Exploring Virtual Events: 6 Benefits of Going Virtual
A few short months ago, no one would have predicted large scale event cancellations were even a possibility. Like the sun is sure to rise, and the seasons change, major events returned each and every year like clockwork. As the world was turned upside-down, events large and small began scrambling to make a decisions on how to navigate these uncharted waters. Each event has to decide is which avenue is best: postponement, cancellation (resume in 2021) or go virtual.
Going virtual can seem like a large task, and many event organizers are not prepared to quickly make this shift. You may not have the equipment, the knowledge or the appropriate staffing. Luckily, technology has made going virtual easier and cost-effective and there are numerous companies that specialize in this very thing. There’s always room to make the best out of a bad situation if it’s what’s best for your event. Before you decide, here are six perks to going virtual:
1. Your potential audience increases
With in-person events, companies have to weigh the cost of going versus the possible return on investment. For smaller companies and ones with little to no travel budgets, going to in-person events just isn’t possible. A virtual event opens up all new possibilities and, if done right, could yield even happier event participants as they make new connections they might have missed at an in-person event.
As some associations and smaller companies are postponing or canceling their events, others are diving right into experimentation. IBM moved its annual Think Event to a virtual format – and it paid off: Think Digital drew 90,000 attendees – four times their largest in-person event. Adobe is another large company embracing change as they turned their annual summit from in-person to digital in just 3 weeks by pre-recording all of their keynotes and product demonstrations. Despite the event not being live, Adobe’s virtual experience drew 17,000 people when it opened and 450,000 website visits in the next coming days. In contrast, their in-person summit drew 20,000 attendees.
Data Summary of Virtual Event Reach
- IBM Think Digital: 90,000 attendees (Four times their largest in-person event).
- Adobe Summit (Virtual): 17,000 opening attendees and 450,000 website visits.
- Adobe Summit (In-Person): 20,000 attendees.
2. Potential increase in earned media coverage
As media budgets and resources are shrinking, many media organizations can’t afford to send staff to an in-person event. Therefore, an in-person event with no online presence severely limits the scope of potential publications covering your event. And, while you may be thinking the media doesn’t want to cover anything outside of COVID-19, there are journalists looking for other stories.
According to the 2020 Cision State of the Media Report, journalists are realistic about COVID-19 fatigue setting in. One journalist quoted saying they’d love to see more local stories not about COVID. Other journalists are focusing on COVID but are looking for human interest angles. Finding a way to relate your virtual event to COVID in a tactful way, or highlighting ways your organization is helping cope with the pandemic, could mean more media coverage than an in-person event in ordinary times.
3. Content can be reused, recycled and tracked
For some organizations hosting virtual events, the content that comes out of their event is what dictates their content calendar for an entire year. A lot of information comes out of events and it is a lot to digest at one time. Transitioning to digital allows this information to be preserved and utilized long after the event concludes.
