Host a Successful Virtual Event Using These Strategies

Although Virtual Events are all around us, in every field & industry, there are only a few that any of us actually remember.
Of these, even fewer virtual events are remembered fondly by the attendees.

So what is it that makes one virtual event so different from the others? And what exactly goes into its planning?

The answer, it turns out, is a lot.

Successful virtual events have a lot going for them. Right from ease-of-navigation, seamless design & attendee experiences, to enhanced virtual venues & top-notch attendee networking options, successful virtual events have a lot to offer.

Not only are they designed with perfection as the base ingredient, but they hit the right chord in every aspect of a virtual event.

As event organizers, you will undoubtedly need to know more about successful virtual events. How to plan for one, how to host one, & what to expect from one, are all questions that you’ll need answers to.

In this blog, we aim to tell you exactly what is needed to host your most successful virtual event yet.

Below, read the 7 must-needed strategies that you should use to host a successful virtual event.

Think of Your Attendees as Human

If you wish to host a successful virtual &/or hybrid event, you must consider your attendees as human & not as sales leads, email marketing heads, or simply clicks on your virtual event.
This allows you to personalize your virtual event according to their needs, requirements, likes, dislikes, & individual goals.
Remember that the more human & present you make your attendees feel in your virtual event, the more likely they are to engage with your event & turn into prospective leads later on.
Hence, the first step is to always think about your attendees, & consider them as humans & not names in a mailing list for future marketing purposes.

Run Pre-Event Attendee Surveys

These help you understand the nerve of your attendees & what is it that they would like to see in your virtual event.
Pre-event surveys also let you know the various individual goals & aspirations of your attendees, allowing you to tailor your virtual event to their exact needs & requirements.
This helps you relate to your virtual attendees in a better way & gives you the upper edge over your competitors in virtual event design & personalization.
Take care to include all the important questions in your pre-event surveys. Questions like what would the attendees like to see, what industry do they belong to, do they live in metropolitans or smaller tier-1 or tier-2 cities, their educational qualifications, & more, are all important information that you should know before you set out to design your virtual event.

Keep the Virtual Event Interactive & Communicative

If you bore your attendees out of their minds, it’s not likely that they will want to engage with your event further on.
Witnessing boring, monotonous event flows & one-dimensional conversations are the quickest way to lose the interest of your audience.
And you know just how fickle internet audience really is.
They can quickly jump off from one point to another in search of wholesome entertainment & engaging content.
Hence, keeping the virtual event interactive & communicative will be your chance of securing a higher attendee satisfaction & returns on your investment in the virtual event.
Keep the conversations flowing by adding in interactive elements like live chats, polling, games, & audience votes to keep your attendees engaged & interested throughout your virtual event.
Remember, the more engaged your attendees feel, the more likely they are to turn into prospective leads & customers.

Get a Good line-up of Speakers

This totally depends on the exact kind of virtual event you are hosting, but getting a good line-up of speakers never hurts your prospects.
Your attendees will be more likely to sign up for your virtual event & actually attend it fully too, provided you have an attractive line-up of speakers headlining the event.
Get industry leaders, renowned public figures, field experts, & much-loved celebrities to headline your event.
Doing this is very much likely to make your audience want to attend your event in its entirety to not miss even a single second of their favorite speakers or celebrities talking.
They will understand that attending your virtual event fully will increase their chances of learning something new & interesting about their selected topic.
So, get your contact books out & start booking the best of speakers around for your virtual event.

Encourage Audience Networking

One of the primary reasons people attend your events is because they look forward to the connections that they will likely make in the event.
Most physical events even have designated spaces to enable this networking, called chat rooms, breakout rooms, or networking lounges.
These specific rooms help your attendees get away from the event grind & interact with all the other attendees present at the event.
There is no reason that the same can’t be said for virtual events as well.
Virtual attendees are different from physical attendees in just one aspect; they are not present at the event venue physically.

Apart from that fact, there is no difference between them.
Hence, you should focus on quality, seamless networking between your attendees and design your virtual event in such a way that your attendees find it easy to interact with one another.
Include breakout rooms, designated chat rooms, networking tables, live chat, one-on-one video conferencing, audio chats, & more in your virtual event to help your attendees network effectively.
You can also include innovative, new-age features like AI matchmaking that matches your attendees to one another based on their specific interests, hobbies, field of work, & more.
This helps your attendees network with each other more effectively.

Select the right Virtual Event Platform

Selecting the right virtual event platform for your virtual event is of utmost importance to ensuring the success of your virtual event.
And by right virtual event platform, we mean the platform that supports your event goals, ideals, aspirations, attendee requirements, marketing purposes, promotional purposes, & more.
The virtual event platform of your choice should ensure that your virtual event supports all the features that you need.
It should have the right audience interaction tools, attendee networking options, breakout room & other additional features, along with insightful post-event analytics to help you understand your audience’s behavior during the event.
The choice of the virtual event platform can entirely make or break your virtual event, hence make the decision with complete discretion & only after vetting your options carefully.

Perform Pre-Event Testing & Demo Runs Carefully

Pre-event testing & demo runs ensure that your virtual event runs smoothly & lag-free when it’s actually live.
Demo runs help you understand the weak points & major bottlenecks that might affect your virtual event when it goes live.
Perform as many demo runs & test runs as you can before the actual event, so as to strengthen your weak spots & ward off any unforeseen problems that might occur.
While you’re at it, it’s also a good idea to set up an efficient, quick-thinking technical support team to resolve any issues your attendees & exhibitors might have during the virtual event.
Doing so will ensure that your attendees & exhibitors don’t face any technical issues while they’re attending your virtual event.