Virtual Event Platform

A virtual event, like any other regular event, can take the form of global conferences, product debuts, trade exhibitions, concerts, classes and more. The primary difference is that a virtual event may be hosted from anywhere with an internet connection, eliminating the need for your audience to be physically present. By just tuning in via their smart gadgets, they can virtually participate, discuss, learn, play, etc.

Here we break down the pros of running virtual events:

No, the future is now. It has never been more apparent that the current trend revolves entirely around remote participants. Physical distancing is the key impetus for preventing the transmission of contagious diseases in the face of the pandemic. Virtual events have made their way to the event industry and physical experience will soon be optional.

The right virtual event platform for your event will help you recreate the vibe of physical events through digital experiences. Unlike virtual meeting software designed for small groups, a virtual event platform includes more interactive features and event rooms to split speakers and users.

Here are 5 must-have key features of a virtual event platform:

Here’s a simple checklist for hosting a virtual event:

Yes, anyone with a laptop, tablet, or smartphone and a high-speed internet connection can partake in a virtual event. Once participants’ details are gathered and ticket payment is made, participants will be granted access and given login details ahead of the virtual event via either email or SMS, depending on the selection of participants during registration.

It depends on which Evenesis package you opt for.

Standard Package can accommodate for 50 pax and above; or
Premium Package can accommodate up to 10,000 pax or above.

Virtual events are nothing new as they’ve been happening since nearly 30 years ago. Thanks to affordable technologies and virtual event software, literally anyone can hold an online gathering, regardless of budget or expertise.

1. In Efforts To Break The Chain of Transmission

Due to the pandemic, the world is pivoting to virtual more and more. Seeing the number of Covid cases rising day by day, we know that it’s a rough time to be planning and holding a large-scale physical event. 

Many pre-planned physical conferences or campaigns are either postponed or forced to call a halt in order to help combat the novel coronavirus. Hence, virtual events are a great alternative to physical events.

2. Wider Outreach, More Participation

As human movement is being restricted to flatten the curve, making people travel to a physical event venue is difficult, considering the trouble and quarantine fees that may incur. It is also near to impossible for people to come out from the red zones to attend your event in person according to the community isolation measures. 

Consequently, in-person events are now temporarily sidelined. The good news is, people of the pandemic times feel more of a drive than ever to meet, be social, learn, and connect with one another. That’s where virtual events step in with a virtual platform for them to socialise virtually. 

In addition to that, virtual conferences can help significantly in building brand awareness, extending networking opportunities, increasing lead generation, and more.

3. Lower Marketing & Operating Cost

When everything goes digital, promoting your event or partners’ brands prior to the actual day becomes so much easier and more cost-effective. You no longer have to spend on the printing costs for flyers, buntings, banners and booklets. You will be able to leverage Google tools in learning about the ROI of ads, and hence, deciding how to spend on SEO, SEM and SMM. 

Besides, travel costs that could have prevented key speakers, talents and VIPs from being able to attend a live event are no longer an issue. Not to mention the expenses on venue, accommodation, transport, logistics, F&B and so on, which in return allows you to invest more on a superb virtual event software in curating the best virtual event possible.

4. Complete & Valuable Data For Your Next Move

Best of all, you get to learn about your event as well as the attendees’ behaviour with a comprehensive virtual event software. The secured and encrypted database management gives you valuable data from the stage of planning to hosting a virtual event. 

You may also keep track who is tuning in online, which session has the most questions, who is the most engaged and who is not during the session. This set of data, when used in good hands, can give you the means to make your next event better. It can also be music to sponsors’ ears, helping you to secure the best ones for the upcoming online event. 

All in all, it sums up to the three main types of data that would be beneficial to how you grow your business next. 

• Event data (Date, time, cost, etc. )
• Profile data (Attendees’ demography, contact, email, etc.)
• Engagement data (Session attendance, sponsor, feedback, etc.)

Our team is experienced in handling virtual events from idea generation to event execution. Interested in our virtual event solutions?

• Understand your event purpose.
• Objectify a goal.
• Plan before building content.
• Prioritize your virtual technology needs.

• Understand your event purpose.
• Objectify a goal.
• Plan before building content.
• Prioritize your virtual technology needs.

• Send feedback survey forms.
• Analyse all the procured data.
• Discuss the results with key stakeholders.
• Plan for the next virtual event.

Before The Virtual Event

• Set out your event goal and purpose

Knowing what you want to achieve is vital in formulating event strategies. Every event requires a clear focus to proceed, so does a virtual event. Do you wish to expand brand awareness? Foster connection? Generate leads? Engage with attendees? Build up a community?

• Create a virtual event budget

While an in-person event budget is mainly about event logistics (such as venue, travel, F&B, accommodation, to name a few), a virtual event budget focuses more on technology, software and other tools relating to creating an immersive virtual experience for attendees. Basically, the ratio of expenditure for both in-person and virtual events are flipped.

• Develop content strategy

What will your attendees be doing in your event? How can you convey your message to your attendees? What is the best activity in keeping your attendees focused throughout? Carefully consider what you want your audience to take away and delicately draft the content. Always keep the sessions short but informative as people’s span of attention is limited. Integrating interesting games or pop quizzes is also a great idea to keep your attendees engaged, along with panel discussions and videos.

• Learn your virtual technology needs

Your event format will determine what types of equipment you need. Though all virtual events require mics, cameras, green screens and lights, certain virtual formats require more professional equipment. For example, a virtual conference may call for a platform that is able to divide attendees into groups for discussions.

• Market your event

Once you have the full plan out, start developing your promotion plan. Design an event microsite and/or event app, set up registration forms and decide which ads to opt for, be it the paid promotion, organic promotion, or both.

• Get sponsors and collaborators

Find credible organisations to sponsor or collaborate with to attract their fans into joining your virtual events while getting financial support from them. It will be incredibly impactful which consequently helps you to reposition your brand in the minds of your target audience.

During The Virtual Event

• Engage your attendees

Other than interesting topics and creative presentations, you may utilise the platform’s features such as live chat, polls and games to keep your attendees engaged.

• Collect and track attendee data

Using Evenesis’ virtual event system, you can view attendees’ demographic profiles, the engagement data, their preferences, and so on. This piece of information is valuable to product and service improvement and for securing future sponsors.

• Facilitate discussions and networking sessions

It’s best to have a moderator assigned to each group to facilitate discussion during group activities. You may also leverage this opportunity to connect with the attendees, sponsors and speakers.

After The Virtual Event

• Distribute feedback survey

Other than reading the data collected, soliciting feedback from the attendees helps you to measure event success. It can even be a testimonial for your brand. Ask more open-ended questions to find out their feelings and suggestions for the future event.

• Analyse all the procured data

Spreading your excel files and studying the information behind those data will help you understand your attendees better and potentially redefine your target audience.

• Discover best practices and opportunities for improvement

Present the results to key stakeholders and discuss possible improvements to be made. Reflect on what was lacking and get it right on the next virtual event.

How Do You Plan A Virtual Event?

While the aforementioned are the basic steps to pull off a virtual event, you may wonder what the hidden tips are to make your virtual event stand out.

Sales & Ticketing

• Set up ticket tiers (if any)
• Incorporate a ticket distributing system
• Integrate online payment methods

Logistics

• Double check to ensure all techs and tools are working
• Perform the last check on the virtual event platform before the actual event
• Troubleshoot technical difficulties during the event (mics, cameras, etc.)

Post-event Management Engagement: Follow Up Communication

• Express gratitude to attendees
• Offer event highlights to those who didn’t make it
• Excite them with the next event

What is a virtual event platform?

A virtual event platform is a gateway to seamlessly organise events virtually. It transports a live event in the virtual space or hosts a live event digitally with help from supportive technology that ensures that the event experience is nothing less than a live event. Software applications are engineered to extend the interactive online experience and both live and recorded sessions create immersive in-person and remote get-togethers possible.

How do you make a virtual event platform?

A virtual events platform has proven to be a boon in pandemic times as not only has it saved businesses by supporting thousands of virtual events but also come out as a very feasible alternative in many ways.

• While in-person events are expensive, virtual events are cost-effective. They save on the traveling cost, there is no reason to rent an event space, the cost for hiring staff and catering services is also saved.
• Virtual venues that cost next to nothing are providing alternative experiences.
• The facility for remote connections has made the world come closer. Virtual solutions have also solved the time differences with recorded version of the event.
• One-point virtual platforms allow every activity to be channelled from one source making analyses more inclusive with a wider opportunity for measuring success.
• It also offers hot leads on what the buyers and attendees are viewing, who are they connecting with, and what resources are they downloading, and this data is available to all exhibitors.
• Engaging in-person is undoubtedly a close experience but virtual connections are not a bad substitute, they are certainly safer given the time and the social distancing protocols.

Building a virtual event platform using Evenesis?

Events are integral to marketing strategy for every industry and with the pandemic, corporate bodies have transferred their marketing goals to virtual event platforms. This has undoubtedly resulted in a wider outreach especially when they have taken the help of Evenesis, that virtual event platform that has responded with refreshing results despite impediments from the pandemic.

Evenesis broadly classifies all events under eight common types:

• Virtual Conferences
• Webinars
• Virtual Summits
• Online Training/ Courses/ Workshops
• Virtual Reality (VR)
• Online Talk Shows/ Podcasts/ Stand Up Comedy
• Hybrid Event
• Live Consultations/ Giveaways

Evenesis advocate that it is important to identify the type of your event, your target audience and which type of virtual event can benefit your business. The features of the Evenesis virtual event platform largely construer

• Online Registration System
• Onsite Support
• Virtual Event Platform
• Videography, Sound, Lighting, LED, Drapes & Rehearsal
• Integrated Online Payment

Why host a virtual conference?

The goal of any conference is spreading and sharing knowledge and whether that is done in-person or virtually is immaterial. The most significant reason for hosting a virtual conference is to meet like-minded people and industry peers. A virtual conference has a wider coverage where people from all over the globe congregate to share common disciplines in the same field.

A virtual conference is the best way in which they find the opportunity to exchange their knowledge. These could be techniques on the new type of equipment, some unpublished data that uses the conference platform to reveal its research and finding, an introduction with leaders who share their vast experience with the audience. A virtual conference offers ready feedbacks on your paper and presentation. You may get some insights that will help you find a different perspective on your research.

In-person conferences allow more approachability but the same can be achieved to a large extent in virtual conferences too.

This is a great platform that allows you to learn beyond your periphery of knowledge. Helping you to professionally develop it aids in advancement in your career. Enhancing both professional and personal development, virtual conferences can be recorded and watched later to gain tangible expertise on a topic.

How to Plan a Virtual Conference

Virtual conferences demand some amount of planning. Here is a step by step guide on how planning a good conference will help bring the expected returns.

• The first step to planning a successful conference is deciding on the platform. Choose a virtual conference platform like Evenesis, which has a single point operation and facilitates virtual conferences, customer registration, and webinars. host multiple attendees/ participants send automatic email reminders and notifications, engage the audience through various tools, share screen, files, has a messenger chat tool, offers analytic reports instantly, and is capable of recording the event, live-stream with facilities of pre-recorded content. Marketing and team collaboration tools can be integrated along with hardware options like camera and highly sensitive microphones.
• Decide on the subject(s for discussion. Include a panel of 3-5 industry experts..
• The attendee registration form plays an important role with address information, knowledge on the speaker/ panelist, conference schedule, website and social media link of the company, details on the demographic information (age, gender, location).
• Promoting your conference is important. Choose the relevant social media channel for promoting your conference highlight.
• Create a conference social media page to encourage engagement with regular posts and discussions on forums.
• Make sure that your platform is providing security with password protection.
• Have a relevant event background. You can highlight the conference logo and create a ready recognition.
• Include live polls and surveys. Include Q&As. Have small breakout rooms for virtual participants. Make small groups for brainstorming sessions.
• After the conference, do not forget to follow up with the attendees.

How do you create a virtual conference strategy?

• A virtual conference, just like an in-person conference, is the foundation for innovation and growth. The conference should be customer-centric while also meeting the professional and aspirational goals of the company.
• Think differently by creating virtual venues for the marquee speakers. You can arrange for after conference virtual programs and events to keep the guests entertained and engaged.
• Registration is the place from where your conference picks its revenue. Make sure that the revenue keeps coming in.
• Keep the good work of engagement active, and keep finding ways and means to attract the attention of the attendees with valuable content.
• Analyze the virtual conference and share the success and results with significant guests.
• The analysis will also help you decide and evaluate for creating better future events.

What are the Best Online Conference

Event technology is the heart of the virtual event.  From online tradeshows to webinars to live-streamed conferences and performances — technology makes it all possible. But what are the essential tech tools you need to plan a virtual event, drive registrations and engagement, and run the event seamlessly? Here we look at the top 10 virtual event technology tools you need to put together events that excite, entertain, and educate.

How does a virtual conference work?

No longer a temporary solution, virtual conferences are here to stay.

• Choose a virtual conferencing platform like Evenesis that offers the facility to multi-register for multiple speaker sessions.
• Helps you to design your website that displays your event schedule and offers detailed information on the conference with schedule, session, participating vendors, and list of sponsors. The site will also have a space for ticketing.
• Marketing and promoting is an essential component of the virtual conference. Marketing the conference through various channels like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Instagram depending on the type of your conference.
• Our support team is available all the while till the virtual conference lasts. When you host a virtual conference make sure that you have someone on standby to answer queries that guests will have while attending the conference.

How to Host a Virtual Conference: A Step-By-Step Process

• Understand Your Audience
• Define Your Format
• Choosing a Platform
• Choosing a Time and Date
• Choosing a Host/MC
• Market Your Event

What are the Best Virtual Conference Platforms?

Though there are many virtual conference platforms available, look for the one that fulfils your demand. A one-point app, Evenesis, is the wisest decision that you could take when you plan to host a virtual conference.

Supporting the basic requirements of:

• Webinars
• Virtual Summits
• Online Training/ Courses/ Workshops
• Virtual Reality (VR)
• Online Talk Shows/ Podcasts/ Stand Up Comedy
• Hybrid Event
• Live Consultations/ Giveaways

We help you in building connections and generating leads for future events. You can build brand awareness, share information through videos and blogs. We support multiple sessions. Evenesis records high-quality live stream sessions that you can watch later. You can connect with sponsors and attendees and also get a complete analysis of the virtual conference. Using the Evenesis virtual conference platform will offer a refreshing take to your conference and you and your attendees will find this user-friendly platform to be a rewarding experience.

Why host a virtual event?

There are plenty of reasons why your next event should be virtual. Here are the 5 most common drives:

1. Flexible
2. Sustainable
3. Cost-effective
4. Collaborative
5. Reusable/Repurpose

What is needed for virtual events?

Many, if not all, corporations are switching to virtual events today, seeing the benefits in return. We believe hosting a virtual event is no longer alien to you or any event planner. But, how can you make your virtual events stand out among the others? An all-in-one virtual event platform, it is

What is the best platform for a virtual event?

The best virtual event platform is the platform that caters to your needs best and it only takes a little research away. Evenesis’ award-winning virtual event platform has helped many businesses and brands to continue growing during this challenging time. Connect with us today to learn more.

What virtual event technology do you need?

The 8 must-have virtual event technology tools include

1. Virtual event website
2. Event registration technology
3. Event app
4. Live streaming software
5. Digital video equipment
6. Virtual event platform
7. Stable Wifi
8. Event planning and management system

Why should I go with a virtual event?

Ponder this: Will in-person events return anytime soon? Well, there’s yet to be seen. Hence, it would be a great shift to virtual in the meantime to keep your business running and your brand awareness expanding. Also, its low entry barrier can help amplify attendance up to 10 times greater than in-person events. Time waits for no one and if you don’t do it, others will.

What can you do with a virtual event platform?

The pandemic has unleashed the power of a virtual event and shown to the world that even if the world shuts down the virtual world is there to take the business forward. Expanding borders and creating flexibility, virtual event platforms can do so much more. Let us understand the most essential contributions.

• Tailor events to your audience demand in websites, event app, emails templates etc with branding opportunities.
• Integrates communication channels and engagement mediums like automatic social media updates, email and SMS blasts.
• Integrates online payment with safe payment gateways.
• Offers online support for troubleshooting.
• Most importantly supports analytics and reporting through attendees management and posts event analysis.

How do I choose a virtual event platform?

Selecting software for your virtual event is the most important step you take towards a successful event. The quality of your software and its ability to support a seamless event from registration to post-event analysis makes your software instrumental in scaling the event to new heights. Therefore, selecting the right virtual event platform is mandatory. Choosing the right platform demands some amount of thinking.

• Your event platform should be able to register for the event as a whole and in sessions and send virtual tickets.

• It should fulfil your goals of either forging new connections or generating leads from your event.
• If the event is about building brand awareness then the virtual event platform should share information and educate participants on the brand quality through videos, blogs and other communication omnichannel strategy to widen registration.
•   The virtual event platform should be able to support multiple sessions
• The software should be able to record live stream sessions and impart the opportunity for watching later.
• It should embrace sponsorship opportunities and connect sponsors with partners and also enable proper management between them.
• It should allow engagement and networking at every level.
• It should be able to create a truly integrated virtual event experience that engages all in a single advanced one-point virtual event platform.
• It should be able to enhance and grow with the requirement of the virtual event.

What is a virtual conference?

A virtual conference, like a live conference, is an interactive knowledge-sharing event. Bringing people to a single platform from an industry with common goals, interests and expertise. It is a way of making people connect through networking, learning and planning for the future.

Similar to in-person conferences, the virtual conference has keynote sessions, breakout sessions, panel discussions, presentations that engage with the online audience just like in-person conferences.

What Are the Benefits of Hosting a Virtual Conference?

Virtual conferences now achieve the same goals for any industry and are quite indispensable to the function they perform.

Networking

Virtual conferences are a great way to bring together key individuals from the same field of specialization. The virtual conference platform is the perfect space to form partnerships and network.

Helps improve skillset and knowledge.

Influential keynote speakers add diverse workshops with smart presentations. They help scale the learning graph by improving performance and knowledge.

Career and research development

If you host a virtual conference it raises your profile and brings your research in front of a new audience who are related to your sector. It also allows conference hosts to shape their research at its nascent stage for they get to witness the papers first. Participating in or hosting a virtual conference enlightens you with discussions and learnings for the future projects that you hope to undertake.

Financial benefits 

When you host a virtual conference, it helps to boost your organisation’s profile, adds credibility for receiving research grants and other benefits. It opens the scope for future research opportunities.

How do you execute a virtual conference?

• Execution is the most important and crucial stage of the conference. This is the stage that bears fruits of all the hard work that is put in. Therefore, while hosting the virtual conference, make sure you take note of the following points:
• Have a complete blueprint of your conference.
• Chalk out the technologies that would be required for your event
• Make sure that the conference is mobile optimized.
• Have an agenda with a timeline assigned to it.
• Make a list of the expenses that the virtual conference would entail.
• Marketing strategies like Email marketing, Blog Marketing, Social media marketing, listing on popular event sites, paid marketing are important for the promotion of the event.
• Test everything before you open to the audience.
• The virtual conference content should be professional and engaging post updates on social media.
• While the virtual conference is unfolding start collecting and sharing your analytics with key guests and speakers.
• Stay active in online community and engage with the participants.
• Record the presentation, people who may have missed a session at any point can watch it when they are online.
• Use an attractive and high-quality landing page announcing the highlights of the conference.

The Technology You Need to Host a Virtual Conference

Technology is the basis of all virtual conference take a note of what is required.

• A single virtual conference platform

A one-point virtual platform like Evenesis that channels every requirement to host a virtual conference single-handedly.

• A virtual website

The virtual conference website will initiate registration and showcase the event agenda. Link with the social media pages. Provide a complete biodata of the speakers with keynotes and links to their website. Optimized to the search engine the site will be accessible to online searchers.

• Event registration technology

Bridging the gap between the marketing and the virtual event, the registration system will be an intuitive, mobile-friendly, secure and seamless.

• The event app to be downloaded on the mobile will offer event information and updates from time to time.
• Networking

Exchanging knowledge, participating in surveys and polls.

• Live-steaming software

The live-streaming option in the app will help you see the keynote speeches as and when they are delivered. Training seminars, product rollouts etc. can be shared on YouTube Live, Facebook Live etc.

• You would require Digital Video equipment, tripods and lighting equipment

Webinars would require a virtual platform with video facilities.

• A reliable Wi-Fi connection

The Best Online Conference Platforms in 2021

• Zoom
• Microsoft’s Team
• Evenesis
• Skype for Business
• ezTalks Meetings

The Key Elements of a Virtual Conference

• The selection of the topic for the virtual conference is important chooses a topic that your audience wants.
• Select the right virtual conference platform
• Keep your attendees engaged and busy with a ‘wow factor’
• Test before the conference takes off to minimize glitches
• Promote the Event
• Use Augmented Reality to take the conference a step ahead

What Are the Best Practices for a Successful Web Conference?

• A successful web conference mostly demands a seamless virtual conference platform. Let us discuss the other essentials.
• Make use of the Evenesis video conferencing facility.
• Have the alternative for an audio dial-up system if the internet connection is not that strong in many places.
• Test the technology again and again before going live.
• Ensure that the faces are visible and images appear clearly.
• Set clear objectives and use an agenda to set the conference ground rules, break sessions, mapping the entire flow.
• Minimize the length of the presentation. Understand the requirements of screen sharing video sharing options for each presenter
• Use icebreaker sessions and create interpersonal relationships. Make each person welcome and a part of the virtual conference. Assigning facilitators or moderators for the task is a great way of achieving it.
• Interaction is the key, call people and engages them in the virtual conference.
• Capture real-time feedback through the app and the and advanced tracking systems offered by Evenesis

How to choose the best event planning software for your virtual event?

When deciding which event planning software to go for, consider the following aspects to find out which would be best for your event.

• How much does it cost? What are the packages offered?
• How many people can the platform house?
• Is the platform equipped with all the features that you require?
• Is the platform user-friendly?

What features to look for in a virtual event planner?

Here are the most basic features a good virtual event planner should own.

• Ability to customise
• End-to-end event management solutions
• Audience engagement tools
• Engaging sponsors and collaborators
• Ease of use

Here are highlights of the curated solutions:

Both works as there are merits to both options. Live virtual sessions allow instant interaction between speakers and attendees while pre-recorded virtual entertainment is effective when synchronisation is crucial, for instance, musical performance. Furthermore, pre-recorded content can have a logo or animation added to it. In short, you may select either one or both at your convenience.

No worries, Evenesis has got you covered! To keep your attendees involved and engaged at all times, use our interactive features. Our virtual event platform allows you to do live chat, live Q&A and live polls during your virtual event. In addition, invite ardent speakers or talents to keep their interest piqued.

There is no definite answer because it is dependent on the types of virtual events you host and the quality of experience you can deliver. However, many studies have suggested the 20-minute rule of audience attention span. In other words, we recommend event planners consider 4-to-6-hour events with 15 to 20 minutes per session, not to mention, the breaks for refreshment, to combat virtual event exhaustion.

Yes, there should be no compromises when finding your event venue. Be mindful of where your event is being broadcasted from as it can make or break an event and leave a lasting impression on your event guests. It doesn’t only serve as the backdrop, but also helps to ensure the smooth running of your event.

Here are 7 important things to consider when selecting a space to run your virtual event:

It will be governed by your objectives, but here are some KPIs to help you get started.

• Number of attendees to the number of registration
• Audience retention (how long did your attendees stay online)
• Live polls response rate
• Event feedback & ratings
• Number of sales leads generated (post-event)

Since you are saving on travel, accommodation, food and beverage, a good virtual event platform is the only real cost worth thinking about. Not to mention any additional features or tools you would like to include to enhance the event experience. The price can be anywhere between RMX,XXX to RMXX,XXX. To learn more, contact our virtual event experts now.

A virtual event, or more commonly known as an online event, is an organised gathering that takes place over the internet. Virtual events, which do not require participants to gather and meet in a real location, allow people from all over the world to experience the event and its content online while remaining where they are.

Well, we are no strangers to virtual events in today’s COVID-affected society. People have been staying at home or working from home since the government imposed stay-at-home and work-from-home orders.

With virtual events being a niche component of the event industry, many people and corporate entities have gradually shifted their businesses to the online platform for more exposure. Check out this collection of resources to help you make the most of online or virtual events for your business.

Live streaming, which is widely utilised to reach a large number of people, is one-way delivery but a two-way discussion. Live streaming, also known as the must-have marketing technique for 2021 & onwards, may be used to perform online seminars, online concerts, online chat shows, virtual keynotes, and live consultations, either publicly or privately.

Specially curated for private training in a one-to-many delivery style, webinars are somewhat online seminars that attendees listen to and/or watch on the internet via computer or phone. It typically takes place for 1 to 2 hours to teach the attendees something. 

While some see virtual events as the replica of physical location-based events, we couldn’t highlight more about the additional skills necessary in creating an impactful event that extends well beyond a computer/phone screen.

The same amount of planning and engagement approaches as in-person meetings are still necessary. Regretfully, it comes as no surprise that 65% of planners have never taken part in the virtual event planning process.

Here, we’ve put together 10 easy-to-follow steps to successful virtual event planning.

1. Understand Your Audience

As an event planner, you need to have a solid grasp of your audience’s demography, needs and expectations. This important piece of information can help you to come up with interesting virtual event themes and ideas.

To secure a human connection with your audience, ask yourself:

• What aspects of your industry pique their interest the most?
• How tech-savvy are they? Which platform are they most familiar with?
• What type of promotions do they respond best to? (discounts, bundle deals, free shipping, etc.)

Otherwise, you can always send out surveys or start a discussion forum to acquire answers from your audience. In fact, it doesn’t matter how you do it, as long as you get to collect the information needed.

2. Comprehend Your Event Goals

Think of the whys of this virtual event, whether it is to educate, to inform, to entertain or to drive sales? Be careful when setting your event goal as it will be the key driver of the event progress. Make sure everyone in the team is clear of goals determined so that everything else that follows is on the right path.

Also, since we can’t 100% emulate the experience of a physical event, what we ought to do is to check that expectation at the door. Don’t compare your virtual event to a physical event. Instead, gauge your virtual event success based on realistic expectations. Get inspired from real virtual event examples and bring yours to life.

3. Define Your Format

Just like physical events, virtual event planning comes in many formats, offering you plenty of freedom and variety. For education purposes, it can range from seminars to workshops; for showcasing, it can be a tradeshow, a concert or a product launch.

You may go with any virtual event format as long as it matches your event goal. The main objective here at this stage of planning is to develop a one-of-a-kind experience that is atypical of what your competitors are offering.

Perhaps, you can try creating a personalised theme to ensure optimal engagement and attendance from your target audience.

4. Choose A Platform

There are so many virtual event platforms out there that seem to be offering the same basic features. However, if you look closely, each has something unique to offer, not to mention the live support services by different providers.

Once you have identified your goal and event format, research the virtual event platforms available that can best satisfy your needs and requirements. For instance, if you are to organise a large-scale virtual conference, be sure to enquire about the number of people the platform can hold.

All in all, it’s best to get a free demo from the service provider to get a feel for the basic features while also putting virtual event planning services to the test.

5. Pick a Host/Emcee

A good emcee is the greatest asset of your virtual event. Selecting a great one is not something you want to take lightly as he/she is the image of your brand. He/She is the master of ceremonies who brings a level of professionalism to events. Of course, you may hire a professional emcee or simply select an in-house member, if he/she possesses good language and is comfortable speaking in front of a camera/screen.

Here is a little guide to picking the right host for your event:

• Does the host have a loud and clear voice?
• Is the host a good conversationalist?
• How well can the host deal with any unforeseen circumstances?
• Does the host have any knowledge on the topic of the virtual event?

Screen your host candidates to ensure that the last one standing owns a public figure that fits well with your event theme. A professional host can lend credibility to a product launch; someone who is skilled at entertaining is ideal to be called in for hosting a concert.

6. Market Your Event

Effective event marketing is crucial to boost event registration. In this information age, try using most, if not all, digital promotional tools to spread the news about your upcoming event. Getting your event in front of your target audience’s eyes will significantly multiply the conversion rate due to the theory of consumerism.

For instance,

• Social media: Tweeting and posting about your virtual event on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat will help to reach out to a wider audience. Creating customised hashtags and asking followers to tag their friends under your posts can boost search volume and improve traffic to your event page. Moreover, you may plan a series of event counting down posts to prepare your registrants with the event topic or inform them about what they may need to download in advance to access the event platform.

• Email: If your website contains the newsletter feature, alert your email subscribers about your upcoming virtual event. Including links to the event signup page in your newsletters can work. Besides, you may also reuse the contact list from your previous in-person events. An email broadcast comes in handy to send out event invitations.

• Blog post: Upload keynote speakers’ info, event-related articles or announcements to your website can help in organic search. It also generates buzz and excitement leading up to your event. Blogging about event preparation progress, highlights of the event and mystery merchandise can offer your registrants something to look forward to.

7. Get A Venue

Yes, you do not need to get a lavish and spacious event venue since everything is moved to a digital space. Yet, kindly still be mindful of where your event will be streamed from.

Do consider whether

• Is it an office, conference centre, a virtual studio or from someone’s home?
• What kind of backdrop will you be using?
• Does this venue come with the basics like a stage with a podium?
• Is the location quiet and able to cater for the technology you will be using?

8. Decide on The Time and Date

Since the virtual event is targeting a wider audience, time zones become a big consideration if you have a majority of the overseas audiences. Moreover, you ought to check the calendar for dates that are not clashing with other significant events such as a high-profile sports game or a large-scale awards ceremony.

9. Plan Your Content

Bear in mind that your audience does not present on-site and they can log out of your virtual event at any time if they find it boring, too pushy or difficult to follow. Hence, it is crucial to ensure your event is able to provide reasons for them to stay engaged throughout the course of the event.

Ask yourself if you will be able to provide the following:

• Photos, videos, animations
• Q & A session
• Game/Poll 

10. Technical Checks

As a virtual event is held on a platform over the net, it’s crucial to put all equipment to test before the event kick-starts. Double check to make sure the audio/visual equipment and lights are well functioning so that your audience does not experience lip-syncing issues.

Not to forget, get your members to join the virtual event platform to see how everything works. Identify those possible login issues and get a plan B to assist attendees on the actual event day.

1. Virtual Events Will Focus on Efficiency

Using a single platform to channel events in totality will be the impetus behind success in events. Virtual event planning will depend on a platform that manages cost, event data, spend data, attendee behaviour analysis from one place and at the same time offers simplified and user-friendly execution. One point platform that will integrate sales and marketing, create a profile, help in faster follow up and open scope for revenue accumulation. 

2. Creating a seamless digital engagement platform

that will foster and capture collective engagement through immersive livestream and pre-recorded virtual sessions of attendee-to attendee and attendee-to-speaker interactions. The availability of on-demand session to enable catching up of missed sessions.

3. Content experience will make the maximum impact.

Virtual event planning will rely on video, live Q&A, embedded presentations, polling, and mobile event apps.

4. An online activation of sponsors and exhibitors is

An integral part of virtual event planning. Evenesis enables sponsors to directly manage profiles and scale their ROI. Virtual booth, welcome area greeting space, ‘contact us’ options for sponsors. Seamless video conferencing facilities, exhibitor to sponsor sessions will garner success and leads.

5. Measuring event performance is the key

to virtual event planning. Capturing data that analyses performance and assigning scores to each attendee based on their level of participation. The marketing automation system will help plan effective sales and conversion and streamline post-event marketing strategies.

6. Voice will play an important role in

Performing actions and answering questions. Virtual event planning must use a chatbot or voice assistant from event registration to answer questions. The availability of various language voice assistance will help capitalize a wider audience. Translation facilities will bridge communication gaps.

7. Planning innovative engagement ideas

Remains the biggest challenge in virtual event planning. Engagement through gamification, short time challenge and reward will attract the audience. Create areas for rewarding achievements like connecting to sponsor booths, winning a quiz etc.

8. A continuous advancement and development

In technology to create better experiences and increase reach and ROI with a view on the Pandemic.

9. Making scope for load balancing

With the highest technology for both virtual and hybrid events.

10. Build an experience, not just an event.

Innovation is the key; your event has a budget and revenue objective. Be creative in content make connecting seamless and open and add value at every step that attracts sponsors and attendees to your event over others.