How To Host A Virtual Event In 2024: A Complete Guide
What Is A Virtual Event?
A virtual event is an online meet up where you interact with customers on the internet rather than at a physical location. While marketers may prefer hosting expos and conferences at physical locations, it is not always possible to bring people together to the same location. In that regard, hosting virtual events is a trend that has gone up over the past years.
In this post, we will explore everything startups need to know with respect to hosting successful virtual events. You will discover how to increase engagements in your next virtual event, and we will provide real examples of brands that hosted successful virtual events recently. Let's jump straight in!
Virtual Event Key Takeaways
- Virtual events allow businesses to reach a global audience
- Planning, promoting, and hosting virtual events require the same attention as real-life events
- Virtual events can be an effective way to increase revenue and track key data about your audience
How Do Virtual Events Work?
Virtual events involve interactive gatherings that occur on different online platforms. Therefore, the participants attend remotely via different teleconferencing tools, rather than arriving at the venue in person.
Therefore, virtual events enable marketers to reach a wide and diverse audience. By hosting virtual events, startups can generate leads, build brand awareness, and even increase brand engagement.
To put this into perspective, here are advantages of hosting virtual events:
Expand Your Audience and ensure inclusivity: Virtual events enable people with physical challenges, logistics challenge to attend and participate via an online link.
Saves time and money: Attendees do not need to spend time traveling or pay hotels for accommodation.
Flexibility: Virtual events occur on different platforms, giving attendees a lot of flexibility when it comes to participation. (See below the different platforms for hosting virtual events)
Collect meaningful customer data: Event organizers collect attendees' data and can use the data in lead generation or measuring effectiveness.
Backup Events for Reference in future: Often, organizers share a link where attendees can refer in the future, or even stream the event in reference.
Virtual events have made a major comeback in the last year, and are an effective and inexpensive way to get in front of your audience, especially when they don't want to leave their homes!
They allow customers in different locations to participate in an event that has the same feel as an in-person event.
These types of events typically combine education/training, networking, and engaging and fun content.
Brilliant Platforms For Hosting Virtual Events
- Zoom: A secure, reliable video platform powers all of your communication needs, including meetings, chat, phone, webinars, and online events.
- Google Meet: A video-communication service developed by Google
- Eventcube : A feature-rich, white-label event platform for virtual and ticketed events, empowering event organizers through beautiful technology.
- AirMeet: A virtual venue that allows attendees to move freely across multiple sessions, networking lounge, and exhibition booths to have meaningful interactions
- Filo: Integrates directly with Zoom so you can scale your virtual event, meeting, or team to any size while still delivering the best quality audio and video experience.
- InEvent: Professional cloud software helps you run all your in-person, virtual, and hybrid B2B events just the way you like them
- Accelevents: An all-in-one event management platform that empowers you to expand your reach, engage your audience, create an evergreen community, and drive sustainable organizational growth.
- vFairs: A virtual & hybrid events platform that helps organizations reach global audiences
Real World Examples Of Successful Virtual Events
Here are a couple of brands that have hosted successful virtual events.
1. How Dan Chan Presents, Reached Global Audience Despite The Pandemic
Daniel Chan started Dan Chan Presents, LLC - A unique company specializing in sophisticated magic entertainment that’s designed for savvy corporate audiences.
Last year the company made 160K performing live, in person, corporate shows. Due to the unprecedented situation with COVID-19, they quickly pivoted their in-person event strategy to suit the new virtual format.
Daniel was one of the first in the magic industry to fully pivot to Zoom, and was recently featured in The Hustle as well as twice in Business Insider. In a single month, they were able to take an industry that was best experienced in person, and turn it into a compelling virtual experience that people can enjoy at home.
Not only have they brought magic into people’s homes, but they were able to expand their marketing reach performing internationally in Europe, Australia, Africa, and China, all from the comfort of their home office.
Dan Chan, the "Millionaires' Mentalist," has performed over 400 virtual shows since March of 2020 and over 5000 live shows since 1999.
2. How Network My Club grew its Membership with Virtual Events
Network My Club`s pre-virtual business model pioneered elite business networking events in iconic sporting venues, hosting 75 to 150.
Switching to virtual events enabled Network My club to grow its audience by 70%.
The virtual events platform put Network My Club`s guests back in the driver’s seat, as they had full control of their networking using an array of intuitive features available on the platform.
How To Host A Successful virtual Event
- Set clear goals from the beginning
- Choose the right platform to host the virtual events
- Pick the right time for the event
- Promote the virtual events
- Develop a clear agenda that includes speakers and timeframes
- Include moderators at your event
- Engage the audience
- Prepare to troubleshoot
- Send out post-event follow up
Hosting virtual events can be the best way to grow your emailing list, and generate leads. Choose the best platform to avoid disappointments.
Zoom
Offers communications software that combines video conferencing, online meetings, chat, and mobile collaboration.
Businesses using Zoom:
229 successful businesses are using Zoom ➜
Google Meet
A video-communication service developed by Google
- Pricing: Free
- Website: https://meet.google.com/
Businesses using Google Meet :
Airmeet
A virtual venue that allows attendees to move freely across multiple sessions, networking lounge, and exhibition booths to have meaningful interactions
- Pricing: Paid
- Website: https://www.airmeet.com
Businesses using Airmeet:
Eventcube
A feature-rich, white-label event platform for virtual and ticketed events, empowering event organizers through beautiful technology
- Pricing: Paid
- Website: https://www.eventcube.io/
Filo
Integrates directly with Zoom so you can scale your virtual event, meeting or team to any size while still delivering the best quality audio and video experience.
- Pricing: Paid
- Twitter: @meetfilo
- Website: https://www.filo.co
Daniel Chan started Dan Chan Presents, LLC - a unique company specializing in sophisticated magic entertainment that’s designed for savvy corporate audiences.
Last year the company made 160K performing live, in person, corporate shows. Due to the unprecedented situation with COVID-19, they quickly pivoted their in-person event strategy to suit the new virtual format.
Daniel was one of the first in the magic industry to fully pivot to Zoom, and was recently featured in The Hustle as well as twice in Business Insider. In a single month, they were able to take an industry that was best experienced in person, and turn it into a compelling virtual experience that people can enjoy at home.
Not only have they brought magic into people’s homes, but they were able to expand their marketing reach performing internationally in Europe, Australia, Africa, and China, all from the comfort of their home office.
Photos, videos, and testimonials play a large part in closing a future booking. With this current crisis, almost everyone is now familiar with Zoom. This has allowed Dan to offer no-obligation demos easily. In this new virtual based performance medium, Zoom demos are currently the best way to close a potential booking.
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
