How do you market and monetize a virtual event?
After the COVID-19 epidemic, the event industry has been disrupted. All physical events are now halted. Event professionals are now planning how to turn their events online in these days when the world is becoming virtual. It’s not an easy task to switch from traditional to virtual event planning.
Event planners must have a strategy to manage this situation. Planning an event has always been crucial for successful events. Here is a step-by-step guide to help you plan your next big virtual event.
Virtual event planning: The 3 M’s
Follow these steps to create your strategy for virtual events.
- Manage
- Market
- Monetize
Let’s get started!
Manage-
There are many things you must do as an event planner. For physical events that are in person, you will need to manage both the onsite and digital aspects of the event management.
Virtual events are confined to virtual space. Multi-tasking can increase your responsibilities and require a clear strategy to manage them.
Challenges –
- Virtual events are more accessible because technology plays a greater role. You have many options to make virtual events more accessible, including event apps, event websites, and event listing on discovery platforms. There are also event hosting solutions. The challenge is keeping them all in sync.
- Multiple tools can lead to more data, which must be collected and processed in the correct way. This allows you to analyze all of it from one platform. This allows you to see the whole event from one place.
- Digital channels are used to communicate via virtual events. You can broadcast it or use personalized messaging to send it in a campaign. Multi-channel communication is essential to reach potential leads at all stages of a virtual event. It is important to get feedback from participants after the event.
- Access levels can be a challenge as there are many people on your team who are involved in the virtual event. It is important to determine the role according to the roles of your coworkers. This role can vary depending on the tool used and their roles and responsibilities.
How do you deal with them?
- Keep your entire event management system in one software. One software that includes event management, conference management, and analytics.
- Many virtual event tools can be integrated with event websites, event apps, and other event discovery platforms. These tools provide a single platform from which you can manage your content, inquiries, and sales in realtime. With such one-stop solutions, it’s best to go further.
Market-
People are competing for attention online as the world is now connected. The plus side is that now is the time to market your event to participants and increase your reach because it isn’t limited. Many events are competing for potential attendees’ attention so it is important to use different channels and keep in touch. You can only get an edge on your competitors in the market with the right marketing strategy, which includes the right virtual events solution for your needs.
Challenges –
- Event-goers are everywhere on the Internet. Reaching the right people is your biggest challenge as an event planner.
- Event marketing should not be limited to impressions. To add value to an event, it is important to target attendees who are genuinely interested.
- It is not enough to just have an event hosting platform for a successful virtual event. A holistic approach to lead generation is essential for achieving the best results.
How do you deal with them?
- Multi-channel marketing strategies that use different marketing channels should be considered. You can reach event-goers’ smartphones via an app with white-label branding.
- Event solutions can provide planners with valuable competitive intelligence. This clearly shows how an event compares to other events.
- Virtual events marketing is completely digital. It is therefore possible to monitor the results of a marketing campaign. Marketing is more efficient when it’s data-driven.
- Virtual events are not limited to a specific location, unlike physical events. This allows you to make your event truly global by investing in the right marketing strategy.
Monetize-
There are many ways to make your event online monetizable. Although ticketing and sponsorship are the most popular ways to monetize virtual events, there are many other options.
Virtual events are no longer an adjunct to physical events. After the COVID-19 outbreak, a virtual event has taken on a greater role. Virtual events are now being monetized in many ways. Event planners are excited about this new opportunity.
The Challenges
- Many event planners are worried about the decline in revenue models as they plan to move from a physical event to a digital one.
- Virtual events cannot match the overall revenue generated by in-person events. Sponsors will not be paid as much for virtual events as they are for physical events.
How do you deal with them?
- Virtual events will increase your profit margins because they are very affordable. This is a strength that virtual events offer event planners.
- Event planners can track audience members and attendees in virtual events that are contained within the digital ecosystem. You can access data on almost all interactions participants make within the event ecosystem. There are many touchpoints within a virtual event, including email, banner, notification and feedback. These touchpoints will help you to make a compelling case for advertisers and sponsors.
- A virtual event tool can be customized to meet your event’s needs. These tools allow you to track impressions, clicks, as well as the number of meetings.
Virtual events are a great fit for today’s times because they combine the best of both old-age technology with the ability to organize successful events. As an event professional, you can use your knowledge and creativity to launch your virtual event.