Planning a virtual event looks daunting to many people. But having the right strategy and following the correct steps can make it very simple. This article discusses some simple steps that you can follow to host a virtual event.
Determine Your Event Goals
When you start planning your virtual event, the first thing you need to determine and keep in mind is the goals of the festival. Knowing your objectives will help you move in the right direction and create effective strategies for the event’s success.
In addition to this, you must also identify the type of audience you want to target and understand their demographics. This will help you develop the event agenda and also plan the activities and sessions for your virtual event. Make sure that the event goals you set are measurable, attainable, timely, and relevant.
Develop the Agenda
After you have completed the first step and identified your event goals and target audience, next you need to develop an agenda for the event. Your virtual event will probably have a lot of different sessions for addressing different issues. Therefore, you need to plan the turn of events and activities at your virtual event depending on your objectives and the preferences of your audience.
The agenda should consist of details like the date, time, description of the speakers, and the tasks that you will perform. Make sure you upload the agenda on your event landing page and also send it to your potential attendees via email. This will also help them understand what to expect from the event and the benefits of attending it.
Choose the Platform That Suits Your Needs
Once you have determined your Festival goals, identified your target audience, and developed your agenda, you must now choose a virtual event production software that could help you create a successful virtual event. It is important to first explore the features of the top virtual event platforms and understand the features that you want to include in your virtual event. Doing this will facilitate your decision-making and help you choose the best platform for your needs.
You must look for engagement features like a virtual photo booth, live polls, Q&A sessions, and networking features like live chat, 1:1 communication, networking tables, and business card exchange to host a virtual event. You must also make sure that the platform you select allows you to customize your event. Choosing an appropriate virtual event platform is one of the most dynamic online event ideas and an important part of your virtual events planning.
Set a Budget and Timeline for Your Event
Another important part of the virtual event planning process is to set a budget for your event and a timeline for its completion. Having a set budget will help you stay in control of your expenses and also finish all your tasks on time. Having a budget and timeline in place for your virtual event will help you arrange funds in advance and maintain enough liquidity.
Promote Your Event on Social Media
If you are wondering how to create a virtual event, promoting your event is the most important step in your planning process. Social media is the most effective tool to promote your online event. You should leverage its power and create specific pages on various social media platforms. You can also make your event landing website page more creative and put all the details there. Social media apps like Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook,
Onboard an Amazing Speaker
To host a successful virtual event, you will need to hire amazing speakers who can keep the audience hooked to their screens. The speaker must have a great personality and a good sense of humor and crack jokes from time to time. This will help keep the engagement levels high at your Virtual Festival.
Plan Engagement Activities
Engagement is the key component of any virtual event. It is important to focus on engaging your attendees. You need to pre-plan the engagement activities that will form part of your online event.
Moreover, you can refer to the internet to find various ideas to increase engagement. You should also make a list of all the unique event engagement ideas to include. Features like live polls, Q&A sessions, virtual photo booths, gamification, and social walls are great ways to keep your online attendees engaged during the event.
Rehearse! ()
Rehearsing a few times before the actual event is a practice that can ensure the smooth completion of the event. It will also help you gain confidence in your preparation and check all the content and equipment. It will also allow you to identify the glitches and correct them.
Keep Technical Support Ready
No V-E is alien to technical issues. Therefore, it is important to keep a technical team in place to fix the issues as and when they arise. Many virtual event solutions provide live technical support both before and during the Festival. Therefore, it is important to make sure that the platform you select has a live technical support feature.
Follow-up With the Attendees Post-event
It is not enough to just host the event, you also need to follow up with them after the event to ensure the successful fulfillment of your objectives. Therefore, you must follow up with the attendees through SMS, emails, and social media posts. You can also ask them for their feedback and pitch your products to convert them into loyal customers.
Conduct Data Analysis
V events allow you to gather data in real time and track the details of the attendees. The data analytics features provided by the online event platform also let you track the time spent in each session, and the path followed by the attendee. It also helps you identify the sessions that saw more footfall and engagement than others. Based on this information, you can take further action for improvement in your future online events.
Final Words
After reading this article, you must have understood how simple it is to host a virtual event. The process of hosting an online event is simpler than that of a physical event. You can follow the steps mentioned in this article and plan your next virtual event.
