Virtual events have gained all the popularity in 2020 and are increasing exponentially with each passing day. As COVID-19 came into the frame, restrictions have been imposed on public gathering and traveling to ensure public safety. However, it resulted in the cancellation of various events planned for the upcoming months and year.
Businesses around the world took a step and moved their physical events online on a virtual event platform. It helped them to keep going even in the time of global crisis and connect with the audience remotely.
Many organizations that have never thought about hosting virtual events are today leveraging virtual event solutions. But many are still in a tiff whether they will be able to achieve engagement within virtual events the same as in-person events?
Well, in-person events and face-to-face interactions hold its own significance, but today virtual events have closely replicated the same. There are ample virtual event engagement platforms available today on the internet that offer comprehensive virtual event engagement tools & features. Picking out the best depends upon your business needs. Events hosted on an engaging virtual event platform helps in delivering immersive event experiences to attendees while keeping them hooked.
Engagement within Virtual Events
Engagement within virtual events is a crucial aspect for the success of any hybrid virtual event. However, if your audience falls out amid the sessions, then it ultimately affects the desired outcomes of the event. As technology has advanced, most people spend hours with their smartphones. Hence, achieving engagement with virtual events becomes quite easy in this scenario.
Recent research states that 47% of attendees are more likely to get engaged with virtual events. Whereas 37% more attendees interact at virtual booths when compared to on-ground events.
By following the simple tips and tricks for hosting successful virtual event, you can keep the audience engaged within virtual events. Unique virtual events ideas & tips help in delivering the original value of physical events but from the comfort of their own space. Therefore, it is always a good to incorporate some fun and engaging features or tools in your virtual event to keep your audience hooked throughout the event.
Virtual Events Engagement Ideas
Here, we are sharing some virtual events ideas and engagement tips to keep your audience engaged throughout the event. So let’s get started to create an immersive event experience for attendees.
#1. Keep the audience excited for the event.
Before the actual date of your virtual event, send your registered attendees a synopsis of what they have in store. It will help in creating excitement among the attendees to attend the event. Make your attendees know you have something better to offer than competitors, that will engage them with you spontaneously. This not only boosts the excitement of attending a virtual event but also results in better engagements within virtual events. In short, keep your event attendees excited for the event.
#2. Create an engaging and relevant content.
Work upon the content for your virtual event which you are creating for your audience. Your content needs to be engaging and relevant to your audience. Design the content as per your target audience. Your audience should not feel like they are watching a pre-recorded video. You can incorporate questions, polling, and voting between your content to keep the audience engaged with the event. Apart from it, keep the sessions short as splitting up the event into small parts enables the audience to take the important notes. These virtual events ideas around content will really make a huge difference!
#3. Select a passionate speaker or presenter.
Select a speaker or presenter who has the industry knowledge as per the subject matter of the event. A passionate speaker will engage attendees seamlessly. Make sure the speaker holds enough knowledge about the subject and is excited about the event.
#4. Select up-to-date technology for hosting a virtual event.
If you are new to virtual events, take out time, and do some research. Pick the virtual event engagement platform that best suits your needs. There are a variety of virtual event platforms available that offer engaging virtual event solutions to keep the audience hooked. Go with the platform that covers all your business needs.
#5. Use virtual event engagement tools.
Take good advantage of the engagement features and tools offered by the virtual event platform. Use interactive features offered by the platform within your virtual event to keep the audience engaged. Live chats, polls, surveys, Q & A sessions are some of the most interactive features that can be incorporated by planners. Incorporating such interactive engaging features helps in keeping your audience engaged. Apart from boosting engagement within virtual events, it helps in breaking down the barrier between the speaker and the audience. Additionally, these engaging features help in keeping your audience engaged with the event and offer you their valuable insights and feedback.
#6. Add a gamification feature to your virtual event.
Our checklist of virtual events ideas includes Gamification. Gamifying the virtual event experience helps in keeping your attendees excited as well as engaged with the event. You can introduce quizzes, puzzles, spin the wheel, etc. amid the long sessions. Offer the winners with virtual or physical giveaways. It not only keeps them engaged with the event but helps in adding an element of fun to the entire event experience. Moreover, it helps in breaking the long monotonous sessions and enabling attendees to connect and network seamlessly.
#7. Enable live group chats and one-on-one chats.
Allow your attendees to have live audio/video/text chats at virtual booths, speakers as well as with other attendees. Leverage virtual event engagement tools and features to have a live chat in real-time. It enables attendees to ask questions directly from the speaker and virtual booth representatives. Apart from it, group chat functionality allows attendees to network with other attendees, thus delivering the same experiences as physical events.
#8. Ask attendees to share feedback.
At last but not the least, comes the Attendees Feedback in our virtual events ideas & engagement tips list. Seeking feedback from your attendees is quite useful. You can ask your attendees to share their feedback about their experience of attending a virtual event. You can even opt to start a discussion regarding suggestions from attendees, it makes them feel valued and appreciated. On the other hand, helps you to better understand the mindset of attendees and nurture valuable leads. Moreover, you can even do a quick survey with your event attendees post-event it helps in keeping them engaged with you for future events as well.
Conclusion
Keeping the audience engaged at virtual events is not a daunting task as it looks. You simply need to follow simple virtual events ideas and tips to boost engagements and keep your event interactive. It helps in delivering valuable immersive experiences to the audience while keeping them engaged throughout the event. In short, try out these simple techniques and keep your audience engaged!
If you are looking for such engaging and 100% customized virtual event platform then hurry up and Book A Demo with us today!