According to Kurt Christian, the founder of HYPA Group in Melbourne and Newcastle, during the pre-COVID time, not many people were talking about virtual events and if they are, it’s mostly the big annual events that are virtual. However, the pandemic has transformed every area of our life and business and the event industry is no exception. What seems unnecessary finally becomes the rave as marketers and businesses tighten up to embrace the new life the pandemic throws at them. With the lockdown measures, social distancing and businesses closures, trade shows, business meetings and conferences, events were cancelled in order to adhere to these measures. Virtual events become the saving grace that is allowing businesses to connect to consumers at all touch points and organizations and attendees are reaping the benefits in a big way.
However, with life returning to normal with the rollout of the vaccine, could this be the end of virtual events? With in-person gatherings gaining momentum again, will virtual events strategies, technologies and budgets be rolled away? The pandemic may be going down, but virtual events are here to stay well into the indefinite future. Here, HYPA Group in Melbourne and Newcastle, a Kurt Christian’s marketing and advertising company explore more on the virtual events strategy in post-pandemic.
‘Hybrid events are expected to take a center stage as the COVID-19 dwindles. Incorporating both virtual and in-person meetings have a lot of benefits that forward-thinking marketers can embrace and enjoy for years to come. For one, physical events can still hold in any part of the world without obliging people who might not be able to travel as they can simply join online,’ Kurt Christian, the founder of HYPA Group in Melbourne and Newcastle explains. This means everyone online, or in-person can be part of the events. Hence, there are enhanced reach, attendance and engagements. Besides, travel cost is reduced and there is the ability to re-watch and share information while ensuring higher return on ROI. This is to say that marketers or businesses who are lagging behind on this might be missing a whole lot of opportunities.
However, with these benefits comes the challenges and businesses need to know how to navigate through and overcome these challenges while at it.
Overcoming Hybrid Events Challenges
It goes without saying that sometimes there might be connectivity and inadequate bandwidth support. One way to go about the network issues is to select a good event platform that is easy to use. 24/7 support should also be provided with technical support on the ground that will jump in case issues arise before, during and after the events, says experts of HYPA Group in Melbourne and Newcastle.
Another challenge is engagement. Audiences are different, their experiences are different and keeping them all engaged can be tricky, even though the contents shared might be the same. How do you go about this? Choosing a platform that prioritizes engagement features are your sure bet? You don’t want your audience tagging behind a basic zoom platform where they can easily zoom out on the ongoing events. Instead, opt for platforms that combines features of social media and video games wherein online audience can interact on live feeds, post pictures, videos, stickers to bring an ultimate user experience. Moreover, choose a speaker that can resonate with both audiences and has the charisma to carry everyone along. This alone can make a world of difference in engagement.
The benefits no doubt, outweigh the challenges and marketer whose aim is to ensure greater ROI on investment need to look for ways to make hybrid event a success. According to experts of HYPA Group, one thing is to never stop learning and working on it!
