5 Tips and Tricks on How to Host Successful Online Events and Webinars

Hosting an online event or webinar is vastly different from traditional events. Your usual tips and tricks might no longer be enough. You need the right set of tools and strategy to ensure the success and effectiveness of virtual events.

In fact, Trends Exchange predicts that the virtual events industry will grow from $78 billion to $774 billion by 2030. These figures are attributed to the increasing reliance of businesses on virtual events platforms and video conferencing tools. As the world continues to reel from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, such tools will continue to be in demand in the coming years.

With that, here are some ways on how to host a virtual conference successfully.

1.    Choose the right software

Your software will play the most critical part in ensuring your online event or webinar’s success. Hence, you need a reliable and effective platform that can turn your vision into reality. While there is no such thing as a “perfect” software, you still need to determine which one is right for your event.

To do this, you must first evaluate what you will need for your events. How many participants will be there? What kind of event will you be holding? How long will it be running? Who will be attending? And so on. 

Moreover, you should consider investing in a software that you will be using for the long run. Hence, you should also take into account your budget and its compatibility with your current digital ecosystem. You can check out this article where FinancesOnline lists some event management software.

2.    Keep communications open

One of the greatest challenges with online events and webinars is effective communication. The difference in locations among participants and your teams make it difficult to collaborate and share insights with one another. This is especially true if you plan on holding bigger events virtually.

Implement virtual event best practices by providing various communication channels and keeping it open for everyone. You can utilize instant messaging apps, emails, forums, and dashboards to encourage attendees to speak up and exchange ideas with others. You can also use it to streamline announcements and notifications regarding the events. 

Let’s Calendar, for one, allows you to send mass calendar invites using Outlook in just a few clicks. By taking advantage of such features, you can foster efficient communication and cascading of information during and before the event.

3.    Be dynamic and interactive

Keeping your participants engaged is a challenge for both virtual and in-person events. Let’s face it. Nobody can truly sit down and listen for hours on end. Attention can easily be diverted especially once your participants have access to the internet. And for virtual events, this is unavoidable.

You can make your virtual events more engaging by incorporating dynamic and interactive activities. You can use gamification elements in your online events such as mini-competitions, rankings or pointing systems, and short quizzes. You can also create discussion rooms or forums where participants can interact with others and exchange ideas in between breaks. This way, they have something else to do aside from sitting down in front of their computer, tablet, or smartphone and listening.

4.    Personalize virtual experience

One of the biggest benefits of hosting virtual events is the ability to personalize your participants’ experience with the event. With this, your participants have more freedom to choose how they want to access your event. This includes the device they will use, when they will attend the webinar/online events, the content itself, and how they want to be notified.

Aside from your attendees’ experience, you can also customize virtual events according to how you want it to be. For one, you can integrate with the rest of your digital system such as your personal calendar, communication services, and website. You can also connect it with your favorite tools to automate certain tasks and processes in your event.

5.    Leverage data and analytics

Leveraging data and analytics on your online events or webinars allow you to determine the strengths and weaknesses of your current system. This allows you to create data-driven strategies to deliver compelling experiences for your virtual events.

Often, the key to a successful event is careful planning beforehand. With the right data, you will know what factors to consider before hosting an online event. You can use it as a template or guide when choosing the particulars for your event. This includes how best to market the event, the most effective way to deliver its content to your attendees, and what platforms will give you wider audience reach. It can also allow you to monitor the event’s performance, participants’ engagement, and its impact on your business growth.

Make your events virtual ready

More businesses are starting to see the importance of virtual events nowadays. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, online events and webinars are already gaining momentum. This is mostly due to its convenience and accessibility for people around the globe. Through it, you can expand your audience reach and personalize their experience according to what works best for them. So, go ahead and make your events virtual ready by implementing these tips and tricks in ensuring its success.