Are Virtual Events Effective? Should You Take The Plunge?
Despite the rising popularity of virtual and hybrid events there are still those who wonder are virtual events effective? This is a topic that divides many professionals in the event industry as well as with those that attend these events.
Virtual events have been on the rise for years but have recently taken a surge forward that may ingrain them in our habits long term. They have been the hero in this time of need giving many the opportunity to pivot their events to a digital format.
The world is now opening up again, so we will put aside the aspects that made virtual events a great option for 2020-2021 and look ahead to determine if virtual events are effective. Should you plan to keep hosting virtual events in the years to come?
Location, Location, Location!
Yes, we can’t say it enough, the fact that you don’t have to be physically present at a virtual event is a big plus. Not only do you not have to spend time travelling but it also allows you to attend events across the globe instantly and from the comfort of your own home or office.
As much as travelling is nice, sometimes it’s just not worth it, and clocking in less air miles can’t hurt. Us here at Event Tip love to see sustainability in events so the fact that travelling is not required to attend is great. Especially for large international conferences. The carbon footprint resulting from thousands of event delegates going to an event by plane is really devastating.
Increased Reach
When you ask yourself: Are virtual events effective the one aspect that is never in doubt is the increased reach of virtual events. Going in pair with the no need to travel, hosting a virtual event allows us to reach guests all over the globe. We ourselves can then also be in any location and virtually reach the entire planet.
Increased reach also means unlimited reach. As we are hosting our event online, the only thing that is needed at the other end is a device to view the content and an internet connection. Our potential audience then is only limited by the capabilities of our online streaming platform.
If reach is our main objective then there is no doubt that virtual or at least hybrid is the way to go.
Cost
I suppose part of hosting an effective event is cost, and yes hosting a virtual event can be cheaper. You tend to not have costs related to people, like catering, venue, accommodation and transport. The one bill that can potentially be higher is for your AV but in most cases it is also still cheaper.
Now ideally if you have an event budget you shouldn’t be trying to cut costs. Especially as if you do, that budget is likely to go down in the future… You still want to provide a great event experience for your guests. There are plenty of ways to jazz up a virtual event and make it a memorable experience.
Replay
Now we’ve removed the constraints of location how about we also part with the constraints of Time. Being hosted online, virtual events can be recorded and redelivered in exactly the same way. You can either just replay the content as it was on a fixed day with a new batch of viewers if there is a part of interactivity to it. Or, you can just host it online and let it be viewed on demand when people have time to.
The capability to do this can really extend the life cycle of our event and let us maximise our investment in planning it. This really is a point showing that virtual events are effective.
Data
Now this can either creep you out or intrigue you. It’s no secret now that data runs the world and having it, well is usually beneficial. Companies spend fortunes on getting information to better serve and to better sell to their customers. If you know your clients you have more ways to affect them.
Therefore having data about your events can really help you, on several fronts. You can get information on how to improve your event. Like view time of a certain page or area of interests, likes, dislikes. Then you can also use this type of data to get information about your guests, location and demographics. All this information can come in handy to get more sponsors or if you have your own products to sell.
Conclusion
So if by now you’re still not sure of the answer to are virtual events effective ? Well our answer is yes!
Now it obviously depends on your event goals, but if reach and attendance are your goal you should definitely aim to host a large scale virtual event!
If you need to brush up on virtual events then I suggest you check out our course on the topic : Here and make sure tu check out our other content on Tip Academy.
