What is the next big thing in 2020? You may think of a lot of things that come to your mind right now.Education, political stability, team developments, leadership, etc.?The biggest thing that can happen in the world in 2020 is Virtual Conferences - Online Events. Because people are over the internet. They want more flexibility. They want to spice up their human interactions more intensely. They’re eager to take advantage of effortless networking. They want to eradicate all distance between their friends and fellow attendees. They want freedom to attend your events from anywhere in the world. And they want to roam around the world virtually.
The laurels of modern technologies and inclination by people to use them has made it as significant as their life. It’s going to change as if your life depends on it.Compromise is practically not possible with people’s sentiments and emotions. If you want to make your audience, attendees and guests happy, you must consider virtual conferences as the lifeline of your event business and attendees’ interest and willingness to dive into the world of online meetings, conferencing and networking.You’ve got one more reason to answer WHY:At the current juncture, companies struggle to protect their employees and staff members from spreading Covid 19 with travel restrictions and remote-work arrangements & settings, you have hight chances that your meetings and events would be cancelled/postponed. As you can’t afford the no show-no gain state for your events, meetings ane conferences, you need to step up on the gas and help your events by pivoting them to virtual conferences and events. Because online evens are the only solution for you and your guests (unless your can and aready to afford losses of any kind.
Let’s understand various reasons in detail why virtual conferences - online events will be the next big thing in 2020.1. You need your attendees’ data and analytics This is the hyper customer and attendee data era. You’re able to make your informed decisions and adjust your event strategies based on the attendee analytics, trends and likes.Online conferences/online events happen over the internet, using a virtual conferencing tool/software. When you use a virtual event software, you can easily leverage full attendee analytics. Tracking their wants, sentiments and activities become really easy with a good tool.No doubt that when you do your events physically at a specific venuu, you would be able to get the analytics. However, online events make it far more viable and feasible for you to obtain the data with respect to all the critical activities they perform.As data become more affordable and available, the future will be of remote participation.2. DIY approach is becoming more aggressive In the events industry, especially online events, people are leaning towards a more DIY (Do it Yourself) approach and becoming more aggressive in introducing and using the DIY approach for their attendees. Because it comes with a lot of huge advantages like speedy learning of the tool, quick responses time, support service - saving a huge amount of time and making it incredibly effective.
The DIY approach is to facilitate time saving and provide attendees with an entertaining option to navigate and play with the tool such that it becomes extremely easy for them to handle and use.As an event organizer, you can develop and share your manuals and learning content with your guests. If they’re confused with operating anything online with the provided tool/system, they will refer to those documents as reference and get an answer to move ahead.3. Peer-to-peer virtual events/interactions are uplifting a great momentumThe use of peer-to-peer meetings and events with peers and industry leaders are going to be lower than the earlier days as you’ve got an easier and better option to connect with your peers online. They can be anywhere in the world and participate in sessions/meetings.
With virtual P2P events, organizations can create and deliver on the foundation of community.The latest technologies are pushing it and Peer-to-peer virtual events/interactions are uplifting a great momentum.4. Live streaming is becoming a life saviourVideo is a great way of explaining, showing and presenting certain things. Whether you’re in the field of technology, medical science, education, finance, or any other industry, people love to watch video and get captivated so easily.How about this? If you live stream your session and breakouts at your virtual events, this is going to be tremendously effective and helpful to all your attendees. And in online events. Conferences, and meetings, you have the solution of live streaming the video to your audience and invite them to ask questions to the speakers.Video content is arguably the most important content of any event and for your event marketing too.In 2020, you have got massive virtual event technology options that allow you to take care of your events, live steam and attendee engagement. You wouldn't have to look anywhere for any extension of a tool if you work with a good solution provider who helps you with a complete solution.Smash your online event marketing with video content.5. Marketers are becoming more creative with attendee tracking onlineIt is clear to all and specifically to marketers that if they want to level up their event game , they need to be more creative with attendee tracking.What used to work 7-8 years ago, will not necessarily work in 2020, as far as attendee tracking is concerned.It’s always great to cultivate insane creativity with attendee tracking online so that you can leverage its wonderful benefits.
Track these:Attendee online activitiesAttendee analyticsSocial media presenceGroups they are active withInfluencers they followTheir generate contentTheir interestsSpecial experiencesThis will allow you to better understand your attendees, their backgrounds and their motives. And ultimately, it will help you hyper personalize your attendees - that we’re discussing in the next section.6. Attendee personalization is the new rulePeople like to be provided with personalized experiences. One can not use the same stick with everyone to motivate or handle them.You will not talk to a colleague professor the same way you talk to a college student. You see who is at the receiving and they respond/start the conversation.Event professionals will need to continue honing their skills to provide personalized experiences to their attendees.Personalized content will be highly powerful and virtuous for you to please your attendees and keep them engaged and fired up before, during and after your event.After event surveys, polls and relevant content and material sharing activities will put you in the best position to track their behaviour and push them to buy what you want - next event tickets, content, training programs, etc.When you host your online events, attendee personalization is so critical to attendee engagement.7. Customizing strategies is key to marketing Understanding attendees’ personal interests is a critical point to marketing your events to all those potential attendees.Customizing your marketing strategies to give your attendees a great experience can sound like a daunting task, especially when you’re not doing much of a customization.
However, if you make small changes to your strategies to deliver fascinating results will bear a great impact on our attendees/guests.Customized materials itinerary, content will play a huge role in kicking off the entire game at good note.8. Digital content is critical to your soaring successIt’s all about digital content. People are on mobile and computer devices most of the time. They watch and consume content at a greater degree that is quick and educational.Whether you generate content for any marketing channels - email, videos, social media platforms, blogs, niche market, etc. people will be pumped to consume content online. If you’re ot digital in 2020 and beyond, you’re going to squander your enriching opportunities of attracting potential guests/clients to your events.Figure out a way and plan your digital content strategies accordingly. Know your audience and their interests. Identify what makes them happy and what they want to learn. Understand what types of content they want to consume.You can do lots of content creation and distribution activities once you know the answer to WHY.When the WHY is clear, the How becomes easy!