Events are an integral part of any business, be it for building brand awareness, product launches, business networking, knowledge-sharing sessions, building community, and many such objectives that are achieved through events.

Businesses aim to do something different with events every year in order to scale them and improve their impact and reach. But physical locations and venues can have their limitations.

This is where the idea of virtual events comes into the picture, taking it beyond a physical location and, making it accessible to more people and offering high scalability. According to data from Passive Secrets, the average virtual event attendance rate is 35%, which is slightly higher than in-person rates.

Hosting virtual events is easier and more cost-effective than most in-person events, as a lot of software and event technologies are available now to help you.

Comprehensive virtual event planning and execution can transform your business event into a whole new world for you and your attendees.

Virtual events can give you and your attendees flexibility, visibility, and a further reach to scale up your events.

Which is better to build an online community? Hubilo or Bevy? Read to find out.

The internet has disrupted the way we used to meet and gather at a physical venue for any purpose. Being online has leveraged so many benefits for all types of people.

What is a virtual event?

Virtual events are events that happen over the internet. No matter where you are in the world, what type of devices you use, or when you’re available, virtual events come with many benefits for everyone — attendees. event organizers, speakers, etc. According to data from Thrive My Way, companies typically allocate 10% to 20% of the marketing budget to online events. 

As the internet and technology become more affordable, the future of human-to-human interaction will become more and more remote participation centric.

Read and Learn: How to Add Energy, Impact, and Results at Every Stage of Your Webinar

With the changing landscape of digitalization and the key developments in virtual events management, it’s going to revolutionize event technology.

Virtual events have the opportunity to outweigh physical events. They are more value-based events and allow people to scope out the event way they want to. Flexibilities are immense. And it’s a tremendously cost-effective solution.

Virtual reality-based events will also get bigger.

Note: Virtual Reality is the term used to describe a three-dimensional,  computer-generated environment that can be explored and interacted with by a person. A virtual event may or may not have a virtual reality environment. Both are independent of each other and do not resemble at any point.

What are the different types of virtual events?

Any events that already take place physically at any venue can be transformed into a virtual event.

Conferences

Virtual conferences allow people to attend sessions over the internet. Audience members can interact with their fellow attendees and network throughout the conference. People can use their computers or mobile devices to attend events no matter where they are.

You can live-stream speaker sessions for your attendees and keep them engaged during the conference.

Developing and hosting virtual conferences can be valuable asset for your business.

Meetings

Virtual meetings are interactions between two individuals or a group of people online. They can communicate or meet with each other virtually to and share their insights or experiences.

Any team meetings, project meetings, sales meetings, internal review meetings, and corporate meetings can be virtually held.

Meetings that demand minimal interaction between attendees or are meant just for educational purposes can be held using tools like Skype, Zoom, or Go-to Webinars.

However, meetings that require more active interaction between the audience and organizers should use a virtual event platform with features for engagement.

Keynote speech

A keynote speech is the “feature speech” that is the main theme of the entire event. This is crucial as it sets the groundwork for what the objective and purpose of the event is.

It is not necessary for a keynote speaker to be present at the venue for his speaking session as the internet has made it possible to reach large audiences virtually. 

The keynote speaker can be anywhere and have their speech broadcast virtually.

Technologies enable remote delivery of keynote speeches through various mediums such as Skype, Zoom, etc.

Follow these best practices for virtual meeting engagement.

Partner events

These virtual events are ideal for keeping the valued members of your partner program engaged.

Your partners can attend your events online and meet their fellow members.

The objective of this type of virtual event is to share product knowledge, product use cases, and future roadmaps with partners.

Often these events hold a discussion forum, where associates can share their questions and ideas related to the product, services, market scenario, or pricing. The  scope is vast and every organizer should dedicate time to setting the scope of such meetups.

50% of marketers have attended a virtual or hybrid event. Those that have attended a virtual event are 51% more likely to attend another one. (Westuc, 2015)

Workshops 

Organizing workshops online can be effortless. While setting up a presentation, the speaker utilizes a laptop and a projector screen so the attendees can watch and learn comfortably.

Webinars, on the other hand, are a great tool to host virtual workshops.

Note: Also, some of the virtual platforms like GoToWebinar and Hubilo’s Virtual Event Platform have an integrated functionality of having a live  Q&A, live polls, and so on.   

Product launches

Virtual product launch events allow you to extend the exposure and reach of your new product/service to international audiences and viewers. You can do it in a cost-effective way and in a timely fashion.

Download Forrester Consulting and Hubilo's research about Using Engaging Webinars to Elevate the Sales Pipeline

Trade-shows

A virtual trade show is an online version of an event for demonstrating and exhibiting your goods and services.

Attendees can watch the product demonstration online and can also virtually meet with exhibitors. This is a great way to connect with a new audience, as it’s estimated on average that 64% of attendees at a trade show are not current customers of the businesses that are exhibiting. 

Trade show planners are leaning towards virtual tradeshow events to keep up with the new trend and tremendous ROI opportunities.