It's hard to believe that just a few short months ago, virtual events were being hailed as a temporary solution to keep the live events industry afloat. Now, it seems that virtual events are here to stay - and many people are actually enjoying them!
There are several reasons for this: virtual events are more affordable than live events, they're easier to organize, and they offer attendees more flexibility in terms of when and where they can participate. Additionally, virtual events offer a level of interactivity that live events simply can't match. For example, attendees can chat with each other in real-time, ask questions of speakers, and even take part in polls and surveys.
The live events industry has been hit hard by the pandemic, with many businesses having to cancel or postpone their events. Virtual events have become a popular alternative, as they offer a way to still connect with audiences while being safe and flexible.
From local events and workshops, to major sports leagues and business conferences, we've seen how valuable virtual events can be with the ever-changing pandemic landscape. And, with the right technology and planning, virtual events can be just as engaging and successful as in-person events.
With the live events industry beginning to reopen, we'll likely see a hybrid of virtual and in-person events in the future - giving event organizers and attendees the best of both worlds.
As the live events industry continues to adapt to the current landscape, it's clear that virtual events are here to stay.
Importance of Virtual Events
Virtual events are organized on a digital platform to connect and share ideas, experiences, and values like their physical counterpart. The only difference lies in the way they are conducted either virtually or physically. They offer more accessibility, measurability, connectivity, and engagements.
Before the virus, virtual events were so rare. Physical events were always given priority. Businesses hesitated to meet virtually. But the post-COVID world has now changed completely.
The popularity of virtual events is greater than before and is expected to increase more in 2022-2027 by 23%. A study shows that about 67% of businesses prefer virtual events over physical ones. Why have they gained so much importance in two years?
Even the mass vaccinations resulted in a reduction in positive cases and restrictions have been lifted. But many businesses are still conducting their meetings, conferences, and events in cyberspace. As they are cheaper, engage a large audience despite location and time-bound, and provide deep analytical insights about the events. These benefits highlight the importance of virtual events.
Oreed - Virtual Event Partner
With the increasing trend of virtual events, managers have been using several tools. For the registration process, they would use online forms to collect data and confirm participation via emails. To submit the registration fee, they would use online banking systems to make deposits.
Event managers would then take days to reconcile and tally the data. Some of it would either be misinterpreted or lost. This would translate into monetary losses, especially for bigger events. If the management would use different applications and software, data integration was a hassle.
Here is where Oreed comes to the rescue!
Oreed saves you from all this hassle and data loss. It provides a centralized system where you can get all the relevant audience insights in one place. It gives you a bigger picture of all the campaigns and events that you have conducted while bringing analytical results. This data analysis would support you during the planning of the next event and you can offer content that is more engaging for your audience.
Oreed is offering an array of virtual event management services; from online learning to educational webinars, broadcasting, hybrid learning, and microlearning. As an event professional you can manage sponsors, simplify the participant registration process and ensure attendance while also providing certifications to attendees.
With Oreed, event managers can significantly cut costs and improve efficiency for the end-users. They can access all the event management capabilities in one place. Having a centralized database can seamlessly deliver data analysis.
Based on these insights you can design events according to audiences’ preferences. Eventually, it will facilitate enhancing the participation rate. Also, it has a system in place to process accreditations and certifications for attendees.
Oreed allows you to create a customized experience for each learner. It can enable end-users to enjoy education in different modes such as onsite, hybrid, remote, and microlearning. Its efficient CRM integrations provide smooth communication between event managers and participants.
How virtual events are changing the event industry
The evolution of the virtual event industry is one of the best outcomes of the pandemic. Initially, the event industry faced difficult and uncertain situations. Their operations were forcefully restricted and they were left with no options but to transform into other ways of connections.
But fortunately, it proved to be beneficial as they explored other dimensions. The factors which play a crucial role in defining the future of the event industry are as below:
1. Removing Geographic Barriers
You can get much better accessibility with virtual events. A wider audience can be targeted and your reach becomes global. As you don’t need to be present at any specific location, such events eliminate the geographic barriers. Even the organizers can be at different locations to conduct a successful event.
The location barrier is a limiting factor that reduces the size of the targeted audience. When you become independent of it, the marketing reach of your event becomes humongous. People around the globe can participate even if they are located in remote areas. All you need is a good internet connection with electronic gadgets like mobiles or laptops to become part of the event by sitting at your table at home.
Guest speakers can be invited to share their values and experiences with participants. Sometimes, it was very difficult for organizers to arrange notable and popular guest speakers and keynotes because of geographical constraints. But virtual events emerge as a solution.
Businesses, universities, government organizations, etc. are all now shifting toward a hybrid working model to engage their audience on a large scale. Many digital, HR, IT, Marketing, and Educational summits and conferences have been successfully conducted on virtual platforms.
Such events were able to get huge participation with the innovative 3D animated environments. So the event industry with good marketing can have a much wider audience for their events. About 10 times the increase in attendees expected in virtual events than in physical ones.
2. Cost-Effective and Value Addition
During COVID, businesses realized that virtual events are very cost-effective both for parties i.e. organizers and participants. The additional costs incurred with the physical events are accommodation, travel, logistics, and many more. Virtual events eliminate such expenses as you are location-independent.
Renting, ticketing, manpower hiring, and catering are some of the other overhead costs that also get eliminated by virtual events. As less capital is needed to arrange the events hence participation fees also become minimal. Many virtual events are mostly free, you just need to get registered for them.
Unlike their physical counterpart, the profit margin and ROI for these events are very high as a wider audience participates. Companies also sponsored such events for marketing purposes for their products as well. In 2019, the virtual event industry is valued at $ 57,715.2 million which is expected to increase to $701,391 million by 2028.
In addition to cost-effectiveness, virtual events offer more value than physical events. As attendees are from around the world, sharing values and experiences is easy. There is also an option for recorded videos of the events, so if you miss any key points, you can watch your sessions and understand critical points again and again.
Even those who were not present at the events can get insights by watching those pre-recorded sessions. Special chat rooms are also created for such events for better brainstorming and collaboration. It will help participants to get better insights into under discussion topics.
Moreover, virtual events are scalable and companies can organize them as per their needs and requirements. That’s why the event industry is now more inclined toward virtual events.
3. Better Analytical Insights
Getting feedback on event activities is essential for analyzing and identifying the flaws and key points. Such analysis is very difficult with physical events. You cannot track down your progress and performance.
The virtual event industry has the advantage of getting deep analytical reports of their events. They get insights into audience interests, their feedback, managerial flaws, arrangements hurdles, etc. Such insights help to improve participants’ experience for future events.
These reports also narrow down the topics which attract more audiences. Like, marketing firms can get a response to advertisements hence improving their marketing strategies. Analytics insights of business meetings and conferences drive them for better decision-making.
They can restructure their policies and strategies. The virtual Industry trend in 2022 has seen an increase as companies hire them to get better analytical reports. Such reports provide quantitative analysis of market size, dynamics, industry trends, etc.
4. Networking Opportunities
As the world is transformed into a global village, networking and connecting with others is considered to be the key factor for success. Businesses partner with each other to expand their horizon. Universities collaborate with industries and other educational organizations to create more opportunities for them.
Virtual events host people from around the globe providing an excellent platform for networking. Participants can interact, and share views, and experiences with others. They can connect with experts, chief guests, and speakers easily which will boost the experience of participants.
Many tech giants like Google, Yahoo, Facebook, etc. collaborate and organize events for IT and tech personnel to participate, discuss the latest technology, address their problems, share experiences and plan for the future.
Conclusion
Although things are getting back to normal and people are rejoicing at the opportunity to physically attend events, the virtual events are also going to stay. Considering its numerous benefits for both, organizers and participants, businesses are not completely abandoning this option.
Be it a physical, virtual, or hybrid event, seamless data integration should be the aim. We have at least once heard from our peers that data is the new oil hence, losing it or leaving it to rot should not be an option.
Data analytics with centralized tools should be considered to build audience-focused programs. This would not only attract the right audience but also bring profits for businesses.
