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Have you ever attended a virtual event and felt like you were just going through the motions or not really connecting with it? It’s a common thing that can happen during virtual conferences, webinars, and other types of association events due to elements like:
- A lack of discussion during presentations
- Back-to-back presentations in similar styles
- Minimal involvement from the audience
- No activities that help with information retention
Fortunately, if you’re wondering how you can increase engagement for your next virtual event, we have you covered with plenty of ideas that can help. We will unpack why engagement is important, 21 impactful strategies, and technology that can make a difference.
Why Audience Engagement Makes All the Difference for Virtual Events
Virtual event engagement makes all the difference because it helps attendees feel like the event was worthwhile, improves your organization’s image, and leads to better information retention.
For example, offering an option for live audience responses during a presentation can help virtual attendees feel like their voice is being heard and making a difference in the experience. Suddenly, that interaction is a memorable moment attendees can walk away from the experience with. They’ll feel like they connected with your organization, learned something, and be excited for your next event.
What other virtual event engagement strategies can help? Let’s review some different options you can use before, during, and after your event.
Pre-Event Strategies To Boost Attendee Engagement
You can start getting your attendees involved and excited about your virtual event before your scheduled event date even arrives. Some great pre-event engagement ideas that can help are:
Personalized Emails
Rather than just sending generic emails announcing your event date and theme, try to add a personal touch. Segmenting your email list can often help with this. For example, you could send groups of registered attendees curated emails with recommended presentations or activities during your event based on their interests.
Speaker Spotlights
Highlight impactful speakers and presentations that will be at your event. It’s a great way to build excitement while showing attendees what they can expect to learn. Using an event management system (EMS) like Eventscribe from Cadmium can help you easily distribute information about speakers before your event.
Pre-Event Surveys
Send a survey to your audience so they can share what they’re hoping to get out of your event. This can even give you helpful information while you're planning. Implementing some ideas your audience has will boost engagement and make them feel more involved.
Welcome Videos
Share an exciting welcome video when guests register. It’ll reinforce that registering for your event was the right call and keep them looking forward to the experience.
Countdown Posts
Share countdown posts on your event website, mobile app, and social media. It’s a great reminder that your audience should register and know what they have to look forward to.
Sending Timely Reminders
Send some timely reminders as you approach the event date so anyone thinking about attending knows it’s coming up. Our Eventscribe EMS can help you set up a reminder system to ensure these go out automatically.
Interactive Elements That Engage Attendees During Your Event
You’ll want to have some interactive elements planned during your event to boost attendee engagement throughout. Here are some ideas that can help:
Breakout Rooms or Virtual Networking Lounges
Getting your attendees talking to each other, working together, and connecting is a great way to make the experience feel more impactful. Breakout rooms can help attendees discuss relevant topics or work together on a project. Or, you could use virtual networking lounges to pair up like-minded attendees with guided conversation starters to help them connect.
Live Polling or Audience Responses
Break up your presentations with live polls or audience responses. It makes your attendees feel like their voices are being heard. Creating a mobile event app can help you deliver these elements effectively.
Quizzes
Quiz your attendees on what they just learned. It can help them feel accomplished while knowing they’re taking away valuable knowledge from your event.
Gamification
Add gamified elements like point systems, contests, or virtual scavenger hunts to encourage attendees to get involved in activities.
Offer 1:1 Appointments
Offering 1:1 appointments with leaders from your organization or with speakers at the event can help add a personalized touch to the experience.
Social Media and Dedicated Event Hashtags To Create Memorable Moments
It’s also common to wonder how you can use social media to make virtual environments feel more engaging. Here are some ways you can do so:
Create a Hashtag
Create a dedicated hashtag for your event and encourage attendees to post about their experience. This is a great one to get attendees involved while also extending your organization’s reach since attendees are actively sharing the experience with their network.
Feature User Generated Content (UGC)
A dedicated event hashtag is also a great way to find UGC you can feature during the event. For example, encouraging attendees to complete a project before the event and share the results using the hashtag for a chance to get featured.
Run a Contest
Create a contest during your event that requires participants to post on social media. For instance, a virtual scavenger hunt where participants share photo proof on social media that they found the item.
Post Photos or Videos from the Event
Make sure your team is capturing photos or videos of fun moments from the event to post on social media. Those posts will help reinforce the great experience attendees had and show those who couldn’t attend what they missed out on, so they’re motivated to make it to the next one.
Get Relevant Influencers Involved
Connecting with influencers in your industry is a great way to increase your event’s reach. When influencers are posting about your event, planning to do a presentation, or even helping run an activity related to your event on social media, it can all contribute to better overall event success.
Post-Event Content and Feedback for Your Next Virtual Event
Finally, it’s important to consider post-event engagement. Some strategies that can help keep attendees engaged after your event include:
Send Exclusive On-Demand Content
Send your attendees exclusive content based on what they learned during your event. You can even combine this with continuing education courses you offer if they want to learn more.
Follow up With a Post-Event Survey
Post-event feedback is really valuable. It helps you get insights on what you did well, collect ideas on how you could improve, and is another way to make your attendees’ voices feel heard.
Host a Post-Event Discussion Forum
Keep your attendees talking about their favorite parts of the event or what they learned with a discussion forum on your event website. It’s a great way to build a sense of community in a virtual environment.
Review Event Data and Analytics
Review the data and analytics from your event to see if you reached the goals you set, such as attendance, donations, revenue, etc. A well-rounded EMS can help you track metrics accurately and display the data in an organized way.
Invite Attendees to Your Next Virtual Event
If you’re already planning or have a date set for your next virtual event, invite your attendees to it while the most recent event is still fresh in their minds. Now is the time to build the excitement for it!
How Eventscribe Can Help
Eventscribe is an all-in-one Event Management System (EMS) for associations and nonprofits. It’s built to help you bring an engaging, impactful, and organized process to each stage of event planning and management.
Eventscribe can help you increase engagement at virtual events by enabling you to:
- Easily create a mobile app and website to share event content and information.
- Set up a custom reminder system for attendees.
- Perform session scanning and track key success metrics.
- Add interactive elements like quizzes, polls, gamification, and live audience responses.
- Host discussions to increase the sense of community.
- Create and share surveys.
Additionally, Eventscribe is equipped to help with registration, logistics planning, speaker management, coordinate sponsors and exhibitors, and integrate with the technology you use, like your AMS. It’s a complete solution for your event planning and management needs.
Learn more about how Eventscribe can make a difference for you.
