Ever since the pandemic hit us, nothing remained the same. Technology took over everything, and organizers were left with no choice but to host events online. One format of virtual events that has gained popularity is virtual conferences.
In this blog, we have discussed various ideas that will help you host an engaging virtual conference.
Keep the content short and crisp
It is one of the most virtual conference engagement ideas. Even though people don’t believe it to be true, zoom fatigue is real! Attending long physical sessions is a different thing and attending continuous sessions over a virtual platform is another. Long hours of virtual sessions tend to leave people exhausted by the end of the day. It leads to them leaving the sessions midway and less engagement rates. To make sure this doesn’t happen during your virtual conference, keep your sessions as short as you can. Avoid adding irrelevant information. Your attendees won’t bother to continue if they don’t find your session productive and fruitful.
Retain Audience’s Attention with Quizzes and Live Polls
As per the data, an adult can hold his/her attention for a maximum of 20 minutes. And the fact that one attends a virtual conference through mobile or laptop makes it more challenging for the host to hold attendees’ attention and keep them hooked to the event. As an organizer, you are required to go the extra mile to make sure people are paying attention to the event. Incorporate quizzes, Q&A sessions, live polls, and other such segments to ensure your audience remains attentive throughout the session. These Virtual engagement tools will require your audience to focus SQM Club on the sessions. To make it more exciting, you can also announce exciting prizes for the one who stands top on the scoreboard. There are various virtual conference platforms like Dreamcast that provide such kinds of exciting features to their users.
Introduce Gamification Feature
Virtual events are altogether a different experience for the organizers as well as the attendees. Since virtual events come with a lot of distractions, attendees generally leave the events mid-way. To make sure it doesn’t happen at your event and people stay at your virtual conference for a longer duration, and even till the end, include gamification features. Some prominent virtual event platforms provide gamification tools to the users with as many as a hundred VR games. These games will ensure that whenever your attendees feel bored, they don’t simply exit from the platform. A leaderboard feature will make it even more exciting. Ramp up your attendees’ enthusiasm by announcing exciting prizes for the winners. It will compel your audience to stay till the event lasts, leading to higher audience engagement rates.
Use Social Media Productively
Today’s world is ruled by social media. If you make efficient use of it, social media can do wonders. You can use social media to promote your event in a very effective way. Create dedicated social media pages for your online conference. Since almost everyone has at least one social media account, these dedicated pages will make sure the maximum number of people get to know about your event. One of the widely used Virtual conference ideas, it will keep people stay updated about the same and ramp up the excitement among your target audience. Along with it, you can also use social media to drop in trailers that will keep your target audience on toes, and a maximum number of attendees will show up at the event. Not only this, but social media will also help your audience stay connected with fellow attendees who they connected with during the virtual event.
Invite Keynote Speakers
Inviting keynote speakers to your conference is another way to make your event exciting. People have this tendency to trust a brand or name that has a famous name associated with it. Having a well-known person showing up at your event will help you increase audience engagement rates of your virtual meeting. Make sure you invite someone associated with the industry only. It will ensure your attendees get something to learn and add value to their experience. Inculcate the fact to your strategy that people are highly influenced by celebrities and follow everything they do religiously. Schedule the session somewhere during the event that the maximum audience stays with you till the end.
Incorporate Multi Audio Translation Feature
One factor that can boost audience engagement rates in your virtual meeting that organizers ignore is multi-audio translation. The most prominent advantage that comes with virtual events is they are not bounded by geographical factors, unlike their in-person counterparts. It means more of an audience at your event, but that also means people from all corners of the world can join. Hence, while planning your event, make sure you incorporate a multi-audio translation feature so that those who don’t speak your language can also be a part of your event. If that’s not possible, you can use subtitles so that it becomes easier for people to understand.
Select a user-friendly platform
Imagine going to an in-person event venue located in a deserted corner of the city. You will use google maps to reach the venue. But what if you don’t have any access to maps? The same goes for virtual events. For someone who is attending an online meeting for the first time, it will require some guidance or easy navigation. If it requires the attendees to click many links or special technical knowledge, people won’t like to attend it. Therefore, while you’re looking for a virtual event platform, make sure it has a user-friendly interface. You can also instruct the attendees on how to join the event through an email. Also, remember not all your attendees will have access to laptops. Hence, use a platform that is accessible through mobile phones as well as desktops. Always keep in mind that you are not Hosting a Virtual Event for yourself but the audience, so prioritize your attendees over your comfort.
Incorporate networking solutions
The biggest myth people have regarding online events is that they don’t provide enough networking opportunities to the attendees. It becomes a concern as people attend such events either to learn something new or to make connections. If your event is not offering them either of these things, people won’t bother to be a part of it. Make sure your virtual meeting platform provides them with ample opportunities to build connections. It should allow your attendees to have one-on-one interaction and connect. Features like group chats, breakout rooms, and meet-ups promote effective communication enabling the audience to build long-lasting connections.
Bottomline-
Hosting a virtual conference can be a wearisome task if you don’t have proper planning regarding the same. Since virtual events have become the new normal, people attend them only if they think you’re delivering them something unusual. The afore-discussed ideas will help you boost audience engagement rates of your event. With an expert online event platform like Dreamcast, hosting virtual events couldn’t get any easier. Organize your virtual conference today and let it do the talking!
