How Virtual Events Will Impact Marketing In 2021
The year 2020 brought a remarkable evolution to the digital world. It also transformed how we plan events. The dramatic switch from the real to the virtual world is one of the most significant changes brought about by the pandemic. As an outcome, we have adapted to the new ways of communicating and doing business. As social media usage grew ostensibly, the corporate world successfully adopted online events and continues to innovate within this realm.
Advent of Virtual Events
Building on some realistic expectations of worldwide health trends and going by months of experience, what remains to be seen is not if, but how, the event management industry will carry on its experimentation with virtual events in 2021 and beyond. Virtual Events is a digital replica of in-person events, but better in terms of cost and efficiency, more diversified in terms of content and meticulous in audience behavioural tracking.
Some of the latest trends in Virtual Events that are going to have huge impact on businesses in 2021:
Live Translation Technology will foster inclusiveness
When we talk about crossing the borders and gathering an international audience virtually, Live Translation integrated in Virtual Event platforms can act as a major catalyst. This will not only make the experience highly customised and personalised, but alsoaccelerate the exchange of ideas between people from different linguistics and ethnicity background. Powered with more diversity and inclusiveness the businesses will have better understanding of global landscape and thus will make wiser decisions to thrive.
Geography agnostic Virtual Micro-events
Also called bespoke events, these events are intimate and highly customised for the likeability of the attendees. The rise of Virtual Events, gives an opportunity to network with like-minded domain experts, thought leaders and influencers from across the globe on one platform. Participants can attend the event such as Digital Round Table, Virtual Fireside Chat, Panel Discussionetc. The frequency of Virtual Micro-events is expected to increase, because businesses see tremendous value created by these focused group discussions.
Building Virtual Community
In 2021, the industries catering to end consumer needs are loving the idea of building an online community through virtual events, which is quite different from social media community building. On one hand, for the audience, these types of events give a personalised experience, triggers a sense of belonging, and promote brand loyalty. Whereas on the other hand, marketers can leverage post-event analytics and customer behaviour for executing more focused lead nurturing campaigns. It is an absolute win-win situation for both.
Introducing a touch of personalisation with Multiple Hosts
This sounds like an addition to the budget but trust the experts, all the expenditure is worth it. Having multiple hosts for an event will give the liberty to operate in different time zones addressing audiences from different ethnic backgrounds. This helps the audience to connect personally with the representative of the event thus avoiding the clash of ideology.
Summing Up
Going forward, digital experiences will remain the most useful and cost-effective way of reaching out to a large audience. To perfect the delivery of every virtual event, organizers will need to develop a thorough understanding of what virtual events entail, the commonly used formats, event types, how other event marketers are approaching virtual events and examples of successful online events. And the upward trajectory of online events is also expected to leave a mark on the business ecosystem in the foreseeable times.
As we reflect on the developments of the previous year, it can safely be assumed that virtual events are here to stay. This means that businesses and virtual event marketers will have to be more innovative to amplify engagement and participation in the digital world. If organised with attention to detail, virtual events can prove to be impactful, engagement-driven, and value-adding immersive experiences, going much beyond the computer screen.
