Want To Go Virtual?

With temperatures plummeting across much of the country, the idea of staying inside is incredibly appealing. Regardless of the season, organizations are struggling to get in needed training and networking with slim travel budgets. All of these factors boost the need for and interest in virtual trade shows.

This article in BizBash provides a great walk through of the decision making process that should go into whether of not to take your event virtual. Some quick highlights from their thoughts:

• Could you attract more people by going online? If your topic is one that interests/impacts a wide audience, making it easier for people to "attend" may greatly increase your reach and influence beyond the geographic boundaries of an in-person event.

• In-person is becoming cost prohibitive. Are you having to cut things that are going to impact attendee experience? Rather than host a sub-par in-person event, look how you could transfer it to a virtual one.

• Logistics are becoming unbearable. Coordinating schedules of presenters, attendees, and your event staff is akin to herding cats. Can some of the logistics be eased with the event going virtual?

If you need to convince your team that virtual can be successful, there are a number of examples of events that have cleanly made the transition.

Once you have decided to leap into the virtual world, what's next? How do you make it all work? Below are five tips we've pulled from experts across the web.

1. Remember, it is still an event and needs a marketing plan, budget, goals and metrics.
2. Educate your audience on how to participate. Part of your marketing leading up to the event should include some helpful "how to" emails and videos to guide people through the technology that will be used and provide tips on how to get the most out of the experience.
3. Unlike an in-person event, people will not dedicate their entire day to attending your event. Schedule like topics in digestible blocks of time, providing plenty of "breaks" for people to attend to other work or visit the "tradeshow floor."
4. Encourage people to visit exhibitors by holding a contest that enters attendees in a drawing when they click on booths, etc...
5. Prep your speakers. Talking to a virtual audience is much different than a live one. There are tips and techniques to use to build engagement. Schedule a prep session (even using a consultant if needed) well in advance of the event to ensure speakers use these tips and tactics when building their presentation.

When the event is over you'll have a rich amount of data on your attendees. You'll not just know that someone visited a booth, you'll also have a record of what they downloaded, what questions they asked in sessions, etc...Don't leave that data on the show floor. Find ways to use if for your organization and sponsors. And speaking of data, you'll have generated a ton of content over the length of the virtual event. Keep the event available for on-demand download and repurpose presentations into blog posts, email campaigns, and other content marketing for months following the event.

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