5 Reasons Why Virtual Events Are Here To Stay

The events industry took a huge beating when the Covid pandemic hit in 2020. With social distancing and lockdown restrictions, events were not something that could earn any relaxations. But that could not stop the industry from pulling through such a crisis. If looked at historically, the Covid pandemic would seem a momentary glitch that the industry overcame with the help of creativity, innovation and technology. The birth of virtual events changed the way the industry operates. Every marketer, be it B2B or B2C, now consider virtual event platforms as a quintessential part of marketing tech stack. Revolutionizing the way events are done, marketers across the globe have realised the magic online events can do. According to research firm Statista, in May 2020, during a survey carried out among B2B marketers, it was found that close to 50 percent of the respondents said they have held 20-30 virtual events while 21 percent indicated hosting more than 30 virtual events in the year. As per experts, the number is only going to increase in the years to come. A report by Forbes has said, “97% of event marketers believe they will see more hybrid events in 2021. The majority of these event marketers plan to invest in virtual events moving forward.”

Why make the digital switch? Overcoming distance

Are you a marketer in a distant country, don’t know how to get people from across the world to attend your event and grab eyeballs of industry heads? Virtual events might just be the solution for you. Create an event with a global crowd. Whether you are in Philippines, Poland or Portugal, location doesn’t matter when it comes to online events. Irrespective of what time zone you are in, your speakers, participants and target audience can all be brought together on the same platform at the same time. Isn’t that a dream come true for marketers looking to widen access and reach?

Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.

Unlike physical events, marketers do not have to wait for the next convention to connect with the industry. For virtual events, the conversation doesn’t come to an end even if the event ends. Connecting with new contacts becomes easy when the event is done online. In most cases, your virtual event vendor will help you with post-event engagements too.

Wider reach

Last time you hosted an on-ground event, what did your guest list look like? While physical events come with space limitations, with virtual events, the host can accommodate as many people as one can ask for. Virtual events offer up to 100X wider reach as compared to physical events. Even in a post-Covid world, where hotels and resorts will reopen for hosting events, would you want to limit your guest list to a certain hundred or expand it to thousands and make the word around your brand travel faster and wider?

Optimized ROI

Events are expensive affairs. While a successful online event needs some investment, it still manages to cut costs significantly. Once you count the costs for travel, venue, equipment, manpower and lavish F&B for the otherwise physical event, you stand to cut down 50 percent of your event cost and gain at least 35-40% ROI. The two key investments for a virtual event are the vendor fee and the event promotion cost. Smart planning and choosing the right vendor for your online event can change the way you host events and the results you achieve.

Better mapping and engagement

Studies say that the amount of global digital data is doubling every three years and that makes targeting the audience easier for marketers. Features like virtual networking, social interactivity, virtual engagements, document sharing facilities, ease of responding to visitor queries, live video calls and live commenting add a new dimension to engaging with the audience at virtual events. The feedback is instant and so is the valuable data on participation, preferences and suggestions. This not only makes the marketers’ job easier, but also helps them in designing their story and messaging according to the changing trends

Customizations

Having a feel-good factor for an event has always been a winner. With online events, the scope of customization at every event creates the opportunity to have a novelty factor. The use of augmented reality (AR) has changed the way events are done. With the use of a variety of skins, themes and interactive features, attendees at a virtual event are approached in a more personalized fashion by adding that extra touch of ‘knowing your client’.