If the last year has taught us anything, it’s that virtual events are here to stay, regardless of how the epidemic unfolds. Unsurprisingly, the number of companies organizing virtual events is expected to quadruple by the end of 2022. Surprisingly, 55% of event planners expect to increase their investment in virtual events in 2021. The worldwide virtual events market was valued at $78 billion in 2019 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 23% through 2027. The virtual event trends in India have also followed the international trend. As a new concept, many users have been unable to quantify the number of events they should attend in a week or fortnight. This is why screen fatigue is a common issue due to which the overall popularity of virtual events could reduce. However, the event organisers should take account of some important points, as presented below, to drive more attendance to the virtual event:

Virtual Event Platform

This might sound basic, but it is crucial to note that the platform on which the event is organized plays a significant role in attracting people. Make sure your platform can manage an event of your magnitude and that it has all of the interactive features you’ll need, such as polls, breakout rooms, live chat, and feedback systems. Virtual event platform eventually helps in increasing the success rate of the overall online exhibition event.

Create an Attractive and Engaging Landing Page

First impressions are crucial. Your event landing page is where potential attendees learn all there is to know about your event. Dazzle them with a concise event offering, clear communication, and a beautiful page UI. Try to make the page engaging and appealing to the people. Give as many facts about the event as possible in a straightforward, easy-to-understand manner – what is the event’s idea and goal, what problems does it address, what to expect from different sessions, who to contact for additional information, and so on.

Start Promoting the Event Early

In general, virtual event participants tend to register in the last month before the event. This is no reason, however, to begin advertising it as soon as feasible. Be the first to put a date on your members’ calendars and exploit the time between updates, incentives, and syndicated material to pique their curiosity.

Increase Your Email Marketing

According to Markletic’s recent research, email is the single most successful technique to promote virtual event registrations for 76% of marketers. Create emails that highlight different aspects of your event, such as networking hours, keynotes, and breakout sessions, inside your email campaigns.

List your Event in Various Platforms

This step can determine the nature of your event. However, if your event is accessible to the public, try putting it on services like Eventbrite, Facebook’s Event listings, and other comparable sites. It’s usually free to post your events on other websites, and it can help you reach a wider audience, especially if your event is about a topic that people are looking for.

Leverage Influencers

Engaging an influencer will help in improving the overall buzz about an event. The overall reach of the event will increase and hence attendance will be improved significantly. In the current scenario, there are several nano and micro-influencers on different social media platforms that could be leveraged to increase the overall popularity of the virtual event.

Leverage word-of-mouth from existing attendees

Live reviews and reactions from existing attendees on social media platforms could help overall popularity for an existing event. Further, such reactions could help in engaging more audiences in future events.