Your Step-by-Step Guide To Host Successful Virtual Events At Virtual Summit Platform

Why Virtual?

The global pandemic has necessitated the existence of virtual events. Even in the post-Covid era, they have immense importance. Businesses have understood that online events can offer the same level of engagement as physical events.

• Easy to organize, execute and attend
• Global reach for businesses
• Comfort level of attendees as they need not travel anywhere
• Organizers save on traveling and catering costs
• Differently abled people can join easily
• Learning or taking business decisions never stops
• Provides networking opportunities

How to Host A Summit?

Organizing a virtual summit requires proper planning and execution. An online platform enables you to organize your event efficiently, thereby allowing you to focus on generating leads and creating an immersive experience for your global attendees. Read on to find out how to set up a virtual event successfully for your business.

Plan the event in advance

When hosting a virtual summit from scratch, you need to set a date well in advance to work out the logistics. You also need to use the time wisely to choose the topic and the expert speakers.

Choose the right platform

Based on your requirement, you can choose from many platforms that are well-equipped and offer various features, from co-hosting with another organization to advanced moderation tools.

Plan the content

Once you decide on the summit hosting platform, you need to streamline the content for your events such as the landing pages, keynote speakers, promotional content, email marketing campaigns, and many more.

Choose the right time

Virtual summits are often the meeting points of different cultures and global industry professionals. As a host, you must know the total number of global attendees and choose a time after considering the different time zones, and fix the duration of the virtual summit accordingly, including Q&A time.

Chat rooms and networking lounge

Businesses resort to virtual summit platforms for their immersive features. Connecting and easily interacting with audiences from different parts of the world on an online platform is a great innovation for businesses. Therefore, networking rooms like executive rooms, community chats, etc. are set up for attendees’ interaction and engagement.

Use immersive features

virtual event management platform comes with many features to create a memorable event experience. We think that the following features work best in favor of online summits hosted at a virtual summit platform.

• 3D Virtual Environment
• Attractive landing page to receive registrations
• Real-time data about user interaction
• Live polling
• Event ROIs reports
• Informative webinars or speaker sessions
• Live attendee status
• Live Q&A features
• Customer support kiosks
• Immersive exhibit halls

Clear communication before going live

Before live streaming your virtual event, schedule emails to notify the attendees, and keep them updated about the event with details about the speaker sessions and webinars. Resort to simple and clear instructions.

Smart marketing strategies

Leverage smart marketing strategies before the event to raise awareness and also to share success stories after running the event successfully. Leverage social media platforms and email marketing tactics for the same. It is important to let people know about your event and how it is incorporated into the image of your company.

Smart Tips For Organizing A Virtual Summit In 2023 & Beyond

New year, new aims, new aspirations, new hope – as online platforms became a necessity for businesses during the Covid era, chances are they may remain relevant even as things gradually return to ‘normal’ and we embrace the ‘new ways of working.’ Businesses have realized the significant benefits—from reduced costs, and the ability to scale their guest lists to holding online events, meetings, and conferences. As an organization, if you are planning your next big virtual event and want to ensure full attendance with your immersive summit, read these smart tips to get the most out of your online summit.

• Ensure that the virtual event fits with other online experiences - To eliminate monotony, mix myriad content formats - from video-on-demand content to exciting live sessions and interactive workshops. Ensure ample scope for attendees to interact and network.
• Plan shorter duration events to retain focus - Everything is trending shorter these days. A recent Microsoft study revealed that the human attention span is only 8 seconds. Hence, smaller, more focused virtual events are more effective in facilitating improved interaction and engagement.
• Ensure that the virtual event fits with other online experiences - To eliminate monotony, mix myriad content formats - from video-on-demand content to exciting live sessions and interactive workshops. Ensure ample scope for attendees to interact and network.
• Provide ways to engage thoroughly - An immersive and memorable virtual event offers several ways for attendees to engage instead of only having the speakers talk incessantly. Chat features, polls, and Q&As allow an inclusive and engaging way to interact with each other and establish connectivity, which is very important to maintain in the virtual world.
• Eliminate the fluff - Concentrating more on the topic of the event or meeting is of prime importance as it helps to value the attendees' time. Hence, it is essential to remove fluff and design a program that quickly gets to the point.
• Communicate the value of attending - Time is precious and so virtual summit organizers must communicate the value of attending the session. Providing a strong value proposition in the beginning and explaining what the attendees will learn after attending the session is important to its success as it helps them to make informed decisions.
• Go for live sessions - Engaging content and dynamic presenters contribute to the success of an online event. Avoid recorded or scripted sessions and include more live presentations to keep the element of curiosity alive.

Final Thoughts

As digitalization is here to stay, virtual events will remain a permanent part of most organizations’ growth strategies - along with the juxtaposition of physical events. Creating unique events and content, knowing your customer’s journey, and leveraging the right talent and technology can be a game-changer of sorts, now and always. Happy hosting and organizing!