Planning A Corporate Virtual Event? Here Are 5 Things You Shouldn’t Overlook

The COVID-19 pandemic shut the doors of many businesses and establishments in pursuit of minimizing physical contact and thus contain the virus. This led to a transformative change forcing everyone to make the big leap and shift to going digital and virtual. One of the greatest depression has happened in the world of events. Concerts, conferences, seminars, trade shows, workshops, celebrations, and similar others have been replaced by virtual ones. This is a challenge since according to Bizzabo (2019), leaders and administrators believe that events form part of the most critical marketing channel in achieving business goals.

Surprisingly, however, in this transition, many have realized that virtual events are more than just about damage control. It actually has more pros than cons. Bizzabo (2021) sheds light on some of the notable relevant facts. An impressive 80.2% of event organizers have successfully tapped and reached a wider target audience with corporate virtual events. Moreover, 90% of event marketers actually consider investing in virtual events in the foreseeable future. Ninety-seven percent of the same event marketers believe that there is a place for more hybrid events in the years to come. These facts resolved the loopholes found in the virtual event research report of Personify (2021) in which thirty-two percent of event organizers disbelieve that value can be delivered in a virtual event setup. The same quantity also mentioned that they do not have adequate technological infrastructure and requirements to run events properly. Despite being in contradicting sides, these only proved that virtual events have been put to a greater value because of the utmost importance the pandemic has put it.

What is not to be loved in virtual events when they showed benefits to both the host and the attendees. For the hosts, of course, online events significantly reduced their expenses. Networking, marketing, and reaching attendees have not been difficult. Ideal timelines are more followed than ever and the availability of analytics in real-time offered a great way to get immediate feedback and drive resolutions. For the attendees, attending virtual events online made room for convenience, ease, and cost-efficiency. Certainly, these helped bring virtual events into the limelight and improve our home entertainment. In throwing these events, take note of the following:

Ensure that the topic choice is relevant:

Like any regular brainstorming session, you should be able to cover and resolve all the details and problems that may arise in throwing out a virtual event. One of which is the topic choice. A relevant topic can be its own marketing effort. People who are clearly interested shall be on your virtual guest list in no time. Uninteresting topics bring no attendees. That is the reality.

Consider time:

There are two things you need to prepare for this. A timeline for the entire production that covers from planning to execution and evaluating, and a timeline also known as a sequence guide that can help you with running the show and keeping everything attuned to time. Ensure that both of these time-requiring plans are followed strictly by your team. The timing of the event is also crucial so you need to plan this carefully as well. If you want attendees coming, schedule when they can be most available.

Rehearse or brief everyone involved:

Even Beyonce rehearses. Virtual events just like any other live event must have no room for mistakes as much as possible. Rehearsals and briefings can help mitigate unexpected glitches so everyone can be acclimatized to perform smoothly. This also helps everyone be comfortable in their own skin, platform, and find their ways around.

Hire someone to assist in the technical aspects:

To eradicate technical challenges, hire someone who has tech experience. Most errors are really on the tech side of events and these can be addressed by someone who has the knowledge when certain things come up unexpectedly.

Generate a social feel:

Your event campaigns need to spark and remind people of its value. Therefore, make them feel involved. Come up with marketing collaterals that elicit their responses and interactions so that they can be involved even before the event. In your event, involve them. Make use of polls, audience questioning and let them evaluate the event after. These evaluations are important in order for you to find out whether they enjoyed, found the event useful, or suggest never make one again.

Creating virtual events may appear to be hard and can oftentimes be taxing. Imagine trying to imitate the requirements of the physical event and replicating the way a physical event registers to attendees’ minds and experiences. But if you plan carefully, execute wisely, and gather everything before the big show, sure enough, mistakes and errors will not be as grand, noticeable, and glaring as you expect them to be. Planning is key.