The world is heading towards the future of virtual reality. After the novel coronavirus hit our lives, it completely transformed our way of conducting events. Physical events which were once in demand lost their importance as gathering in public became inevitable. At such difficult times, event planners came up with exuberating ideas to conduct their events even during the pandemic crisis. It helped them to continue keeping their audience engaged and also allowing them to interact immersively from the comfort of their houses.
Today, almost everybody is adapting to the new tactics of connecting and interacting with people in a virtual environment. The corporate world is no less! Sooner or later many big corporations have realized that virtual business events are here to stay and are going to rule the world in the coming years. Due to this, many of them have started planning virtual events with the help of event planners, like Smart Works. This is often better for businesses that want international guests to join too.
Now for some, ‘Virtual’ must be a fancy word. It can be something they never heard of before. There are chances of them being skeptical about hosting an event online if they are unfamiliar with its functionalities and advantages. So for people like you, this blog will help you find out innovative ideas to create buzz before your event takes place, involve attendees during the event, and leave them in awe post the event.
So without any further ado, let’s get started with our top 7 virtual events ideas for your next corporate event.
Create an event hashtag
We all know social media rules the world. So it will be great if you take advantage of all the social media channels by adding the relevant event hashtags. This will not only attract more potential attendees at your event but also encourage them to spread the word about your event.
Creating an event hashtag curates a searchable group for your event, disseminates valuable information, and generates excitement among target audiences. Now to get you started, here’s a pro tip: we know event hashtags are meant for inviting more participants but using some else’s event hashtag is not correct. Or using too many hashtags can make you look too desperate. Also do not create complicated event hashtags that might confuse your audience. Keep it simple and easy to recognize your brand hashtags to grab the attention of your audience.
Promote your event on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc., and tune as many participants as you want at your event.
Send out virtual swag bags and gifts bags
Your virtual attendees are always willing to attend an event that provides them with 3 things- knowledge, latest updates, and goodies. So while you are at the planning stage, make sure your content is not hampered, you provide attendees with the latest industry updates, and do not allow them to leave the event without their virtual swag bags.
A swag bag is basically a gift hamper that inculcates all the promotional gifts replicating your brand. For instance, if you are hosting an art festival, then you can send gifts like- handbooks, paintings, or printed t-shirts to your virtual attendees. The most curative way to let people know about your event may be by tying your event hashtags alongside your promotional gifts.
Another way can be, by asking your attendees to post the gifts on their social media account while tagging your event on their profile.
Virtual gift bags are yet another effective and certainly cheaper way to uplift your budget constraints. These gifts can be a reliable resource if you do not have the time span to deliver swag bags to each attendee. You can simply send virtual thank you cards, or vouchers/coupons, e-books, memberships, or subscriptions of any programs, etc. to allow your attendees a valuable experience of all time.
Real-time polling
During the time when in-person events were popular, generating the overall success of an event was a difficult task for any organizer. But not anymore, after people started conducting events in a virtual space it gave them the power of collecting the event insights at their fingertips. A virtual event platform comes with ample features, one of them is live polling. Through this, a planner can easily respond to attendees’ queries, and you include these questions in your live presentations. This increases engagement among attendees while also providing you with worthwhile feedback.
Inculcate fun and interactive games
A virtual event platform comes along with all kinds of functionality that your event may require. One such engaging feature is gamification. Now, one of the most interesting parts of this feature is that you can easily design the look and feel of the tool. You can add games like- spin the wheel, leader boards, popularity boards, quizzes/contests, prizes, etc., to give your virtual prospects an inspiring and eclectic experience. This can be a great way to avoid distractions that might take place in the middle of the event.
Offer sponsorship packages
A sponsor is an essential part of your virtual event stigma. Right from sponsoring the event entertainment to sponsoring your gift bags, there is so much that you can offer sponsors at your virtual event.
A sponsorship package enables sponsors to introduce their latest products and services to the entire community. Facilitates sponsors to host a session wherein the participants can interact and ask questions regarding their brand via Live Q&A feature, or attendees can have a 1:1 conversation via scheduling a call with their interested sponsor. A sponsorship package can also include a sponsored VIP breakout room.
Post-event surveys
Running a virtual corporate event is no cup of tea for any event organizers. It requires an equal share of hardship, time, and money, and much like in-person events. But how to find out whether your event reached its potentials or not? How to know whether your attendees liked your event or not? Or did the event stand out according to the attendee’s expectations?
Now to find out the answer to your question, you must conduct a post-event survey. This event survey will help you figure out what excellence your event and which part of the event had less attendee attendance. These surveys are important to learn from your mistakes and provide a better experience in the future.
Inculcate a good cause
Let’s admit the fact that the pandemic did no good to us. It only lets people suffer from heavy business losses or poor health circumstances. In such tough times, inculcating a charity into your event will tune in more attendees while also make them feel connected with the world.
You can ask for a corporate charity auction or hold a donation ceremony. You can invite non-profits to organize a free virtual booth at your event to collect donations. We can also amalgamate the good cause with your gaming tools. For you, attendees to feel like they were a part of the big cause, ask them to raise money for the charity prior to the event.
To encourage the attendees to participate more, you can also add a leader board and offer rewards or even host an award ceremony for prospects who were able to generate the most amount of money for the foundation.
Over to you
There are many more virtual event ideas that you can combine for your next corporate events. We incorporated only top 7 ideas here to start you with the massive virtual event opportunities that you can draw no matter where you are residing.
Virtual events have greatly impacted the lives of individuals. It helped them reach global audiences, build powerful connections with clients, and network seamlessly without any compromise.
We hope these virtual event ideas work well for your next corporate event. Happy hosting!
