Before the outbreak of the pandemic, hardly anyone was aware of the concept of virtual events. But with no choice left, people were compelled to execute their ideas of physical events over a virtual conference platform. Though organizations and people;e find it beneficial to host events online, increasing audience reach continues to remain a challenge for many.

Virtual events come with innumerable benefits, and to make sure you avail of these benefits, change your approach. As an organizer, focus more on techniques to drive audience engagement and less on traditional webinar procedures.

1. Select the right online conference platform-

To begin with, select the suitable virtual event platform for your virtual conference. Then, it is advisable to compare the features of two-three virtual meeting platforms and choose the most appropriate one. Please don’t compromise with the brand when it comes to virtual event platforms, as the actual success rate of your virtual conference depends on it. Various 3D virtual conference platforms like Dreamcast offer several exciting features to help you expand audience engagement and brand reach. Investing in the right virtual conference platform will help you achieve your event objectives quickly and make it a very seamless process for you.

2. Append compelling content:

Another essential factor you need to consider while planning your virtual conference is inculcating exciting content. Always try to keep the content crisp and short. Don’t add irrelevant information just for the sake of it. It is crucial as unnecessary information might bore your audience, and they will leave the session midway, which won’t be good for your event and brand’s reputation. Along with it, please consider that people have a shorter attention span and having said that, it is vital to keep everything to the point. To make it more engaging, deliver the content in segments. It won’t overwhelm your attendees and give them enough time to process the last piece of information.

If you’re targeting a global audience, provide them with the translated content. It will make your attendees speaking different languages feel involved in your virtual conference and increase your audience reach.

3. Include Interactive Activities-

Contradictory to what it seems; a virtual event is not an easy nut to crack. It requires the organisers to go the extra mile to make sure an online event produces the same, if not more, audience engagement rate. Plan your event, giving utmost importance to the audience’s comfort and involvement. To ensure all your attendees remain involved and alert until the end of the conference, including interactive activities like quizzes and Q&A sessions. You can also include live polls that will help you know attendees’ opinions by providing valuable insights and improve future strategies. Inculcating these features in your online conference will help promote event engagement and make your audience feel like part of your event. Various online conference platforms like Dreamcast offer such engaging features helping their users deliver authentic event experiences. Also, make sure you give your audiences enough opportunities to put across their opinions, ask questions and provide feedback.

4. Introduce Gamification Features:

You can include gamification features in your virtual events to increase engagement statistics. For example, you can incentivize rewards to the winners like merchandise, hampers, or gift vouchers to make it more exciting. You can also host scavenger hunts and reward players based on their points. Gamification is a proven strategy used by famous businesses to drive engagement in their online events. This feature will help you entertain the attention of your attendees and keep them interested throughout the event. Use strategies to motivate your attendees to participate in the games to retain the audience in your event.

5. Make efficient use of social media-

Another clever strategy to host a successful virtual conference is using social media with its full efficacy. The fact that our generation runs on social media doesn’t need more explanations. Now that it is here to stay forever, why not include it in your event strategy? To build a remarkable social media presence, create an altogether different page for your event. Along with it, you can also come up with your hashtags and create filters related to your event. Also, promote it effectively so that the maximum number of people know your event and use the hashtags, increasing the engagement rate. To get more people on board, organise social media contests and reward the winners with exciting rewards.

6. Introduce Keynote Sessions:

One effortless way to ensure your event reaches the maximum audience is by introducing keynote sessions. Invite industry experts and renowned faces to speak at your event and share valuable information with the attendees. It is a necessary step as it will retain the audience to be present till the end of the event; otherwise, no matter how insightful your event is, hardly anybody would sit through the entire proceedings.

Now when it comes to selecting experts for your event, be picky! Ensure to choose people who have sufficient knowledge to deliver at the event and answer attendees’ queries. The faces who will be addressing the audience are, technically, going to be the brand ambassadors of your event and will drive maximum audience engagement. You wouldn’t want to compromise with the brand reputation. Hence, don’t think twice and offer incentives to the speakers, if needed.

7. Introduce small breaks between two sessions-

Attending online sessions continuously for long hours can be really exhausting. The most prominent challenge people face during an online meeting is dealing with zoom fatigue, a term used to describe the exhaustion that comes after attending an online conference or event. It is one of the biggest reasons for the lower audience engagement rates of an event. Avoid situations like these and introduce short breaks between the sessions so that the attendees can recharge themselves. One feature that an expert conference platform provides its users is the virtual breakout rooms. You can use this feature to introduce team activities such as mini yoga sessions or a stand-up comedy show. To make your event more memorable, you can organize theme-based sessions.

8. Incorporate Networking Features:

The most common reason most people attend events and conferences can either be educating themselves or expanding their networking. They find physical events are more efficient than online events when it comes to connecting with people, which is partially true. Online events also provide the attendees various opportunities to communicate with people and expand their networks. Your virtual conference and the 3D virtual conference platform you wish to choose should provide one-on-one interactive features allowing the attendees to talk with other attendees or the keynote speakers in between the sessions. Tools and features like B2B Meeting Scheduler, AI Matchmaking, Networking Tables allow people to know each other and build long-lasting relationships.

9. Swag up the attendees-

Build a long-lasting relationship with your potential customers by sending them goodies. It will help you strengthen your bond with them, and they will feel connected. You can also give them a quick glance at your business by creating private social media. Ask your attendees to share pictures on social media, which will help you reach a wider audience

The techniques discussed in this blog have been a part of various companies’ event planning lists for a long time now. Infuse these ideas in your next virtual conference and see the success meters going up yourself!