The value of face-to-face interaction will never go away, but there are times when going virtual is a necessary part of your event program. But how do you turn a multi-day conference, filled with networking opportunities, educational sessions, and the attendee insights they generate into virtual events?
Hosting a virtual event requires the same care and attention as an in-person event. In both cases, you need to craft an event strategy to effectively promote the event, engage your attendees, create memorable moments for attendees, and prove event success.
The only thing that’s missing is the venue and the attendees on-site. But, by thinking of virtual events not as small one-off presentations or as a webinar, but as value-added, engagement-driven experiences, you can create an impactful event that extends well beyond a computer screen.
Virtual events open up new opportunities to connect with attendees across the globe without geographical limitations. However, planning a virtual event requires careful consideration to provide an engaging experience. Follow this comprehensive guide to plan, promote, and execute a seamless virtual event from initial concept to post-event follow up.
Define Clear Goals and Desired Outcomes
Like any event, you must start by defining what you aim to accomplish. Outline the goals you want the virtual event to achieve Some examples include
- Generate new leads and sales prospects
- Build awareness of a new product, service, or initiative
- Train or educate attendees on a topic or skillset
- Generate engagement with current customers or members
- Create content and thought leadership to share post-event
- Fundraise for a cause or nonprofit
Drill down into tangible outcomes you want attendees to leave with like new knowledge, connections, motivation, or commitments to act. Well-defined goals will shape all other planning decisions and set you up to measure success.
Determine Key Performance Indicators and Success Metrics
Once you have goals, outline what key performance indicators (KPIs) you will track to determine if the virtual event achieves desired outcomes. Some examples of measurable KPIs:
- Number of registrants or live attendees
- Increase in sales leads, email list signups, or donor contributions
- Social shares and engagement with event hashtag
- Audience polling results on knowledge gain
- Post-event survey feedback scores
Compare results to pre-defined targets for each KPI to evaluate success. Tracking quantifiable metrics allows you to showcase ROI and fine-tune future events to better meet goals.
Create a Detailed Event Timeline
Virtual events require just as much careful scheduling and timing as in-person events. Work backwards from your event date to map out deadlines for
- Securing speakers, entertainment, or activities
- Building online event platform and registration
- Promoting the event through various channels
- Preparing all multimedia content, slides, and videos
- Testing all technology and do dry runs beforehand
- Emailing reminders and logistics to registrants
- Conducting rehearsals with presenters and speakers
A detailed timeline ensures critical steps get done on time. Build in some buffer for the unknowns that can arise last minute. Revisit and adjust your timeline regularly.
Set a Realistic Event Budget
Like any event, your budget largely determines possibilities for the event platform, activities, promotions, and more. Consider costs like:
- Online event platform with necessary features
- Speaker fees or entertainment
- Promotional campaigns and advertising
- Event technology or multimedia needs
- Staffing and labor costs
- Logistics like shipping event materials or swag
Based on available budget, balance investing in elements that best serve your event goals vs. nice-to-haves. Leave cushion for unexpected overages. Get creative stretching dollars through sponsorships, partners, and cost-effective promo channels.
Assemble Your Dream Team
Successfully orchestrating a virtual event takes teamwork. Identify key roles and responsibilities needed like:
- Project manager to oversee all logistics and details
- Marketing lead to handle promotions and advertising
- Content creator to develop videos, slides, graphics and more
- Sales lead to nurture leads and registrants
- Email coordinator to manage reminders and follow up
- Tech experts to manage live stream, troubleshoot issues
- Emcee to facilitate, moderate, and pump up energy
Assign cross-functional team members best suited to each role. Bring in specialized outside vendors if needed for tech, design, or production. Clearly define each person’s scope of duties in the planning process.
Set Up Your Virtual Event Platform
The online platform hosts your entire event experience and sets the tone. Vet options like Zoom, ON24, Cvent, Hopin, or Google Meet based on:
- Features needed to match your agenda like breakout rooms, polls, Q&A, networking
- Expected number of attendees
- Tech capabilities and bandwidth
- Built in tools for registration, payments, analytics
- Customizability of branding and design
Prioritize intuitive, engaging platforms that replicate in-person event vibes. Conduct demos to test features and usability. Choose a platform that aligns seamlessly with your goals, content, and audience.
Map Out Event Programming
Brainstorm creative, dynamic programming to inspire and engage your virtual participants. Consider:
- Keynote speakers or talks to anchor the event
- Breakout sessions on specialized topics or activities
- Panel discussions for varied perspectives
- Q&A or chat sessions to fuel interaction
- Product demos or trainings
- Entertaining performances or activities
- Structured networking opportunities via chat or video
Schedule a good mix of programmed content and breaks. Seek a natural flow moving attendees from passive to active participation. Limit day-of stretches with too much screen time.
Create a Detailed Virtual Event Master Plan
With your building blocks in place, compile everything into a comprehensive planning document covering:
- Goals, desired outcomes, target KPIs
- Date, time, estimated length
- Detailed agenda with timing for each program element
- Registration process, pricing, and attendance goal
- Promotion strategy and timeline
- Run of show with scripts, multimedia, contingency plans
- Technical and logistics requirements for activities
- Team roles and responsibilities
- Post-event follow up plans
Flesh out all the nitty gritty details into one master plan. Update and adjust it regularly as new tasks and considerations arise in planning. Share parts relevant to their roles with your team. The master plan keeps the entire event moving forward seamlessly.
With these essential steps, you have a proven framework to deliver an impactful virtual event that meets your audience needs and organizational goals. Keep your end vision in mind, but stay nimble and adaptive to the unexpected twists in pulling off virtual events.
Questions to Ask Before Moving to a Virtual Event
- Can your agenda be translated to a virtual setting, or is an in-person event required?
- How will you track attendance?
- Does your organization have a virtual meeting solution?
- Does your organization have staff members that can support and manage the technical aspects of a virtual event?
- Can you handle the bandwidth?
- Do your attendees have all the materials they need to attend virtually?
In-Person Events Vs Virtual Events
Virtual events have limitations that in-person events don’t. Where in-person events can draw attendees with a unique destination and the promise of networking, virtual events must rely on content. Marketers and planners need to market content to the segments that get the best response. And, for virtual events, planners must decide how to provide content. At in-person events, breakout sessions and multiple content options are held at the same time. Are you planning a virtual event that also needs to offer multiple content options simultaneously or are you offering multiple single content experience? It’s a decision that has to be made. Not only that, engaging attendees through virtual meetings is more difficult and requires creativity and event technology like mobile event apps to make an impact.
Another reality is that, with virtual events, face-to-face engagement suffers. There’s no way around it. Attendee to attendee networking is not as viable and sales meetings have to happen after the fact, using data gathered virtually rather than leads gathered onsite. If you are taking your conference virtual, can you still create that 1:1 meeting with your sales rep to talk about account specifics in the days that follow? After the event, post-event follow-up needs to happen more quickly. Data is critical and follow-up has to be fast and on-point. Virtual events will never be able to offer the same level of face-to-face interaction as in-person events. That being said, there are ways to make virtual events successful, but it takes careful planning, great data, and agility.
A virtual event is built around content, attendee engagement, and data. While virtual events don’t require F&B, they are made of many of the same elements as any other kind of event. Video production quality and connectivity will be important, as well as the site that houses the agenda and content. According to Forbes, a virtual event should contain a mix of live and pre-recorded content. Here are the elements that make up a virtual event:
- Event website
- Event registration
- Live presentation content
- Live, one-way audio/video
- Question and answer
- Live polling
- Note taking/favorite slides
- Recorded content
- Interactive video conferencing
- Feedback surveys
5 Simple Steps to Plan a Great Virtual Event
How to plan a virtual event?
Before you get to planning the agenda of your virtual event or picking the best virtual event platform, make sure you know why you want to throw an event. Set SMART goals, and make sure the whole team in charge of the project understands what you want to achieve. Source: The Reserves Network 2. Choose the right platform to host your virtual event
How long does it take to plan a virtual event?
Planning a large event online may take more than six weeks. The reality is that virtual events need just as much time and attention as in-person events to be incredible experiences. These tips will help you hit the ground running when planning a virtual event.
How do you plan an event?
1. Clarify the event plan As the event planner, think about all the steps you need to take throughout the event planning journey. Using a mindmap to create an overview will guide you through the planning process and give everyone an understanding of how everything works together.
What makes a virtual event different?
To plan a virtual event, you have to do a lot of the same things you would if the event were entirely in-person. But what makes this event planning different is how you research your audience, which event type you choose, where you choose to host it, and what event technology you partner with to run it all from start to finish.
