Even before the global pandemic, virtual conferences have already been widely popular all around the world.
The virtual events industry has a $78 billion market size back in 2019, and many businesses in various industries have considered virtual conferences as a really powerful lead generation tool.
However, it’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has boosted the popularity of virtual conferences and other types of virtual events.
Many people are realizing the unique benefits of virtual conferences over their physical counterparts, and these virtual events are definitely here to stay.
But, to launch a successful virtual conference, there are still best practices to follow.
While some principles of organizing a traditional event can still translate well into the virtual setting, there are also some unique approaches required if you really want to host a successful virtual conference.
With that being said, below are some of the most important best practices to uphold when hosting a virtual conference.
1. In a Virtual Conference, Content Is Everything
When hosting an in-person conference, you can leverage quite a number of different selling points: the venue, decoration, catering, stage design, and so on.
In a virtual conference? You practically only have your content.
So, when designing your event, make sure to consider what message or idea you’d like to convey from the event and design your event around it.
In general, you should:
- Pick a relatively narrow topic or theme for the conference
- Decide on the best possible format to cover this topic
- Create a structure that will support the delivery of this topic
- Design an attractive script and schedule for the conference
2. Define a Clear Purpose
This might be a cliché, but the importance of this cannot be understated: you must first define a clear purpose for the virtual conference before planning anything.
For a virtual conference, defining the purpose is arguably even more important, since it will dictate the type/format of the virtual conference, the production, required technology/virtual platform, and content.
Common purposes of a virtual conference include educating your customers, facilitating networking, lead generation, and building brand awareness, among others.
3. Identify and Know Your Target Audience
Another cliché that is equally important. Based on the purpose you’ve defined above, you should be able to define your virtual conference’s target audience: who are the ideal attendees that will help you achieve the event’s purpose.
Remember that one of the key benefits of a virtual event—including a virtual conference—is the fact that you are able to target attendees from all around the world without having to worry about geographic locations.
However, you still need to take languages, cultural differences, and time zones into consideration.
Understand your target audience’s pain points, behaviors, and interests, and design your virtual conference for them.
4. Choosing the Right Technology
In hosting an in-person event, arguably selecting the right venue is one of, if not the most important factors that will make or break the event’s success.
For virtual conferences, technology solutions hold the same importance.
It’s crucial to choose technology solutions that are easy to use, provide the features you need according to your event’s purpose, and also secure.
Make sure to choose the right virtual platform that is capable of delivering your virtual conference’s content according to your plan.
And invest in a virtual conference management software solution to streamline various aspects of planning your virtual conference, from event planning to facilitate team collaboration to managing registrations and sponsorships.
5. Streamline and Optimize Your Registration Page
Make sure it’s as easy as possible for your attendees to register for your virtual conference.
Attracting potential attendees are already challenging, and you wouldn’t want them to cancel buying your tickets just because your website is not user-friendly and/or the registration process took too long to finish.
Your registration page should include:
- All the important information about your event: name, theme/purpose, branding, and a complete agenda/schedule including dates, times, speaker names, and session details
- Cost and ticket prices
- How to access content during and after the event
- Contact information
- FAQ
Also, make sure your registration page is mobile-friendly and fast to load.
6. Develop a Promotion Plan
You’ve probably planned the perfect virtual conference with the best speakers and the best concept. Yet, if you can’t attract enough attendees, then the virtual conference is a failure.
Don’t underestimate the importance of promoting your event, and at the same time, don’t underestimate the time required to promote a successful virtual conference.
Explore all the available marketing channels: if you’ve already got an email database, then email marketing is a great way to spread the message.
Write and send out your event press release, and leverage social media to your advantage.
7. Invest in Cybersecurity
Unfortunately, many cybercriminals are targeting virtual events, including virtual conferences.
If your virtual conference’s security is compromised, not only it can lead to financial and legal repercussions, but it can also hurt your company’s reputation on a long-term or even permanent basis.
Choose your virtual event platform and supporting technologies carefully, and make sure to have a cybersecurity plan in place before launching your virtual conference.
8. Plan as Early as You Can
As with planning any other events, the earlier you start planning the virtual conference, the better.
Although going virtual can save a lot of planning time as opposed to hosting an in-person conference, you still need to give yourself and your team enough time to plan, organize, and manage the virtual conference.
You need, at the very least, 6 weeks to prepare and promote the virtual conference, but if possible, give yourself at least 2-4 months in advance to allow better preparations and to maximize registrations.
Wrapping Up
While organizing a virtual conference can be challenging, it will also be an exciting journey that will be worth it in the end.
With the best practices we’ve shared above, you now have a solid foundation on how to plan, organize, and host a successful virtual conference right away.
The most important thing is to know your event’s purpose and identify the right audience in fulfilling this purpose. By designing your event around your target audience’s needs and preferences, you can maximize the number of registrations.
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