When you create and host a Virtual Event, you are looking to boost your brand reach and reputation by providing people with unique insights on a given topic. By interacting with customers personally while addressing their questions and concerns, you are able to cast your brand as an authority in the space and build relationships with those who attend.
How to Organize A Successful Virtual Event
Hosting Virtual Events effectively
Before you begin your actual Virtual Event, you’ll want to be sure you have everything in place to make it successful. Do your research, know your topic and know it well, know your audience, choose an event duration that works for your topic and audience, and practice before you get going. In order to be seen as the expert during your presentation, you’ll need to be fully prepared and that means a mock presentation.
As you begin planning, your event duration won’t be the only thing you need to worry about. Your virtual event should have at least three main parts:
01.
Introductions
You will need to introduce your presenters and explain their expertise and connection to the event topic.
02.
Core presentation
This is the longest part of the virtual event and should frame your opinions and data as a story. Structure your presentation as an engaging tale that helps listeners understand how you arrived at your opinions and how they are impacted by the information you are sharing. Most importantly, you need to show your audience how your insights will help them.
03.
Question and answer session
It is important to leave time for questions at the end to boost engagement and help you learn more about the interests of your prospects. The questions will help you focus on areas where concerns or uncertainty exists but that you might have missed. They will also help build a greater sense of connection between you and your prospects.
What is the optimal duration for a Virtual Event?
The exact duration will depend on your topic. The majority of virtual events are around 60 minutes. This will generally provide you with ample time for the three sections of the session:
• 5-7 minutes for welcomes and introductions.
• 38-45 minutes for the actual presentation.
• 10-15 minutes for questions at the end.
Occasionally, brands that have very high customer engagement rates or that are covering a particularly lengthy topic may go closer to 90 minutes. This hour and a half mark should be the maximum as longer online events run the risk of seeing audience drop-off.
While you want to inform your audience with plenty of industry knowledge that’s trending, you want to avoid boring them. If your online event goes over the suggested time, your audience will not only drop off but they also may not return in the future.
Creating a Virtual Event can not only help you engage your audience on a more personal level, but it will also answer their questions and offer you the opportunity to be seen as an expert and a thought leader in your field.