Virtual events are progressively gaining prevalence to become a significant part of businesses in the modern world. We have already moved forward from the step of getting used to virtual technology. Now, it’s time to think of innovative ways to make our virtual events stand out.
Virtual Expo is an event that facilitates your organization or business with a more engaging way to share content or information with your audience. The advanced virtual event technology provides your attendees with the opportunity to not only interact and network amongst each other but also with the exhibitors. Therefore, these events work in favor of all the participants of your virtual expo, including you.
However, as we shift from physical venues to virtual event platforms, there’s a lot of efficient planning required, so your event doesn’t turn out to be tedious and unsuccessful. Let’s discuss below how to host a successful Virtual Expo.
Let’s explore some of the most effective ways to host a successful Virtual Expo:
1) Frame Your Goals
Determining your goals behind hosting a Virtual Exhibition or a Virtual Trade Show is a very important step in the process of planning a successful event. It can be considered as the first move to ensure a positive outcome from your virtual expo. To frame further structure of the event, you need to begin by deciding what you’re expecting out of the event. Once the goal is determined, you can move forward with the execution of your plans. It will also help you with the assistance in choosing the right resources for your event further.
2) Plan and Strategize the Event in Advance
Depending on the determined goal, you can proceed with the strategizing of your entire event plan. Deciding on things like the registration process, interaction & engagement elements, sponsoring tools, event platform & layout design, etc., will help you execute the event efficiently, without any hassle. Once you are done with deciding these crucial elements, start by determining the strategy to execute them. Planning and Strategy do not only bring proficiency to your work but also a smooth workflow that saves your time.
3) Frame a Valuable Content
While working on the content, you should remember to acknowledge your participant’s wants and needs. Your target audience always has some expectations from your Virtual Expo. In fact, they register for your event only when they know that your virtual expo is something of their use.
Therefore, framing the content that is valuable to all your participants is significant for your virtual event. Make sure you structure relevant content for your attendees. The event experience of your attendees is vital to ensure the success of your event and this step helps you in achieving that. Your participant’s experience is automatically elevated if your event keeps them engaged with the valuable content.
Everything, from the layout design of your virtual event platform to the branded banners visible on them, everything accounts for valuable content.
4) Choose the Right Event Technology
The right Virtual Event Platform will ensure the success of your event by providing all the accurate tools required to execute your virtual expo. All your efforts in planning and strategizing the event can go downhill if they are not presented well on the virtual event platform. A virtual trade show involves many important elements that come together to achieve a successful event. For example, the virtual event platform you choose must provide you excellent customizing opportunities so you can design and frame the virtual expo booth according to the theme of your event.
An efficient technology also ensures that there are not going to be any technical errors, glitches, or device support issues. This point is also very essential to host a smooth event.
5) Make your Virtual Expo More Engaging
Elevating the quality of your event’s engagement tool is another thing that will assure the success of your Virtual Expo. Ever since the event world has shifted to virtual platforms, it has become more challenging to make your attendee feel involved in the event as they are already attending your event over screens. The well-analyzed and planned engagement tools will make your attendees feel involved throughout the event, enhancing the chances of hosting a successful virtual expo.
You can add various engaging elements to your event like providing branded photo booths or social and signature walls on the platform, or sending swag bags to all your attendees. Another popular way is to incorporate live polls, contests, Q&A sessions, trivia, or even games. A virtual scavenger hunt or escape room would definitely do wonders to increase engagement in your virtual expo.
6) Make the Information Easily Accessible
Moving to virtual platforms means decreased patience level. If your event fails to interest your attendees, they are just a click away from leaving the event in between. Making all the necessary information and documents easily accessible to the audience will elevate their user experience and fulfill their expectation.
This also includes the content visible on your virtual event platform. For example, an attendee is looking forward to accessing the sponsored data visible on the backgrounds but fails to view or download the details. This will lead to your attendees feeling disappointed and you as an organizer wouldn’t want this, right? So make sure that all the information you put up on the platform is easily accessible to your attendees. This factor also includes embedded links, downloadable pdfs, exhibitor details, video pop-ups, attendee’s business cards, etc.
7) Ensure Smooth Navigation
Knowing the importance of user experience, it’s vital to remember that your virtual attendees are looking forward to having an effortless experience. Just like event organizers, the attendees are also in the process of getting used to virtual event platforms. Therefore, you need to make sure that the functioning of your virtual platform doesn’t get too arduous to understand for your participants. Instead, it should be an easy task for your attendees to navigate through different locations in the virtual venue. Smooth navigation will also assure the success of your virtual expo by increasing audience interactivity.
8) Incorporate Excellent Networking Tools
Most of the participants at your virtual expo would be expecting to have preferable networking opportunities as well as expanding their contacts and reach. To ensure the success of your event, you also need to make sure that your attendees feel fulfilled with the event experience you provide. Incorporating excellent networking tools will not only improvise the quality of your attendee’s experience with your virtual expo but also expand its reach.
You can add networking elements like virtual coffee talk or breakout sessions, presenting your attendees with a perfect networking opportunity. Some well-founded virtual event platforms also render tools like a meeting scheduler through which your attendees can schedule a meeting with the exhibitor or other participants at a preferable and convenient time, during or after the virtual expo.
9) Comprise Beneficial Sponsorships
When looking at the event execution with the perspective of value, profit, and revenue, sponsorships are one of the best options. Most effectual sponsorship tools do not only bring in more engagement but also elevate the event experience of your attendees. Ideas like sponsored swag bags, sponsored meals/coffee, and sponsored jam sessions, etc., are the proven solutions that can make your participants feel more involved in the Virtual Expo. The goal of sponsors is to promote themselves, so the more sponsored components you include, the more your event’s positive outcomes maximize.
Great sponsorships do not only decrease your expenses but also enhance your revenue, making your virtual expo more successful.
10) Keep Track of Event Data
Tracking and recording the event data helps you in several different ways. It can benefit you in both short and long-term prospects. Recording all the impressions facilitates you with the data you can use to indicate your event’s performance. This also includes a track record of your strategies and the responses they gained which can support you in further planning and strategizing your future event expos. Also, a track of your digital attendee footprints provides you with the information of each move all your participants made during the event, from how they registered to how they engaged, which tool they used.
All in all, you can keep a track of all the activities your audience indulged in. This element helps you in creating an analytical report that is beneficial for your future goals too. An efficient virtual event platform facilitates you with all the required tools that can assist you in ensuring the success of your Virtual Expo.
Book a Demo with Dreamcast now and experience countless tools to make the most out of your Virtual Expo!