With each passing day, virtual hybrid events became phenomenally popular. It won’t be wrong to say such an event format is here to stay and is the future of the event industry. Before organising any event, the event planners take into account all the negative implications that may affect the event and plan it accordingly. The unforeseen advent of a global pandemic was not on the list of negative implications. No one has ever thought about it. Virtual events came as an aid in such a situation and prevented many businesses from dipping down. It enables attendees to attend an event from the comfort of their own space via any device supported by an internet connection. Organising virtual conferences and meetings have become an integral part of the industry to carry out important discussions remotely.
Virtual events helped the event industry to deal with the havoc situation in 2020 and be ready for any such situation in the future. The number of increasing virtual event platforms on the internet says it all. Right from organising virtual meetings, conferences, trade shows, exhibitions, product launches, etc. virtual hybrid events platform serves all.
Data Tracking at Virtual Events
Virtual event platforms offer many benefits that are not possible to achieve with in-person events. Capturing valuable data is one such merit that helps in creating a detailed analytics report and measuring performance metrics. Robust data tracking functionality offered by virtual event platforms helps in gaining the sponsor’s attention. It helps them to have a detailed report of every digital attendee move at the event right from start to the finish line. With virtual events, it becomes easier to track attendee moves thus offering opportunities for sponsorship growth. But on the flip side, attendees might not get comfortable with data sharing. However, questions started popping up about attendee data privacy.
What is the Solution for Data Privacy at Virtual Hybrid Events?
Recent research on virtual hybrid events proved that the sponsors are keen to have data for the event. It helps them in analysing performance metrics and measure event success. A recent survey in may 2020 has stated that 78 percent of sponsors are interested in participating in virtual events. Virtual hybrid events offer them better reach, interactivity, flexibility, visibility, and a premium immersive experience. Whereas the advancements in technology enable them to track valuable data. Right from the registration, attendance, how attendees navigated throughout the event? Which booths did they visit? No. of sessions they attendees? What did they ask? What they liked and downloaded? Every attendee action is captured by a comprehensive virtual event platform.
But, sometimes attendees are quite skeptical about sharing accurate data during online virtual events to the organisations they lack trust in. A recent study reports that an average of 40 percent of attendees does not even reveal their real names or email addresses to the organisations. However, it is a big issue for sponsors.
By offering data privacy and having a strong focus on transparency and compliance, helps in gaining the attendee’s trust. Ensure the attendees, that their data will remain intact and prevented from the access of unauthorised third parties. As a data privacy solution, selecting the virtual hybrid events platform that offers robust data privacy measures is the right choice.
Moreover, it is extremely important to make attendees comfortable with data trackability dynamics. We have listed a few ways which help associations to gain attendee’s trust and enable them to share true attendee data. Have a look:
#1. Have a clear understanding of rules & regulations around data protection.
Data privacy compliance and transparency hold the utmost importance. The organiser and sponsors should be well aware of general rules and regulations about data protection. While selecting the virtual hybrid event platform to organise a virtual event, ask a service provider for a detailed overview of the platform features.
Apart from it, have a thorough understanding of the virtual event platform’s data compliance functionality. It helps you make the right decision ensuring the success of your virtual hybrid event. Ask several questions before finalising the virtual event platform to host your online events. Know what kind of data is collected by the platform? What type of reports are offered by the platform? Does the platform is built on a reliable foundation? and is data collection and storage happens in a secure digital environment or not? In short, having a deep analysis beforehand on your part helps in gaining the attendee’s trust.
#2. Reveal your privacy policy to virtual attendees clearly.
Disclose your privacy policy to your virtual attendees at the time of the registration process. It helps in preventing attendees to get off guard at the time of data tracking amid hybrid events. Sometimes attendees share their names and provide their email ids to other attendees, or at virtual booths or sponsors. The transparency of the format enables attendees to have trust in the process. The strong focus on compliance with attendees adheres to them to share the accurate data. It is beneficial for both sponsors and attendees. Clear disclosures to attendees at the initial stage helps organisations to prevent the later hassle.
#3. Focus more on transparency rather than personalisation.
Give more emphasis to transparency rather than personalisation. A recent event reports that more than 70 percent of attendees are comfortable to share data with brands or organisations that are transparent in telling how the collected data is being used.
In conclusion, data privacy and security at virtual hybrid events plays an important role. It helps in keeping a balance between sponsor needs and attendee’s concerns. Go with a virtual event platform that offers data privacy, compliance, and transparency to attendees. However, ensuring the success of the event.
