Virtual events had been there before COVID-19 shutdowns, but their frequency and benefits have now made an unprecedented, long-term impact on businesses. As companies adjust and respond to the post-COVID recovery phase, how teams meet, collaborate, and generate leads becomes of vital importance .
Virtual events have made attending conferences more accessible than ever. Attendees do not need long breaks from work to attend a region-level conference, buy plane tickets, or get lodging approvals. Companies can ask more employees to attend virtual trainings and collaboration won’t die down - we think that the world is a bit more ready to be more productive.
This guide contains must-have virtual event trends preferred by organizations of all sizes who need to convene a virtual conference, brand launch, or company event. It will also discuss the services that match the trends by Oreed - a hybrid event management company delivering events to the US, UK, MENA regions and Canada.
What are some of the virtual event trends that matter?
There are several trends in virtual events that will shape your brand recognition and gear you to say something worthwhile to your clients. Here is what matters in a virtual event:
Introduce language accessibility for more inclusion
Your audience can join an event from anywhere in the world. You may be opening up your dazzling brands for exciting new places - and your language may not be the language spoken or understood by your audience.
Language accessibility is an important aspect to consider when planning a virtual event. Don’t dive till you are prepared. You may consider an event management company that delivers you language translation service or can custom design it to your event. Live translation and captioning and sign language additions are some features that will make your event more inclusive.
Prefer shorter, smarter events over longer ones
Events do not always have to be longer, spread over weeks or months. If you want to introduce the features of your product or service through speakers, educationists, and workers spread across multiple locations, you need to make sure that the audience has the right amount of time to attend your event.
A short event that lasts hours may deliver more meaningful content and generate more leads than a huge event that gets lost on the attendees.
Keep reading ahead to read about trends in virtual events. Or are you ready to consult a virtual event management service that will organize an event that makes you stand out from the crowd? Try Oreed - a scalable solution that responds to your company and event size.
Entertain your audience. Spearhead the production quality.
Entertainment and great production quality are part of 2022 event trends. An event conducted in a monotone and speaks of business only is less likely to attract an audience that sticks till the bottom-funnel. If you can create engaging material such as high quality videos, trailers, and ads, that will certainly draw more attendees.
Also note that attendees are more likely to retain their attention if the streaming is done live in virtual events. The stage-effect in hybrid events catches the audience because it has an entertainment aspect attached.
Although entertainment does not always mean this, still the engagement that works for your segment in a virtual event is necessary to sustain the attendance in an event.
Create an irresistible theme for the event
Theme creation is probably the most important trend of 2022 event trends. Creating a theme is like telling your audience: What you want can be achieved. You can create a stunning theme by asking a few questions from those around you. For instance, you can ask the people working in education or healthcare: what do you want? What do you want to achieve? Spin this around and you have a theme for your event.
It is reminiscent of how Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. pitched his sales in live events. His events have been mapped onto themes built around what is and what can be done. This is a great way to put an event inside a theme that will stick with the audience.
Invite speakers your audience wants to listen to
If you have a list of possible speakers with you and don’t know who to invite, then the best way to shortlist is to ask: which speaker my audience would want to listen to? You would know because it is your event and you know your audience.
Another way to choose speakers is to find speakers who best represent your brand. For instance, if your event is about introducing social features of a new edtech application, you may want to find educationists who resonate with your brand ideology with enthusiasm.
Famous speakers may also attract an audience but a brand and speaker association is a decision to be made thoughtfully. So, choosing the right speakers is an important trend in virtual events 2022.
Generate event hype on social media
Your event can extract testimonials from previous event goers using social media apps and following relevant groups or communities. Your agenda is to generate a rare mix and match of reviews, hype, and excitement around the event.
This is also known as “social proofing”, where your event is negativity-proof from social media posts and reviews. You are actually creating FOMO - so your attendees are afraid to miss out on the event. This pre-event social proofing plays a decisive role in the initial success of the event as well.
Your event page should feel vibrant with latest tweets, comments, and questions from any and all social sites - this is very representative of an active and engaged community. The FOMO effect is auto-generated when people read about the excitement of others.
Don’t forget to add a countdown of days to the start of your event. This too creates the hype that is important to start generating an interest in your product or brand.
Ready to explore the professional services of an event management company for virtual events 2022? Head out to Oreed to see social media integrations can work out for your company.
Use chatbots to register and talk to the attendees
Using chatbots increases your chances of quick registrations and fulfills the gap of human to human communication. Chatbots are literally everywhere now - from large scale enterprises to small and medium businesses, chatbots are a guaranteed way to increase conversions, initiate quick chats, and get everyone talking comfortably!
Partnerships can drive audiences to your event
Whenever you add a partnership to your event, you boost your chances of more leads. Why? Because people mostly know the names of the trusted companies who are co-marketing the event with you. Therefore, even if you are slightly unknown in the industry, getting a big, well known name to co-sponsor your event, can be a welcoming sign.
Partnerships or paid sponsorships are usually a win-win for everyone involved.
Emails and messages don’t have to be monotonous and uninspiring
The battle has just begun. Once you have the registrations or sold some seats, you don’t have to resign yourself to the drab marketing again. Companies that invest though in sending emails and reminders that truly engage do a better job at keeping the interest alive.
Post-registration emails are your chance to tell your registrants that what they signed up for is worth their time and effort. You may want to add a hidden value in your emails that you didn’t mention elsewhere, such as a guest appearance or a free ebook.
Some companies physically send free personalized notepads, gadgets, name tags, signed t-shirts, or other promotional extras that greatly enhance audience reception of your event. You may use your emails as a unique medium of addressing your attendees and informing them of what’s coming their way.
Rule is simple: Add something of value to your emails - something that will surely matter to your attendees. A rather uninspiring ‘see you soon’ email may actually cause your attendees to lose interest and find another event that fits their expectations of entertainment.
Encourage attendees to mark their calendars for multi-day events
It is very likely that your attendees have busy schedules. If you are planning a multi-day event with several speakers, your attendees may not want to attend all the events. Once you have a registration, keep it in the pipeline by sending emails that pique interest and engage the audience by encouraging them to mark their calendars for the speakers they wish to attend.
You may then send a drip-email to remind the attendees about other speakers, or the speaker of their choice, update them about the audience response and comments after an event. Keep it going in an interesting pattern to keep them interested.
Another benefit of marking calendars is to later study the data collected from the markings and attendance. You may find it very useful to find out segments of interest when planning future events.
Lightening fast chat with real managers live during the event
Event management services can make it possible for you to interact with real attendees right after the event or even during the event. You may choose to have a quick SMS chat or invite attendees to an individual chat during the event. This is one of the most effective ways to generate pipeline and thank the attendees for attending the event.
The attendees love being contacted personally and this is a great time to book them for a future meeting. You can keep it clear, short, and offer meeting times promptly to receive a positive response. Be available for questions and comments too!
Add a human touch, go 1:1 with your audience.
For a successful virtual event, the role of an on-ground community should not be underestimated. The on-ground support team is critical in sending certifications on paper or other corporate gifts as recognition. Following up the leads of bigger deals and partnerships with a human touch is very likely to build long term corporate relationships.
Conversations and connections can be more beneficial than always pitching your service. Therefore, continually offer 1:1 chat sessions or phone calls with a real person during every phase of the event. You can achieve the same effect by specially aligning your time zones with a specific group of attendees you are trying to reach.
Here ends our guide of virtual events trends in 2022. If you enjoyed reading about the trends of virtual events, you may want to check out the virtual events solutions by Oreed.
