No matter whether it's virtual or in-person, event
engagement is critical to meeting your goals and realizing desired results. But
how can you ensure your audience remains engaged throughout your event?
Luckily, there are various strategies you can employ - and in this article,
we'll highlight several proven techniques for increasing virtual event
engagement.
Most virtual platforms come equipped with analytics and
reporting tools designed to measure event engagement metrics. These tools can
provide invaluable insight into how your audience members engage with your
content, where they're tuning out, and how much direct feedback these tools
return. They also provide opportunities and virtual event engagement ideas for
improving future events.
People attend virtual events for networking and learning
purposes, but these alone won't ensure engagement with your event. Consider
investing in social media outreach to build an audience before the event. There
are several virtual conference best practices that you should consider while
planning your next virtual event.
Make the event a grand success by hiring the best Atlanta
event planners. They will help you with the interactive features and strategies
to boost virtual event engagement - such as polling questions during
presentations, trivia questions, or any other fun activities that engage them.
Measure their participation to assess the level of engagement and find out the
most valuable parts of the content.
Engagement at an online meeting is crucial to its success, so organizers can use different strategies to encourage attendee participation. From choosing the right virtual event platform to promoting your event the right way and using several event engagement techniques to keep your guests occupied and entertained, there are several virtual event engagement ideas you should know and practice.
1. Identify the Virtual Meeting Goals
Consider including icebreaker activities during sessions to
break the ice and help your attendees connect more with one another, increase
user engagement, encourage interaction, and generate excitement that they can
share on social media channels. This is also a fun way of increasing event
engagement. Furthermore, it would be wise to select an event time suitable to
the majority of attendees while offering recordings for those unable to join
live.
2. Know Your Audience
Virtual events can be tricky to market and convince
attendees to invest their time/money in, as they lack tangible returns. To
create buzz around your event and generate excitement from attendees, you must understand their demographics and needs. Social media can
help drive attendance at your virtual event, but you can take this one step
further by creating activity feeds on your event platform. Get in touch with
the best Atlanta Event Planners to promote your event the right way!
Understanding your audiences will help you plan your virtual
event accordingly. Pre-event polls are another great way to engage your
audience and drive attendance at your event. Attendees will gain insight into
what to expect at your event while it encourages more attendees to show up!
These activity feeds can contain teaser videos, speaker announcements, and
welcome videos that set the scene for your virtual conference or tradeshow.
3. Choose the Right Virtual Event Platform
Selecting an effective virtual event platform is integral to
planning and hosting an effective virtual event since attendees will use this
as their main point of contact with it. A suitable platform must feature an
intuitive and user-friendly interface and reflect your brand image so attendees
will easily recognize it with just a glance. Consider whether the virtual event
platform allows your attendees to network among themselves and engage with
content.
A good virtual event platform should include networking and
engagement features like video chatting, messaging or group chats, Q&A
sessions, live polling sessions, and feedback surveys - among others.
An effective way to increase virtual event engagement is
through activity feeds within your event platform. These social media-like
feeds allow users to post teaser videos, speaker announcements, and more
directly into these activity feeds.
4. Leverage Gamification for your Virtual Event
Game elements and challenges added to a virtual event can
increase participation and engagement by helping attendees experience it in an
enjoyable yet familiar way. This helps reduce cognitive overload while making
information retention simpler for attendees. Gamification also encourages
interaction and social sharing, making it a useful way to expand the reach and
brand recognition of events and expand brand recognition.
Gamification can take many forms, from simple quizzes to
elaborate interactive challenges; adding rewards or giveaways could increase
engagement by adding special badges, food passes, or discount vouchers to keep
attendees involved with your gamification strategies. Make sure that the games
at your event meet your goals by selecting games that fit well with them.
Hiring one of the best Atlanta Event Panners for your event is highly
recommended if you are unsure about games.
5. Schedule Breaks During your Virtual Events
Giving your attendees advance notice of the break times in
your events is a terrific approach to letting them know what to anticipate and
when. Making an event calendar that lists all the activities you may be
planning, noteworthy speakers and the topics they will be covering, Q&A
sessions, quizzes, and other interactive activities, as well as the anticipated
time of the event's finish, will help you do this. To learn more, talk to your
event planner about the best virtual event engagement ideas.
6. Promote Meetings using Social Media
Send out a post-event survey. This tactic is especially
effective if you host an online presentation, as attendees can respond from
their mobile devices. Analyse this data to gain insight into your target
audience and enhance content offerings; alternatively, use features of virtual
event platforms like live polling and Q&A sessions to collect additional
participant information. If you are unsure about promoting your event on social
media, hire one of the best Atlanta Event planners now!
7. Enable Live Chats
Live chat at virtual events transforms them from passive broadcasts into engaging community experiences, enabling attendees to ask questions or start conversations in the chat. This keeps attendees involved with the event without feeling isolated when attending virtual events alone. Your virtual event can benefit from chat functionality by opening them in their separate tab or page, enabling you or a team member to moderate and interact with attendees without disrupting video streams.
Live chat is one of the most effective virtual conference
best practices that you must employ in your upcoming virtual event. Publishers
can utilize chats during events to engage their audience, increasing organic
search traffic and retention. For instance, lifestyle publications could host
webinars featuring celebrity chefs or guests to increase audience engagement
and generate leads before reviewing data from their chat platform to understand
which kinds of content resonate best with readers.
8. Introduce Social Walls
If your attendees are active on social media, their photos
and posts can be displayed live at the event with a Social Wall to build trust
in the brand and increase engagement. This shows social proof, which builds
confidence while increasing attendance at your event. Social walls are an
effective way of generating revenue through sponsorships, as they allow
advertisers to buy screen ad space during your event and display their
advertisements during it.
Social walls make your event memorable even for people who
weren't present there personally! Displaying special guests, guest speakers, or
celebrities' live feeds on a social wall effectively generates buzz and engages
the audience at an event. It can create an aura of exclusivity among attendees
that makes them feel part of an exclusive club; this strategy can also boost
B2B relationships. Using social walls strategically can boost your event
engagement significantly!
9. Invite Great Speakers
To create an unforgettable virtual event experience, it is
essential that attendees feel like they received something of value from your
session. When this occurs, attendees are more likely to promote it via social
media and return for additional events. Present your speakers via interview
videos and demonstrate their value to attendees, making them feel prioritized
and invested in their success. This will make their success seem all the more
promising!
Traditional conferences or congresses typically break
sessions into 30- or 60-minute chunks to ease attendees into physical venues,
but virtual audiences can quickly tire of hearing the same information again
and again. Go for the speakers who can add a bit of entertainment to your
event. Speakers discussing different topics can help your guests remain tuned
in with your event. Moreover, allowing your guests to discuss the topics live
with speakers is a great way to have a grand success.
Conclusion
Conducting a post-event survey seeking feedback and
suggestions from attendees is vitally important. This information will allow
you to pinpoint areas that require improvement during your virtual event and
ensure it provides an engaging experience for participants. With this data in
hand, adjustments can be made for future events to improve meeting quality with
the best strategies to boost virtual event programs. After all, direct feedback
from attendees is a great way to create an impactful virtual event.
Virtual event attendees require a specific approach for
effective engagement. By employing these strategies to boost virtual event
programs, you can increase their level of involvement and foster deeper, more
meaningful connections that will prove advantageous for your company going
forward. When your virtual event engagement increases, conversion rates improve
along with ROI returns from efforts invested - so put these techniques to use
to maximize your next event!
Reach out to one of the best Atlanta Event Planners to learn
more about how to plan your next virtual event and claim your success. Good
Luck!