Virtual events v physical events have become a vital part of the marketing mix for many organisations because they offer vast benefits.
We’ve summarised our top set below ⬇️
1. Wider Outreach
For businesses hosting a virtual event, a significant advantage is being able to reach an unlimited global audience cost effectively. You are not asking presenters or attendees to find a whole day in their diary, potentially travel to the venue and stay in a hotel so virtual events generally mean you will get higher attendance from a wider geographical area v a physical event.
2. Insightful Data Capture And Unrivalled Analytics
The data you can gather from a digital event provides incredible insight for future strategy and activity. A sponsor has a record of all activities that take place in their booth. perform. This includes a transcript of all the conversations they have, what documentation they downloaded, how long they have been in the booth, what videos they have watched etc – so you capture far more data at a virtual event than is feasible from a physical event. This data can also be used to grade lead quality.
3. Longer Exposure
For most virtual events there is a period (perhaps up to 30 days or longer) when the event is put on demand. Delegates can then choose to access the event at any time and view all the presentations and visit booths and see the live chat. If they visit a sponsor room and start a live chat, an email will go to the manager of that space so they know to log on and respond. This additional time for exposure obviously increases a sponsor’s marketing reach. All presentations are recorded so sponsors can use these assets in their marketing communications enabling them to reach a wider audience over time.
4. Connecting With The Keyboard Generation
There is a whole generation of people who are more comfortable on keyboard or audio than physically. Some of these people might never go to a physical event and some of these people might have an expectation of a digital offering. We also find attendees are more willing to engage in public or private chat digitally rather than fearing being approached by a sponsor and being ‘sold to’.
5. Impressive Cost Savings
Without the cost of booth construction, staff salaries, travel, accommodation and food costs, printed materials etc, it is much cheaper for sponsors and exhibitors to attend a virtual event than a physical one.
This map is a live illustration of the countries and regions of attending delegates at a recent virtual event
