Introduce to Hybrid Events in 2021
The last year brought unprecedented circumstances in our day to day lives with the sudden outbreak of a global pandemic. The advent of the COVID-19 affected the event industry appallingly. The pandemic has pushed organisations around the world to adapt to the new ways of hosting events. The event industry was the quickest to transit to virtual venues to keep going.
A year or two ago transiting completely to virtual events seems like a futuristic idea. But, sooner than we realise, the event world has experienced a dramatic change in the ways how events are hosted. As we walked ahead with time, hosting virtual events became the new normal. It has opened the pathway for businesses to enhance the event outreach by enabling attendees to partake in sessions remotely from their geographic locations. Event marketers have quickly pivoted virtual events to keep the pipeline filled for the year and keep generating business revenues.
Hybrid Events are the New Normal in 2021 & Beyond
As restrictions started uplifting, hybrid events came into play. It’s a perfect amalgamation of live physical and virtual events. A small gathering of people attends an event by gathering at an on-site location. Whereas a maximised number of virtual attendees attend the event virtually from the comfort of their own homes. The hybrid events offer enormous benefits to upscale any event experiences. Today, the market is flooded with umpteen virtual hybrid event platforms. Select the platform that best translates your live physical event experiences to deliver immersive experiences to attendees.
In a recent survey of event planners, 30% responded in favor of executing virtual events in 2021, whereas 42% admitted that they will go with the hybrid event strategy. Undeniably virtual hybrid events are the future. An increase in the percentage of hybrid events is anticipated to be witnessed in 2021 and beyond.
With the technological innovations by tech enthusiasts, hybrid events offer a great opportunity for personalisation to deliver immersive event experiences. In this article, we have scrutinized expert tips event planners must consider before planning hybrid events in 2021 and beyond. So, without wasting any time let’s get started!
Have a virtual first mentality
2020 was a touchpoint for virtual events with an upsurge in virtual events happening around the globe. Unfortunately, COVID-19 was the catalyst for the sudden transformation of event formats. In the dim light of pandemic, virtual events have let the boat rocking for many businesses and enterprises.
2021 is the year of hybrid events. It should have robust content and deliver engaging experiences to attendees. Event marketers should have a mentality to think about virtual first.
They should first think about the right use of technology to create compelling event experiences for attendees.
As compared to physical attendees, the attention span of virtual attendees is a lot less. They get distracted easily by various things happening in the surroundings. Curate tailored content that wants a limited attention span. It holds the attention of attendees while delivering the brand’s or company’s message effectively.
Promote Engagements
Audience engagement is one of the crucial steps to ensure successful virtual hybrid events. A recent survey reports that attendee engagement is the major challenge that lies within hybrid and virtual events. Event marketers are working towards implementing innovative ways to deliver immersive event experiences to attendees. Create a virtual hybrid event engagement strategy focusing on both virtual and in-person attendees. Integrate games such as crosswords, spin the wheel, shooting games, etc. to keep attendees engaged with the event throughout.
Curate a compelling and interactive content
Apart from gamification curating compelling content is a must to hold the attention of attendees with hybrid events. Create opportunities for attendees to have seamless communications in real-time on a virtual hybrid event platform. Integrate Q&A sessions amid your online event for an easy flow of conversations. It allows attendees to ask questions seamlessly. The key to delivering memorable content that attendees reminisce in the long run is to create opportunities for easy interaction.
Hire the right event tech
One of the biggest factors that are responsible for the success or failure of hybrid events is the selection of the event technology. Today several options are available in the market. Leverage the virtual hybrid event platform that offers a list of comprehensive features and best translates your events expectations. Event technology plays a significant role in hybrid or virtual events planning. It helps in delivering immersive event experiences to attendees. Whereas marketers can easily fragment valuable data and insights from the virtual hybrid event that helps in measuring event success.
Create adaptive hybrid event strategies
As the event industry transited to hybrid events, marketers have pivoted to more advanced event strategies. With the paradigm shift in the event formats, creating an adaptive virtual hybrid event strategy becomes the main focus to ensure a successful event.
Flexibility is one of the major benefits of hybrid events. It enables attendees to partake in sessions virtually as well as by visiting an on-site location.
More adaptive virtual hybrid event strategies are forecasted to be foreseen in 2021 and beyond to upscale event experiences.
Selecting the right venue is crucial
Same like physical events, while hosting a hybrid event on-site event location holds utmost importance. As hybrid events are an amalgamation of the live physical and virtual event, the venue plays a significant role. Selecting a convenient location taking health concerns and safety in mind is a must. Additionally, the venue must support technical aspects concerning the virtual component of the event.
The event location must have stable internet connectivity as a large segment of attendees are partaking in sessions virtually. A 360-degree screen set up around the event venue helps in delivering immersive experiences to virtual attendees. However, making them feel they are present at the event Live and can interact with other attendees and host in real-time.
Wrapping Up
Undoubtedly, the future of the event industry lies within virtual hybrid events. In the coming years, we are sure to foresee a spike in hybrid events. Event marketers are coming up with creative and innovative hybrid virtual event strategies to get the best out of event formats. Today, marketers have pivoted to virtual hybrid event formats completely to foster meaningful connections and generate great business capital. With the long-lasting impact of a pandemic, marketers have learned to pivot to virtual hybrid events. In this article, we have summarised the top 6 tips that event marketers must keep in mind while planning hybrid events in 2021 and beyond. Hope this would be of great help to plan out your next move!
