally start losing interest and focus till the end of an hour. In fact, in many cases, marketers have found that events lasting lesser than an hour work best for them. Therefore, keeping your event concise is one important key to hosting a successful virtual event.
#3. Stand out
Did you attend a virtual event that has given you the idea to organize your own business? While inspiration is not a bad thing, make sure you don’t just end up making replicas.
Just like Unique Value Proposition is important in digital marketing, it is also as important for hosting a virtual event. Hence, instead of copying from the hits, you should focus more on creating something unique.
Virtual events have become so common now. And the worst part is, most of them work more or less the same way. Hence, it is important to stand out.
Think about your unique strengths. What is that you can offer which your competitors can’t? This is one important question to consider. Moreover, think of some unique ways of delivering that value. And once you find the answer to all that, make sure to promote your event based on that uniqueness.
#4. Make it interactive
Hosting a virtual event can help you with digital marketing and has many other benefits. However, one downside of such events in the face of physical events is, they are less interactive in nature.
In order to make your event engaging, it is important to make it interactive.
Now this begs the question—how to make virtual events interactive?
Thankfully, there are a number of things you can do to make your virtual event interactive. For example, you can:
- Ask attendees to submit their questions in advance
- You should encourage chatting (Make sure the event hosting software you use allows chatting)
- Add polls
By following these simple tactics, you can make your virtual event interactive and engaging.
#5. Prepare for technical glitches
Having attended virtual event, you must be aware of how annoying and frustrating it gets when there are technical issues like—disconnection, audio and video issues, etc. This is one of the things that can make audience leave your event. And you definitely don’t want that.
Hence, another very important thing is to prepare for technical glitches. Such issues can disrupt the flow of your event and can even make it a flop.
There are a number of things you can do to deal with technical issues in a webinar:
- Make sure you use the right software that caters to all your needs.
- Run a system configuration test before hosting the event. It allows you to spot issues in your webinar system (like microphone issues, connection issues, etc.)
- Using system loudspeakers can lead to echoing sounds. Hence, you should ask your attendees in advance to use only headphones/earphones.
- Test run your event with your team beforehand so you can make sure there are no technical issues.
By following these simple steps, you will be able to avoid technical issues and host a smooth-running event.
Key Takeaway
Webinars have become one of the leading digital marketing tools. If you are planning to host one, the above tips can help you. There are a number of things that contribute to a successful virtual event. It all boils down to a few main things. Set the right format and duration for your event. Make sure to stand out and provide a unique value. Moreover, to make your event engaging, it is important to make it interactive. And lastly but a crucial thing to keep in mind, prepare in advance for technical glitches.
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