Are Virtual Events Better Than in-Person Ones?

It is an undeniable fact that the events industry is facing many challenges today, especially with events getting postponed or downright cancelled in large numbers. However, even during this stressful time, the professionals within the sector still have something to look forward to in the form of the growth of virtual events.

As this new trend is being viewed by many with scepticism, rumours have already started making rounds, sowing the seeds of doubts about its success and feasibility. However, many experts are of the opinion that professionals within the event industry need to open their minds to the concept of virtual events to understand how they are actually better than face to face ones.

Gaining A Better Perspective Of Virtual Events

Virtual events, despite being conducted in the digital space, are in many ways similar to in-person events organized in the physical world. These events make it possible for people to meet and interact with other event participants using a wide range of digital tools and technologies such as event tracker app and one-to-one interaction features. 

Events can be as small as a team meeting or as expansive as trade fairs, global conferences and even product launches, etc. However, the one thing that makes organizing larger virtual events somewhat challenging is the arrangement of proper logistics for ensuring a smooth participation experience for the attendees. At the same time, these events offer key advantages over physical events which are discussed briefly as follows.

Are Relatively Cost-Effective

Organizing in-person events is often a costly affair as the organizers need to rent space large enough to accommodate all participants comfortably. Moreover, appropriate transportation facilities, food and beverage, and lodging options for outstation attendees also add to the cost of the event. All these expenses are eliminated in a virtual event and this helps in reducing the overall cost of such meetings considerably. The participants can attend the event from almost anywhere across the globe by using appropriate connectivity tools and access codes.  

Offer Greater Flexibility

Virtual events offer greater flexibility by helping the participants and organizers to overcome the challenges of space and time. Unlike, physical events, the virtual ones can stay live from anywhere between one to three months or even all year round. This makes it easier for the participants to attend the event as per the time that is most convenient for them. In addition, these events make it easier for participants to register their responses more quickly with the help of employee engagement software. There is also a greater assurance that these responses will definitely be viewed by the organizers and the keynote speakers.

Better Long-Term ROI

Virtual events tend to have a stronger long-term impact on participants, which helps in improving the overall bottom-line for the organizing brands. In fact, virtual events can prove extremely effective in improving brand visibility and overall goodwill by a significant margin. This is especially true in case of events that stay live for a relatively long period of time and extend attendee interaction facilities beyond the scheduled event participation time. Such services, offered by both brands and event organizers can go a long way in establishing long term relationships between attendees and organizations on the basis of mutual trust.

Enable Easy Data Accumulation

One of the lesser-known objectives of almost every event is to provide useful data insights about the participants to the organizing brands. Such data accumulation becomes extremely easy in case of virtual events as the attendees are often required to provide this data for registration smooth participation experience. This data is digitally recorded through various tools and apps making the process less tiring, faster, and extremely reliable. This data can help organizers to provide a more personalized experience for the attendees and also helps them with the better organization of similar events in the future.

Diversity For Types Of Events

Virtual events can be organized in diverse formats making it suitable for almost brands with different needs in terms of features, services, and outcomes. The organizers can opt for events in the form of webinars, webcasts, and virtual meetings, and video conferencing sessions. All these forms enable people from diverse geographical regions and time zone to attend the event from the comfort of their own homes or workplaces. They also help in minimizing the overall environmental impact besides saving time.