With the digital world on the rise, virtual events have now become a new trend in every field. Moreover, with remote workers everywhere around the world, with virtual events, companies can now meet without geographical constraints.
Other benefits of a virtual event are that it does not need a fancy venue and goes light on the pockets too. Even though virtual events like g-meet or zoom calls were there even before, from 2020, due to the persistent pandemic, virtual events have become a savior for all organizations.
Even though these events are digitally managed, for a large organization, a professional event player is necessary. Virtual event Company Indigo Productions is one such association that helps with such events.
Let’s now check seven easy steps that will help you plan successful virtual events. To know more about the topic, continue reading.
1. Know your audience
As you are organizing an event for people whom you may have never physically met or will be meeting for the first time, an extended audience survey is a must. A few necessary questions you should be researching are-
- Is the audience too tech-savvy?
- How willing are they to join the virtual event?
- Their interest areas
- What type of offers do they respond to?
- Are they active on social media?
These questions will help you plan a successful virtual event that keeps the audience interested throughout the whole event.
2. Decide on the timing
The next important step to decide is the duration of the event. Although the timing varies depending on the event and audience types, under sixty minutes is a standard time for all. Keeping it too long bore the audience, and too short might fail to serve its purpose.
Whatever timing you decide on, make sure that it fits all the event contents perfectly. Additionally, ensure that the event does not clash with holidays or other big events. So, decide on the date and time in advance.
3. Finalize the format
Virtual events have different formats, just like other physical events. It can be a workshop, webinar, or tradeshow. Whatever be the format, make sure it looks unique to the rest of the events.
Sometimes, people hire designers to create customized formats to navigate through the event. A professional design firm can surely help you make your event a hit!
4. Promote the event
You will get approximately three to four weeks to promote your event. Make sure that you utilize this period to the utmost to spread the news across. With good digital marketing, you can drive awareness and get lots of people to register for the event.
For successful promotion, you should keep these pointers in mind-
- Enticing selling points
- USPs of the event
- How it can help the audience
- Why is your event unique from the others
5. Pick a platform
There are numerous live streaming platforms like- Facebook, YouTube, Periscope, etc. You can choose one based on your preference, and you will get more or less the same service out of all.
Before the actual event, make sure to take a trial. Trials help with understanding the technicalities and functionalities of the platform. Moreover, a trial will help you set the timeline and plan each program efficiently.
6. Reminder emails are important
You will get the email ids of the audience via the promotion you will run before the event. Emails are a more powerful tool to obtain registration. You can use peer pressure to get people registered and show a tone of urgency in the emails.
You can also send countdown emails to create hype and excitement. Remember, these minute marketing ideas help a lot to get a room full of audience.
7. Select a host
Either hire a professional speaker or someone from the team to host the event. While choosing the host, make sure he/she is a fluent speaker and can capture audience interests.
Other duties of the host are to address the audience, introduce important members, address questions from social media, be quick to respond, and be confident enough to stand in front of the camera. The presence of the mind of the host is also crucial to make up for any unplanned occurrence that might take place.
Conclusion
We are rounding up the virtual event planning guide here. Hopefully, these seven steps were informative and helpful enough to give a clear idea about the topic. If you have any more questions, feel free to leave them in the comments!
