Seminars, conferences, meetings, workshops and trainings, both internal and external, are becoming more and more digitalized. And for good reason: organizing a virtual event has real advantages.

Two years after the beginning of the health crisis, a general fatigue of the virtual is nevertheless felt. Cameras cut off during meetings are multiplying and interest in digital events is losing momentum. So how do you engage remote participants? And above all, how to rekindle the digital flame?

This is what we will see together in 5 key steps.

 

The virtual event, significant advantages…

It’s a fact, the digital trend was imposed on us overnight with the beginning of the Covid-19 epidemic. Today, however, the format is becoming more and more popular… And for good reason, its advantages are numerous: a wider audience (digital has no borders!), a reduced environmental impact (the planet will thank you), savings (reduced operating costs), and above all, ease of organization!

Tip #1: Know your event by heart

Obviously, the first steps are to define the nature of your event (conference, webinar, teambuilding, seminar, training… Everything is possible, even online!), to choose your dates and to elaborate your program.

Then, it is essential to capitalize on a precise and flexible schedule.

If, at first sight, we could think that a virtual event is organized easily… The reality reflects however the opposite. Yes, this format allows you to avoid the race for reservations (of the room, the catering, the hotels…); but having a schedule that can be adapted in real time exactly as for a face-to-face event is essential.

The objective? To face possible unforeseen events: connection problems, potential delays…

Here are three questions to ask yourself, which will help you establish an efficient schedule:

• What is the profile of my participants? 
• What will my event bring them concretely?
• How to engage them so as not to lose their attention?

 

 

Tips #2: Choose the right platform

In order to choose the right platform for your event, start by :

• Identify your objectives (interactivity? Engagement?)
• As well as your needs (technical, broadcasting, animation or analysis).

And to help you refine the choice of your future platform, here are some tips to keep in mind:

• Centralize service providers: there are all-in-one platforms such as Wisembly, capable of managing the pre-event part (dedicated site, registrations, emailings and reminders), the broadcasting and animation of your event on the day, and the post-event data analysis. This will simplify your life!
• Focus on interactivity: succeeding in capturing the attention of your audience and keeping it is the key to success! Rely on chat, quiz or survey modules.
• Make sure that your future platform is compatible with a maximum of browsers: the simpler the connection, the more numerous your participants will be on D-Day!
• Finally, go for the most intuitive: getting used to the platform and being comfortable with it is essential for you as well as for your participants. Training courses exist, but nothing beats a simple and optimal tool!

 

Tips #3: Work on your content… And your animations!

Knowing the process and choosing the right platform is good, but what will make your guests want to connect (and stay connected) on the big day is your content!

Distributing relevant messages and presentations, consistent in both content and form, is the key to answering the question our tip #1: “What will my event bring, concretely, to my participants?”. This translates into a pleasant-to-read presentation, and one or more captivating speakers who know how to keep your participants’ attention.

…But that’s not all. Your moderator will have an important role throughout the event: distribution of the floor, management of the timing, revival of the exchanges… And launching your animations! Parasitic noises and external solicitations can often divert the attention of your audience, when they are at a distance. To fight against this and keep the attention of your audience, interactive modules exist:

• The word cloud, to know the feelings of your participants,
• The quiz, for a more playful aspect,
• The form to free up the floor,
• The survey, to involve participants in the heart of the topics!

 

 

Tips #4 : communicate before, during and after your event

Events are more and more experienced as real medium and long term experiences. An approach that requires effective and structured communication, which can be divided into three stages:

• Before the event: communicating about the place, the date or the registration procedure is obvious. However, a more advanced strategy will make your event shine much more widely. You can customize the platform to your colors, create a dedicated website, send a mailing, prepare your follow-ups and finally, plan a teasing phase, especially on social networks (behind-the-scenes content, broadcasting interviews with your speakers, etc.). A single objective: create a link and make people want to attend!
• During the day: communicating during the event allows you to free up the voice of your participants… And to make the absent ones want to come next time! We recommend you to launch your activities at the right time and to be proactive & flexible with your audience, in order to be able to adapt according to their feedback. Finally, make the event live on your social networks!
• After the event: keep in touch with your audience! Thank you emailing, video replay to relive the event, provision of additional documents on the platform… Keep this content to keep your communication strategy alive in the long term!

 

Tips #5 : analyze your event

Engagement, satisfaction, participation rates… All this data, accessible on the platform after your event, will allow you to :

• Define areas for improvement,
• Create/strengthen your community in a sustainable way,
• Optimize your next events, to reach an ever larger audience!

 

As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, the health crisis has accelerated the development of digital. However, we are only at the beginning of this change, which is both major and lasting: for all the reasons mentioned in our first point, virtual events, or at least hybrid events, are a format of the future. This is why it is essential to question our way of conceiving and animating events – as well as to develop, or maintain, a capacity for adaptation. Curiosity is the key!

And Wisembly in all this?

Wisembly is a French collaborative platform that can be used to host all types of events: hybrid, virtual or face-to-face. Thanks to video & chat combined with interactive modules (polls, quizzes, votes, word clouds…), engaging your audience has never been so easy! But that’s not all: from sending invitations to analyzing data, take advantage of an all-in-one tool to organize successful events.

Wisembly is also 12 years of expertise at the service of your projects and a team of experts who work daily to make our platform the most innovative on the market!$

To learn more, request a free demo from our team by clicking here!