How do you increase virtual event attendance?

The world is experiencing some major changes due to the outspread of the covid-19 virus. Home isolation and working remotely became the new way of living. With this, our way of conducting meetings and events also changed making virtual events a new space for initiating an event program.

This virtual switch can be exciting but at the same time can be daunting for event organizers. Many of them are skeptical about how they would hook their virtual attendees in the exact way they used to engage during an in-person event.

Let’s face it, keeping your audiences engaged during an online event can be challenging due to the sheer assortment of disturbance and distraction taking place.  Kids making noise, your neighbor’s sound system, phone calls, seeing reels on social media. And the list goes on! To prevent that from happening, you must think of creative ideas that do not shift your attendee’s attention into some otherworldly affairs.

There are endless ways through which you can bolster your attendee’s engagement during the event. In this article, we have covered some of the possible ways to increase virtual and hybrid event attendance. Let us have a look at them!

LAY THE RULES FOR ENGAGEMENT

At the beginning of your event, prepare a session wherein you assemble all your participants and give an overview of what the event will be covering. This will make attendees well ahead of time while also curating the smooth functioning of the event.

You can give them a tour of the venue, inform them about various engagement tools they can take advantage of in case they are willing to interact with their fellow attendees or any keynote speaker. You can also allow a time limit wherein they can chat with like-minded people, help them understand the real-time support concept in case they face any technical issue during the event.

Now there are chances that some of your attendees join the event late. So for them, you can put in reminders during breakout sessions.

KEEP SMALL BREAK SESSIONs FOR QUESTIONS, POLLS, AND CONTEST

As people will be attending your event from remote locations, a long session can make them lose interest in the event. This might also sign a few of them out of your event. And we just cannot afford that to happen! So to let your attendees stay until the end of the event you must incorporate as many breaks as possible. During this time, allow other participants to ask questions, take part in live polls and event contests for better engagement purposes. These tools do wonders for an event organizer as well by offering them instant feedback surveys. This way both sides of the party get equally satisfied while also building powerful connections.

OFFER VIRTUAL GIFTS AND SWAG BAGS

I guess we know that people love free things. Especially when the things are profusely antique, like registration for a highly sought-after event.

You can offer exclusive gifts and goodies for people who participated in each and every event activity or who were with you throughout the event. Your swag bags may include free courses, downloadable ebooks, discounts on certain products, certificates for active participation, and whatever else. This can be a great incentive for visitors to stay attentive and engaged.

HAVE A PROFESSIONAL MODERATOR

Having an experienced and highly professional moderator can profusely uplift your event and save it from drowning. There are times when even the most experienced keynote cannot hook the audience for a longer time. Hence, a moderator is required to create a friendly environment and facilitates attendees to interact with other participants effectively. Here what a moderator can do at your event-

1- They can help in building human connections by motivating and enabling attendees to have back-and-forth communication with speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, or other important people.

2- They can also use certain interactive tools to make sure that the speaker is able to answer questions curated by audience members.

3- They can conduct fun gaming activities during breakout sessions to keep attendees engaged and create a competitive environment amidst participants.

GAMIFY YOUR EVENT TO INCREASE ATTENDANCE

As we all know, virtual events provide the same look and feel as traditional events. Its functionalities have given so much to attendees and organizers that people no longer feel the importance of physical events. A virtual event platform comes with an end number of immersive features. One of it is- Gamification. This tool helps organizers keep their audiences engaged and connected with one another. Gamification eases out all the boredom and helps people network in a fun and captivating way. Furthermore, it offers immense possibilities to event sponsors to get some recognition among attendees.

There are multiple other aspects to gamify your event via utilizing push notifications and mobile apps. Additionally, you can inculcate games like spin the wheel, crossword puzzles, leaderboard, popularity scoreboard, quizzes, or add on web-based games like temple run, ludo, car racing, etc. You can also add on social wall, signature wall, photo booth feature to uplift the ambiance of your overall event.

OVER TO YOU

As time passes by, virtual events are becoming more and more popular in the world of the event industry. Organizers and businesses have already started to take advantage of virtual attendance. And while you may be still skeptical about using a virtual event platform for your business, the above-mentioned tips may change your entire perspective towards virtual events.

Increasing your virtual attendance can be tricky at first, especially when you are trying to plan an event for attendees who are hesitant about virtual participation. However, if you keep these tips in mind, you will have a much easier time driving signups.

Happy hosting!