Over the last couple of years, businesses have increased their efforts to scale and maintain a steady stream of clients. But how do they do it?
Combining virtual and in-person components, hybrid events have become the go-to strategy for keeping target audiences engaged.
It’s true that the impact of the COVID pandemic on markets across the globe is on the wane. As a result, more people are eager to participate in in-person events.
But this doesn’t mean that hybrid events are going to be a passing trend.
On the contrary, they’re set to become the prevalent mode of engagement with your audiences in the future. That’s why it’s essential for you to adapt and start thinking about how you can host a hybrid event and merge the best of both worlds.
This article highlights some of the ways your business can benefit from hybrid events, pointing you in the right direction to use this type of event to your benefit.
The Business Uses for Hybrid Events
Use #1 – For Client Data Collection
The audience insights and data received in a hybrid event are possibly the most significant benefit. It allows you to segment your audience more accurately and offer actionable information to event stakeholders.
Let’s give this a bit of context to better understand the forces at play here.
Take live (in-person) events, for example. You conduct a headcount to gauge how many people were present at a particular session. However, audience analysis pretty much stops at that.
Even if you hand out a questionnaire to assess participant sentiments, getting meaningful information from manual questionnaires is tricky and time-consuming.
On the other hand, the software that you use to hold hybrid events can give you the number of participants right away. That’s in addition to engagement, drop-off rates, and other critical event data.
This gives you a chance to tweak your approach for the next event and improve the reach and attendance further. Plus, event sponsors will love the engagement data for their ads and offers.
However, you’ll have to select an event platform that can give you all the necessary insights.
Use #2 – Expand Audience Reach
Compared to strictly virtual or in-person events, hybrid events have the power to boost your reach well beyond what you thought was possible.
A recent survey determined that only 2% of attendees were planning to go to an event.
Now, one could argue that this is because of travel restrictions. But the reality is that it’s more than that. Some people are just unsure about the benefits of an event, but the option to attend virtually may allow them to determine if it’s for them or not.
In other words, with a hybrid event, you’ll have more attendees. And this includes those who have yet to be convinced of the benefits of your business.
Sure, you still have to deliver an outstanding event experience and keep those attendees interested. Even so, the numbers are promising.
Not that long ago, a survey looked into live attendance numbers after hosting one hybrid event. About a quarter of the participating event organizers claimed that their live attendance spiked after the first hybrid event.
Use #3 – Get Higher ROI From Events
In general, calculating an event’s ROI is challenging because there are too many variables to account for.
Despite that, hybrid events still provide better ROI compared to the fully virtual or in-person ones. The reason is that hybrid events are more scalable and you can tap into a much wider audience.
Simply put, higher attendance translates to:
- More options to convert some of the attendees into customers
- More views for the sponsors
- Increased sign-ups for products or services after the event
And as mentioned, you’ll have a much larger pool of data with which to analyze and improve your next event.
Furthermore, hybrid events are great because you only need to implement the required technology once. You can then reuse or adapt the established processes for your next event.
Also, consider this: The virtual aspect of your event doesn’t require setup crews.
While you’ll need those for the in-person portion of the event, you’ll be able to drive down costs because fewer people will be attending in person.
Hybrid Events Make Your Business More Accessible
Hybrid events are more inclusive because they’re not location-bound.
This means that you can target people who might not be able to participate because of their health, resources, or location.
That being said, some argue that live in-person events offer exclusivity, which is true to a certain extent. But it’s also important to not shortchange your company by capping the reach to only those around you.
Focusing on in-person alone can even affect the content quality.
Top presenters, experts, and speakers might not be able to dedicate a couple of days for in-person sessions. But when there’s an option to join virtually and present wherever they are, it’s an entirely different ballgame.
For one, this setup helps improve the content by providing diversified perspectives. You should be able to book more top-tier speakers since they only have to commit for an hour or two. And as a result, attendees will get a higher quality program and a place to engage with like-minded experts from across the globe.
Another added benefit is that attendees can avoid applying for travel cost approval, which may prevent them from participating in the first place.
Get Ready for Your Hybrid Event
Whichever way you look at it, hybrid events improve your business’s reach, engagement, and content quality.
Even better, you get to analyze your audience and participants more accurately and make better business decisions in the future.
But don’t forget that event sponsors will appreciate the high-quality data that you’ll be able to share with them. That may open doors to negotiating more profitable and mutually beneficial sponsorships in the future.
Now is the time to start planning your next hybrid event and boost the reach and authority of your business.
Schedule your demo with us at https://mootup.com/bookdemo.
MootUp was developed to provide advanced options for creating interactive and immersive booths that maximize sponsor and company exposure and engagement. All these capabilities across work in the widest range of devices possible including smartphones, laptops, and tablets without any installations.
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About MootUp
Founded by 20-year virtual-reality veteran, Danny Stefanic, MootUp is a truly immersive virtual event platform. The 3D web technology that powers the platform has evolved over the years to enable 3D environments accessible across any device from laptops, mobile phones, and VR headsets.
The MootUp team is a passionate group of developers, technologists, strategists, and account managers who all believe in the power of technology to help solve business challenges and connect communities around the globe.