Hosting Virtual Event: A Complete Guide for Success
Joakim Jönsson
Dec 19, 2024 8:15:00 AM
Over the last few years, virtual events have gained immense popularity and transformed the way organizations connect, engage, and collaborate with audiences across the globe. From conferences and trade shows to onboarding sessions and product launches, virtual events have emerged as a versatile and cost-effective alternative to in-person gatherings.
However, besides a good platform, holding a virtual event successfully requires some careful planning, flawless execution of plans, and engagement-driven experiences that would hold the audience's attention.
This blog is a step-by-step guide to hosting a virtual event, from the very beginning to the end, that will make it successful. Whether one is organizing for the first time or looking to refine their approach, we will be covering everything from setting clear objectives to post-event strategies that drive lasting impact. Let's get started!
First, you can consider the pros and cons of physical vs. virtual events. When you take your event online, you can immediately strike out many of the costs to your company. While hosting a virtual event with a leading platform provider may cost from $50,000 to $100,000, this represents considerable savings over a physical event. In addition to these savings, you will provide valuable benefits for your audience. Freeing yourself from the restrictions of a physical space enables you to invite more attendees, including entire teams rather than single representatives. More of your invited audience will be able to attend because they won’t have to cover travel or accommodation costs, and you can allow them to attend recorded events at their convenience rather than at a single scheduled time to avoid conflicting obligations.
Virtual events are what enable every organization to lead in the digital-first world of today. They come with some unparalleled advantages that make them irreplaceable for business people, nonprofit organizations, and educators alike.
Unlike in-person gatherings, virtual events break down geographical barriers, allowing you to reach a global audience without the constraints of travel or venue capacity. This expanded reach translates into greater inclusivity, enabling more people to participate. Besides, it is often easier and less expensive to organize virtual events than physical ones since you will not have to pay for a venue, logistics, or travel. Their flexibility also allows attendees to join from anywhere, enhancing convenience and accessibility.
In the era going forward, virtual events form a platform that is essentially about creating, training, or networking in a hybrid working environment. They effectively help connect teams working remotely or from their offices for continued communication and interaction. The events open up great avenues for cross-border networking, bringing into one umbrella professionals, clients, and partners located at various places for sharing knowledge and building relationships.
Virtual events contribute to making the earth greener. The travel, energy used, and material wastage result in a very reduced carbon footprint. They thus fit organizations' sustainability goals when there is no use of physical resources. Hosting virtual events projects an organization's commitment to environmental responsibility to attendees and stakeholders who share similar beliefs.
Nowadays hosting virtual events is no longer an option but a strategic necessity. It helps organizations stay relevant, and keeps them connected, and innovative while achieving their goals efficiently and sustainably.
Organizing a virtual event requires serious consideration of how it has to be carried out. Therefore, here's a step-by-step guide that helps you organize a seamless and impactful virtual event.
The base for a successful virtual event lies in its clearly defined objectives. What are your goals?
When you have a clear idea of your goals, you can ensure that the format, content, and features of your event are tailored to support these objectives.
The selection of a good platform is central to the success of your event. Look for platforms that offer:
Ensure that the platform fits your budget and technical requirements while offering an easy-to-use interface for both organizers and attendees.
Virtual events have different formats, each of which suits specific objectives:
Choose a format that aligns with your audience's needs and your event goals.
Many virtual events providers will give self-service options for clients to manage their own events. If you choose this route, make sure that you partner with a provider who will guide you in this process and help you select features judiciously with a focus on attaining your stated goals. For example, if you want attendees to apply for jobs, then create a clear and easy path for them to do so. If you want them to complete training, then make these expectations clear, and create engaging experiences that make training enjoyable. You might include fun welcome videos, a variety of formats to access information, and gamification to reward progress.
Virtual events require the same planning as a physical event. Although you could plan a virtual event in two to three weeks, successful companies schedule at least eight to ten weeks for planning. This gives you time to prepare your audience, build your agenda, and secure great speakers and the right partners.
The important thing is that you develop a transparent timeline, clearly scheduling all tasks and communicating them to all parties involved so everyone understands their individual roles and responsibilities. We'll dive deeper into the timeline further in this blog.
Engaging content is the cornerstone of any successful virtual event. Plan your sessions carefully to include:
Consider having industry experts or thought leaders to add credibility and draw more participants.
Marketing for a virtual event is very different from physical events. The commitment to register for an online event is not the same as booking a hotel and buying the ticket for the flights. Make sure your guests keep your event on their schedule by putting post-registration communication in place from the beginning. Good conversion between registration and attendance is key, so make sure to plan for it! Send multiple reminders, and make sure each email subject line is different. For example, send one about the keynote speaker, another about networking opportunities, and another about various ways attendees will be able to access information at the event.
While a virtual event can be accessed at any time from anywhere, you want to create a sense of urgency for your audience. You can do this by adding live components such as webinars and the ability to chat with industry experts and engage with peers. Include these elements in your reminder emails to increase the likelihood that invitees will attend your live event.
If you decide to host a physical event, you can encourage an immediate online audience as well as juice up the in-person component by making it a hybrid physical/virtual event. You can let the physical audience know how many additional people are attending online and take questions from your remote audience to share with on-site attendees. Virtual attendees can interact with recruiters, peers, or experts via virtual formats such as Skype or chat rooms. Hybrid events are often a great way to introduce the concept of virtual events to an audience that has become accustomed to a live version.
Engagement of the audience is the core of any successful event experience. Make use of interactive inclusions such as:
By prioritizing audience interaction, you’ll create a lively and immersive environment that leaves a lasting impression.
Don’t underestimate the time it takes to deliver a successful virtual summit. Keep in mind that you’re planning a marquee event with many moving parts, and take these steps for success.
Plan your big cornerstones early. What are the best dates for your team? Are there industry events to consider? How will the event fit into your overall plan for the year? What is your main goal regarding the virtual summit-for example, net new leads, or filling the pipeline? What topics will you cover, and who is your audience? Will partners participate? You'll have to define your topics, your audience, and your potential partners. Ask a lot of questions and define a solid plan for having the resources you need when you need them so you can start promoting your virtual summit well ahead of time.
By this time, hopefully, you will have kicked off with your virtual event platform provider. This is a real planning-heavy step, because you need to know who your partners are, who's speaking, and other integral components of your event before promotion begins. You'll also want to build and cleanse your list for audience generation and lock in any outbound communications or advertising. Don't forget to ask your partners to promote the event to their lists as well.
Focus on content development early. Consider what content will populate your booth(s) and what experience you want your audience to have. After you secure and schedule your speakers, make sure to keep in contact with them and develop presentation topics that are right for your event.
At this point, you'll want to seriously ramp up your event planning. Your assets for promotion should be ready, and you will have to beat the drum to get people to register. Keep a constant eye on your registration numbers, which campaigns are performing, and what message is getting the best response. This is the time to educate your partners on what you need from them and set expectations. You'll be busy, too, in the last 2–3 weeks chasing down the right content and building everything out, no matter how early you started to collect it.
The last week of preparations will entail more promotion and reminders for the people who have signed up, scheduling dry runs with your speakers, and double-checking that partners and all other team members know their expectations on the event day.
Keep everyone involved with regular emails, and help them build checklists to remember what they need to do on the live day. Check in with all speakers to make sure everyone is aware of what is expected of them. You’ll also want to circulate a call sheet with contact details for everyone involved.
Line up support for the day of the launch to be able to respond to the audience in as many ways as possible: sending last-minute invitations, answering social media posts, and directing people within the virtual summit. Consider designating one person to oversee the overall performance of the event, routing questions or immediately addressing needs; remember, this person will need the bandwidth to focus on only the event for the entire day.
With a physical event, there is a very defined end. Once the event day has come and gone, there are a few loose ends to tie up, but the event itself is over.
Your virtual summit doesn't end with your live day; it starts there.
One of the wonderful things about online events is that you are not confined by time and space. You can continue to market your summit to encourage repeat visits and more viewership. You may also build in the capacity to engage and interact in a post-event. Consider inviting people back-once on the first Tuesday of every month, once every quarter, etc. All the great content and assets you have built in your virtual summit can now be extended to keep generating results much longer than a physical event could. Whether your organization is trying to break into a new industry or reassert its position as a market leader, a virtual summit can be a great way to cement your role as a relevant player in your space.
Running a virtual summit is not easy, but correctly executed, a virtual summit can drive enormous ROI and can create a marquee event for your company. It can effectively open up a door to a new space, both in time and in reach.
Virtual events can revolutionize the way organizations engage with their audiences, offering unparalleled reach, cost-efficiency, and flexibility. When hosted effectively, they create engaging, impactful experiences that drive meaningful outcomes-whether it's generating leads, building networks, or training teams.
Now is the time to take advantage of this innovative format. Start planning your virtual event today and unlock its potential to achieve your goals while staying ahead in a fast-evolving digital landscape.
Want to make your next virtual event a success? Take a look at 6Connex for seamless event hosting. Our state-of-the-art platform puts all the tools at your fingertips to create memorable, impactful virtual experiences. Let's bring your vision into reality!
6Connex is the leading provider of virtual and hybrid event solutions. Our secure, cloud-based platform expands audience reach and drives in-depth content engagement for marketing, sales, recruitment, training, and HR communities to make for successful online events around the world. Our product portfolio includes virtual environments, learning management, and webinars. Demand more from your virtual and hybrid event solution. Request a virtual event demo with 6Connex, or get in contact with us at 6Connex to learn how you can get more out of virtual events!
A virtual event is a planned gathering that occurs online, rather than in a physical location. Using digital platforms, participants can attend from anywhere in the world, making virtual events a flexible and accessible solution for connecting audiences.
Virtual events may be of any type: webinars, conferences, trade shows, training sessions, or networking events. It is designed with interactive engagement in mind: live chats, Q&A sessions, breakout rooms, and other tools to engage attendees.
This will also be very helpful to any organization that needs to spread the word globally because there are no travel or venue expenses. Whether used for educational purposes, marketing, or collaboration, virtual events make this medium both versatile and efficient to involve participants in one's event in a digital space.
A virtual event takes place entirely online, with all participants joining remotely via a digital platform. It’s ideal for audiences spread across different locations, as it eliminates the need for travel and physical venues. Virtual events often include features like live streaming, interactive chat, and on-demand content, making them highly cost-effective and accessible to a global audience.
A hybrid event, on the other hand, combines elements of both in-person and virtual formats. It allows some attendees to participate physically at a venue while others join virtually through an online platform. Hybrid events are perfect for reaching local attendees who prefer in-person interaction while still engaging a wider, remote audience.
6Connex is the leading provider of in-person, hybrid, and virtual event technology for enterprises worldwide. Our cloud-based product portfolio includes event management tools, in-person event apps, virtual venues, webinars, learning management, and more.
From internal meetings to large scale conferences, we allow you to engage and transform big ideas into real-world results.
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