According to the research and surveys, 77.2% of the population preferred attending events virtually. However, the experts estimated that the event industry will return to normal with physical or in-person events once the pandemic ends. Well, stats speak differently, as a survey was conducted, which leads to the conclusion that 88.1% of the participants have conducted a virtual event at least once.
One of the major reasons why virtual events are trending so tremendously is the extensive range of benefits and advantages they provide. Especially in the domains of educational and corporate fields, virtual events play a very helpful role.
In the following blog, we will discuss virtual events and their essential benefits. Moreover, how can we choose the right platform for virtual events?
What is a virtual event?
Virtual events are online, even in which all the attendees are connected to each other through devices and interact with each other on a platform. The events include webinars, virtual trading, exhibitions, online lectures, broadcasts, and more.
Today, many organizations provide online event software with unique advantages and capacities. The ability to connect with a host and audience via a video link with the app and interactive features like polls and messaging is a feature of many virtual conferencing applications.
How does a virtual event work?
If you are looking forward to hosting a virtual event, you must ensure you have special technological devices. However, you can use your own tools to make an event successful. It requires some planning and good management to ensure there are no loopholes in the events. You can host virtual events using various platforms like social media, zoom, hangouts, etc. The major benefit is that you can interact with anyone around the globe at any time via a video link.
How to host a virtual event?
Well, if you are looking forward to planning a successful event. You need to make sure you follow a proper plan or process whenever you are organizing a virtual event. Here are a few essential steps you must follow;
- Identify your target audience
It is very essential to have a thorough understanding of what type of audience you are actually trying to target. Once you know the audience, it is easier to understand the event you are looking forward to organising. It even makes the goal setting or defining the event’s objective further, which helps to make it easier to achieve. Moreover, hosting the event and providing maximum convenience is easier with a definite audience.
- Choosing the right format and event type
There are multiple options available in virtual events, which you can choose and work on in accordance with achieving the event’s goals. The event types include fundraising, national/international conferences, workshops, or social events. However, there are a variety of events that can be conducted online or virtually. Once you are clear about what type of event you are hosting, it is easy to choose the format of the event, whether pre-recorded, live stream or any other.
- Content planning
The most crucial step is to plan the content. Undoubtedly, when it comes to virtual events, the content is the most sensitive yet vital aspect. While planning an event, we need to remember the targeted audience, the event’s goal, and the available resources. List the major themes you look forward to covering at the event and star them according to their importance. Then, make a complete schedule with managed time divided or allotted to the topics according to their importance.
- Determine the logistics
Next, you must determine the basics or the information relevant to the event. Including the AV equipment you will use for the event’s accomplishment. Moreover, what sort of audience will be there, whether any portion of the audience attending is disabled with the sense of hearing or speaking? If there are any, provide the required resources so they can understand the content and enjoy the event. However, you need to comprehend the requirements of the event. Here’s a checklist with which you can keep track of the logistics:
| Number of guests/ audience |  | |
| The selected platform you are going to use to host the event. | | |
| Will it be enough to accommodate the whole audience? | | |
| Is the platform suitable for the event? | | |
| How are you looking forward to sending the invites? | | |
| Have planned how you are going to gather the funds and donations. | | |
| . | Which equipment is required for the guest speakers or closing speeches, and does the guest have it or not? | |
| Do you require any AV technicians or professionals to deal with technicalities? | |
Once you have checked everything in this list and are fully satisfied, make sure you are ready to execute the plan. Moreover, ensure you are all set for the day.
5. Virtual invites for virtual events
After analysing all the aspects and completing the requirements, the next thing you need to do is send virtual invites. You can even use event management software and applications to spread the invites. Ensure you have all the phone numbers so you can easily reach out to the audience without any glitches. Moreover, you must stay in touch with your clients to send reminders.
What is a virtual platform?
A virtual event is more like a digital venue, which helps to provide the essential resources for the virtual event. It allows us to produce the smoothest events by providing various solutions and features that help execute a valuable and interactive session. Virtual platforms can help you conduct numerous types of events, including conferences, seminars, online lectures and many more. However, the most essential thing about this is that it has enough power and features to cater to any client and problem.
There are a variety of fields and organisations where interaction is the key to success, and virtual platforms play a pivotal role in maintaining the success rate. Business meetings and international conferences are crucial to conduct in person as there are people from overseas. However, it’s difficult to always be present in person for meetings and events, so virtual platforms are vital to keep the interaction and communication flowing. Choosing the right virtual platform for the event is important, as it can make or break the deal.
You must think about what it means to find the right platform for the right event. The world has suffered from quarantine due to the pandemic during this period, and our education system was shifted to online immediately to avoid any losses. Additionally, if we just look at the stats, Zoom, an online platform to connect, generated revenue of around $4.3 billion in 2022 and grew around 7.3%. However, this was determined to be the right solution for educational purposes and conferences. Here’s a small guide to understanding how to choose a virtual event platform and increase the success rate.
How to choose a virtual event platform;
Following are some of the most essential steps you need to take to understand which is the perfect solution for your virtual event and how to choose it;
- Determine the requirements
Ensure you are clear with your requirements and essential needs by keeping the event’s goal up front. Firstly, identify the event type, including the format, as it is a webinar, a conference, or simply an international workshop. It is essential to know to understand the features required from the platform thoroughly.
- Evaluate the features
Once you have identified the event type, it’s time to evaluate the features. Make sure to assess the features critically since all the platforms offer similar features but may vary with a few features. However, these few features can make quite a big difference as well. Additionally, they help assess which is more capable and provides more interactive features and whether it provides the customisation option.
- Must consider feedback
Well, to examine the features of the event the best way is to assess the experience of the client who has been using the platform. However, it’s not just from the end of the host but also the end of the clients. Consideration of user experiences is really important. Make sure it is easy to use and understand.
- Capability
Ensure that the virtual platform you are looking forward to achieving is capable of handling various sizes of events. There are multiple events, including conferences and seminars, in which the attendees usually are in large numbers. The platform must be able to tackle all the clients and attendees. However, the content delivery is good and seamless, as in such large-scale events, everything narrows down to the content presentation and quality.
- Compatibility
It might not be the most essential factor, but it is still the most basic of the event. Ensure all the devices, including AV hire and all the software and browsers, are compatible with the virtual platform. The compatibility factor may vary from region to region.
- Analyse the analytics
Analytics are essential to understand the behaviours of the clients and the participants attending the session. It helps to make an event successful, and the gathered information is helpful when planning another event and is considered a treasure for future events.
- Check security
At the current time, the things most people are concerned about are the security system and how their personal data is not going to be misused. Confidentiality is essential, so make sure to prioritise it when selecting the platform and ensure that theta gives the guarantee for security purposes.
- Customer care services
There can be any glitch at any time, or you might need to customise anything according to the event. However, make sure the platform you choose offers 24/7 customer support to resolve issues smoothly and on time.
- Cost
Last but not least, make sure that the cost of the platform is according to the features they provide. However, thorough field research and gathering knowledge of your required services are the most important ways to analyse how much it can cost. Accordingly, you can decide on the budget you are looking forward to spending.
Why do virtual events hold such importance?
During the COVID-19 pandemic hybrid, virtual events were gaining popularity. In order to fill up the space for the physical events. However, to bring the best out of the virtual events, they were inaugurated with AV equipment to make it flawless. However, it serves multiple benefits, which are quite valuable and can enhance the experience of the attendees.
- It can easily target all the clients worldwide and gather an audience from every corner of the world. All they require are the device and a good internet connection.
- It saves quite a lot of time as there’s no need for extensive prep-up plans and decores for the whole setup. However, in virtual events, you are required to put in only ⅓ of the effort compared to an in-person event.
- It is highly cost-efficient as there is no need for unnecessary resources, including waiters and other staff members. Moreover, no cost is spent on decor and other possible venue things. The only money spent is on the platform fee, AV equipment, and marketing money.
- It is easier to evaluate and analyse the event. You can manage the content you are sharing easily and keep you focused on the event’s main goal.
- Analysing the event, whether it was a success or not, is way easier as the virtual platform provides the whole analysis of the event. Including the participation rate and the behaviour of the attendees.
What is the future of virtual events?
There’s high competition in the market regarding the virtual platform. However, there are a variety of organizations that are providing top-notch features to make the marketing platform more reliable and essential. A dramatic increase in interest has been seen among the attendees of the virtual events.
Conclusion
At last, virtual events are playing a crucial role in the event industry. Various platforms are looking forward to introducing new features to bring out the best to the table. AV Productions, as a virtual events platform, are setting trends and looking forward to continuously doing so and staying on the list of most popular virtual event platforms in 2024 by providing prolonged exceptional virtual event experiences to the clients.
