How to Keep Your Attendees Engaged at Virtual Events!

Most event planners were almost exclusively focused on producing live in-person activities until Covid-19 changed the global events calendar. However, many people were forced to adjust rapidly to the new standard and transfer their events online as a result of the global lockdown.

Virtual events are the next big thing for business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs. The idea of being able to attend a seminar or workshop from home is so appealing that virtual events have now grown to a multi-billion dollar industry, with millions of people signing up every month.

So, how do you keep your attendees engaged at virtual events? Read the entire article to find out.

What is Audience Engagement?

Audience engagement is probably the most important part of any event, be it live or virtual. Your success depends on whether you can encourage a full participation from your attendees.

When participants have great interaction, it raises the revenue potential for your business and can boost sales after the virtual event has ended.

Signs of Audience Engagement

The signs of a good event engagement are easy to see: from attendance to participation, social media engagement to content sharing, meetings held, poll participation, connections made, videos watched, just to name a few.

All-in-all, you want your attendees to be active participants of the event, not passive ones. The first step is to create a list of possible activities that will get them excited and involved in the event.

Understanding your audience is crucial, plus what they respond to so you can include in your event.

Why is virtual event interaction so important?

Virtual events, with a wide variety of interaction resources are a huge benefit because they can improve the effectiveness of the online experience.

Whether you are a seasoned online event planner or new to the field, you know that virtual events can grow a business or organization. To really gain value, online event planning should focus on more than just attracting audiences.

Get much Better Results

You’ll get much better results if your target audience interacts with your brand and each other at the virtual event. Also, when you interact with your audience in a virtual meeting, you can gain an enormous amount of information that will help your business establish itself.

From guiding speakers and rethinking agenda creation to using surveys, Q&As, and gamification, here are ways to increase attendee participation.

1. Use of Social Media Tools

There are different methods in which an event organizer can achieve audience engagement. One of them is through the usage of social media tools to allow attendees to connect with each other.

Social media engagement is about interacting with the people you reach out to. Using industry-specific hashtags allows you to identify, and communicate with potential contacts, which will serve as valuable brand advocates in the future.

2. Use of Questions and Answers

About 36% of attendees check their emails at least once during a conference, and 30% check their social media accounts. With the prevalence of cell phones, tablets, and laptops at virtual events, attendees can be tempted to multitask.

You need to find interesting ways to keep them engaged through the entire event. Create questions for them to answer.

No matter what kind of a virtual event you have scheduled, using questions and answers keeps attention at a high level.

People will Pay Attention with Questions

Asking questions during an event is a proven way to get people to pay attention. It encourages interaction, leads to deep engagement, builds trust, builds credibility between the speaker and audience, and converts more leads.

They also help you keep track of audience interest and needs.

3. Offer Attractive Content

Most companies host virtual events that are pure fluff, with no substance. The best virtual events contain engaging content to hook your audience and help them take action.

An overwhelming majority (86%) of potential attendees will attend and interact if you provide compelling content. Time spent viewing your message, and level of interest all increase when you create valuable content.

4. Capitalize on Live Presentation tools

Utilize live presentation software to engage your audience. Examples of live presentation software include Google Slides, GoToMeeting, WebEx, and many more.

This will allow you to interact real-time with the audience members when they ask questions or even create polls for feedback during the session. They also allow you to display information that’s important for your audience to see without the need for reading.

5. Use of Chat and Video Tools

The use of chats and video tools in virtual events will help you to encourage engagement among your viewers. Not only do they enable real-time communication during events but allow event participants to chat, share videos, and share screens.

These new technologies have reduced the hassle of being in the same room. They provide a better means to foster relationships with your audience and an opportunity to showcase your expertise or products.

Also, live chat and text messaging allow you to interact with those in your audience who may be uncomfortable speaking on camera or participating in a live Q&A.

6. Get the most out of Gamification

You've worked hard to get people registered. Your registrants deserve a rich experience. To keep your attendees engaged, use gamification tactics such as competition, badges, leader boards and progress bars.

Gamification is a great way to keep your audience interested, and even more so for virtual events since attendees are not forced to sit in one place for the whole workshop.

The best trainers can get participants excited about learning new skills with fun games and giveaways. Attendees are more likely to pay attention, and you’ll have a better grasp of what went wrong if they don’t retain anything.

7. Get Better Equipment

Your attendees paid money for the event, so you should make sure the event is worth their while.

Encourage your speakers to give extra value, and create more opportunities for interaction. Draw your audience in with great visuals that complement the presenter’s words.

Make your audience feel like they’re at an in-person event. This is possible if you purchase high-quality equipment for your event.

Get a decent-quality video camera for all presenters. Get better audio equipment too (a simple lapel mic is fine). Record while zoomed in on the speaker and then pull back to wide as he/she concludes.