How To Increase Virtual Event Attendance

Prevent the embarrassment of poor attendance and engagement at your virtual event. Knowing how to attract people to your virtual event, then keep them engaged will make your event more memorable and considered more of a success.

webcastingandvirtualevents.com gathered the following information about multiple ways to increase your virtual event’s attendance while increasing their duration at the event.

Who Is Your Audience?

One of the first steps to delivering an impactful virtual or hybrid event, that people actually want to engage with, is to gain a deep understanding of your audience.

Optimize Event Landing Page

Your event landing page is where your potential attendees will first learn about your event in great detail, also generating a first impression. Impress your potential attendees with a clean, organized, easy-to-navigate page, communicate clearly, and present a concise event offering.

By the time this article was posted, we can safely make the assumption that everyone is burnt out from never-ending zoom invites and lengthy online meeting agendas with unclear verbiage. Simplify your approach and deliver a refined event promise, highlighting the value it offers. Present as many event details as possible in a simple way – what’s the concept & purpose of the event, what problems/questions does your event address, what to expect from speakers, events, and sessions, and who to contact for further clarification, etc. 

Cross-Advertise Your Virtual Event

The theme or purpose of your event will determine where you choose to advertise. However, if your event is open to the general public and you want to increase its potential reach, list it on websites such as Eventbrite, Facebook’s listings for events, and other similar sites. It’s usually free of charge to list an event on most sites, and these listings can exponentially increase your reach, especially if your event subject relates to what people are searching for.

Increase Email Marketing Campaigns

Email is one of the most effective ways to engage your audience and drive virtual event registrations. Create emails that highlight different segments of your event; from networking opportunities to keynotes to breakout/lounge sessions.

Communicate with attendees who have already completed their registration. This may involve sending event reminders or pre-event content that helps foster excitement about your event. Finally, include a simple way for everyone to add the event to their calendars.

Note: Your email base will only spend 11 seconds or less browsing your emails. This means your communication should be conveyed at a glance. Emails with bold imagery, clear calls-to-action, and relevant messages will perform best. However, it’s essential to A/B test different variations of your promotion’s emails to find which performs best for your audience.

Encourage and Reward Your Attendees for Bringing a Guest

Consider how referral campaigns work. If your attendees refer other attendees to your event, they should be rewarded. Encourage event attendees to refer other like-minded people to the landing page or to the event. It could be a friend, a mentor, or even their whole community. Rewards could range from a gift card to a new pair of air buds.

Put together a referral and reward program, then let your attendees know about it and its potential rewards. As soon as someone adds a guest to their registration or just publicly shares information about the event asking more people to join, show them gratitude, and send them a reward. 

Use the Influence of Your Speakers, Special Guests, and Moderators

Make sure your speakers or moderators vigorously promote your event and their participation in it on their own social media channels. They may have a sizable audience who are fans of their work and will be inclined to attend. Confirm early on if your speakers will be emailing their own networks with event information or sharing it on social media.

Note: This should work both ways; in return for their support, promote your speakers on your channels and tag or link to their pages so they can benefit from your audience as well.

Pre-Event Q&A with Your Speakers and Experts

Assume the role of your potential attendees. Wouldn’t you love to get answers to questions you have about an event? Especially one you’re considering investing your valuable time and energy in. Allow your attendees to ask questions (pre-event) to speakers or event staff.

Consider sponsoring a real-time Q&A session or a chatbot on your event’s website. Virtual event platforms make this fairly simple. You can create an open and moderated Q&A session right from the organizer dashboard.

Tip – Once you’ve done the above tactics to increase your event attendance, learn these 13 Ways To Make Your Virtual Event More Engaging.

Offer On-Demand Post-Event Content

Entertainment and content is a significant reason for attending your event. If you will offer on-demand recordings and presentations after your event is over, make that abundantly clear during registration.

Even if attendees can’t participate in your event, they may still be inclined to register if it means having access to the on-demand content post-event.

Note: They’ll still be engaging with your content and brand, even if it’s not live.

How To Increase and Maintain Virtual Event Attendance

In this article, you discovered several ways to increase your virtual event’s attendance and keep their attention while they are there.

Clearly defining your audience and marketing to their interests and likes will increase attendance and focus in your virtual event.

Without leveraging the advantages and knowledge you possess when marketing your audience, you are likely to have poor attendance at your virtual event.

Sources:
socialmediatoday.com/news/how-to-shift-from-physical-to-virtual-events-and-maximize-event-outcomes/574048/
specialevents.syr.edu/resources/virtual-events/index.html
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/bitstream/handle/10919/100861/37%20Virtual%20Event%20Ideas%20for%20Your%20Next%20Online%20Event.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

See https://webcastingandvirtualevents.com/how-to-increase-virtual-event-attendance/ for the first version of this content.