The plethora of #onlineevents has enhanced the competition in acquiring delegates and the creation of a community. Marketing peeps and companies spend a lot of money, time and energy to get the right audience and delegates to interact with their #virtualevent and products.
For #virtualeventorganizers, the challenge is even bigger.
Attendees have many options at the reach of their keyboard and usually have the ability to watch the event content on-demand later. This can lower the attendance rates which can influence the sponsorship sales for future events.
The accessibility of virtual event platforms, free from the standard restraints of geography and time, can be turned into an advantage — and opportunity for ongoing community development.
Plan the Attendee Journey
The journey needs to be reinvented from a one-off experience to an ongoing relationship. Connect the event with the attendees´ personal journey and ongoing needs by providing content and meaningful connections beyond the event date.
Launch your online community
Go live a few months before the event to give attendees time to get to know each other and incentivise networking online prior to the event.
Nurture
As an event organiser make sure you are there to provide content, topics for discussion and facilitate communication throughout the year. Your community manager should welcome new members and give them a few tips on how to get started and make the best of it.
Speaker interaction
Many attendees can be drawn to your event because of the speakers.
The pre-event community is a great place to start a conversation between the speakers and the community members around the agenda of the event. This will help create a buzz around sessions and keep people engaged.
Sponsors and exhibitors
They should also join the community early to help with attendee engagement. The primary focus should be on starting meaningful conversations around their experience or industry.
Capture the moments and make them last.
Use the online community to continue conversations on hot topics, get feedback on ways to improve your event next year and keep your audience engaged for the next event.
Event after event
Since event platforms are much more cost-effective to booking venues and catering,
you can now have more than one virtual events in the year or as you see fit to achieve your goals.
It has long been possible to foster an online community around an event, and now a new path is open as both the community and the event can happen online.
Once they’ve logged in, you can keep them engaged throughout the year.
We can help you build your community and become your partner for your next event.
We are helping clients transform their events by guiding them to take the right steps in launching their Virtual and Hybrid events. Check out what we can do to make your event a success.
If you are interested in learning more about Virtual and Hybrid Events drop us a line and let’s chat.
Comments