How to Host a Virtual Event: 10 Expert Tips and Ideas

How to Host a Virtual Event: 10 Expert Tips and Ideas

Written by saanvipatel099, In How To, Technology, Published On
October 18, 2021
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Post the pandemic outburst, hosting virtual events and hybrid events had become the new normal. Most businesses and organizations have successfully adapted to the trend of going virtual. But the question is, how do you host a virtual event that stands out among other events?

To host a successful virtual event, you need to follow a strategic approach and leverage immersive and unique features. All you need is an ideal virtual event platform that can elevate the level of your events.

How to Host a Virtual Event: 10 Expert Tips and Ideas

Let us take you through 10 expert tips and ideas to make your event even more realistic and bizarre.

  • Identify the goals of the event

The first and foremost step is to learn the purpose behind hosting an online event. Once you learn your event objectives, make sure that they are in sync with the business needs. Consider asking a few questions to yourself like;

  • Do you want to host the event to boost the brand value?
  • Are you just looking to maximize your global reach?
  • Are you conducting the event to drive more sales and revenues?

Assessing these objectives will help you plan and execute your events in the proposed direction.

  • Have a strategic approach to follow

While hosting a virtual event, create an effective plan to adhere to the event objectives. Try to understand your target audience and learn about their expectations, hopes, and aspirations. It will help you deliver even better and remarkable virtual event experiences.

To decide the event show flow and vital aspects, determine the following questions;

  • Will your event be live, pre-recorded, or both?
  • How will your attendees register?
  • What will be the specific KPIs of your online event?
  • How will you make your sponsors feel benefitted?
  • Will the event be free or chargeable?
  • How will you keep your attendees involved?
  • How will you take the feedback of your attendees?
  • Timing is important

Timing doesn’t mean just the duration of the sessions but also the date and time you choose to host the virtual event. Make sure the date you pick does not fall during the weekends, National holidays, or coincide with other major events. If you are targeting the audience globally then remember to keep multiple time zones in mind. It is vital to offer a seamless event experience to each of your attendees.

  • Choosing the right Virtual Event Platform

A virtual event platform plays a significant role in offering exceptional and bizarre event experiences. So, do your research and consider taking a platform demo to learn about their features and tools and check if they resonate with your event goals.

Ideally, the key features of an all-in-one online meeting platform include;

  • Live stream
  • Live chat and Audio/Video calls
  • Networking through 1:1 and group chat.
  • A 3D immersive environment with different virtual spaces
  • Breakout rooms & networking lounges
  • Integration with social media channels
  • Engagement opportunities- live polls, Q/A, surveys, gamification, etc.
  • AI-powered matchmaking tool to allow the attendees to connect with like-minded people
  • Detailed reporting
  • Take a follow-up

The good news is that you can avail all these features on one of the top virtual event platforms, Dreamcast to Host your next Virtual Event.

  • Engage the audience to make them interact

The unique aspect of the Digital Event Platform is that you can have 2-way communication virtually from different remote locations. But to take this forward, you need to incorporate engaging features and interactive tools to recreate the experiences of an in-person event.

Want to create memorable brand experiences? Let us take you through some best ideas, tools, and practices;

  • You can leverage on-event announcements to keep your attendees engrossed throughout the event. It is an excellent way to keep them notified about the ongoing and scheduled sessions.
  • Interactive tools like Q&As and live polls are good means to keep your participants involved during the sessions.
  • While planning the sessions, keep a check on their duration. Try to make short sessions or include periodic breaks to reduce attendee drop-off.
  • Consider incorporating different speakers to make the sessions and the online event even more exciting.
  • Gamifying your virtual event is another effective way to boost engagement among your attendees.
  • Prepare exceptional and engaging content that keeps the attendees involved.
  • Make way for Sponsors

The audience is the heart of a virtual event, but its sponsors are the back supporters necessary for increasing the ROI. Attract the sponsors and tell them the benefits of joining your event. For instance, you can display their logos and brand colors on dynamic banners or large digital screens of the virtual stage. Lead retrieval is another significant aspect of why sponsors invest in an event.

Let us look at some excellent features offered by Dreamcast, to lure more sponsors and make them feel profited;

  • AI-powered matchmaking Tool to allow attendees to meet the different sponsors based on their interests and similarities.
  • B2B Meeting Scheduler allows the attendees to fix the meeting with the exhibitors by choosing a mutual time slot.
  • Business Card Exchange enables the attendees and exhibitors to exchange business cards on request.
  • The Networking Table feature allows the attendees to have a group chat with up to 15 persons in a single chat room.
  • Get noteworthy speakers onboard

Speakers play a vital role in elevating the experience of virtual or hybrid events. Invest in good speakers, and you will find the worth of it. Skillful industry experts are familiar with the knowledge of keeping the audience involved with their art of delivering the content.

  • Promotion your virtual event

Promotion is important to reach the target audience and let them know what you are organizing. It is an efficient strategy to lure more participants to your event. Make the most of social media channels and email marketing to spread awareness about the online event.

How to promote the virtual event?

  • Post engaging content, interesting images, and videos on social media channels like Instagram, Facebook, Linked In, Twitter, with hashtags related to your event
  • Design a catchy landing page that displays the date, time, registration link, and some unique clips of the speaker to arouse excitement among the attendees
  • Optimize the promotional event content with SEO keywords
  • Urge your sponsors and speakers to promote the event on their social media handles
  • Post-event follow-up

Remember to take a follow-up and stay connected with the attendees for some time after the event is over. Send a ‘Thank you email’ to the people who attended your event. Send them an email about how to access the on-demand content. You can also send simple survey forms regarding their feedback about the event. It will give you a clear understanding of their event experiences.

  • Detailed analytics

The detailed data analytics provided by the virtual event platform enables the event organizer to track the attendee footprint. You can assess the data metrics like the count of registrations, the number of messages sent to the exhibitors, the count of downloadable content, etc. It helps in determining the overall success of the online event.

We hope the above-mentioned tips and ideas will help you organize even better and memorable virtual events.

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