Virtual Events

“There’s no business like show business, but there are several businesses like accounting.” – David Letterman

In virtual events, as in so many other online endeavors, “content is king.” It doesn’t matter how hard you work at marketing your virtual event, attracting an audience, sponsors and exhibitors – if your virtual event content cannot hold the interest of your attendees. Just like an in-person event or live conference, the “show” is the thing that people will talk about long after all the marketing fades from memory.

How can you put on a better show for your virtual event attendees? How can you develop the most interesting, exciting, engaging content that will make people want to share your story and buy what you’re selling?

Here are few strategies to keep in mind when you’re creating content for virtual events:

• Make it visual: Virtual events have come a long way since the days of simple slide shows and conference calls. Keep in mind that for a virtual event, you’re dealing with a remote audience, many of whom are sitting by themselves in front of computer screens. You need to keep them entertained and interested with visually appealing content – whether it’s live video, streaming video, animated clips or a combination. Give people plenty of new sights to see.
• Make it interactive: The whole point of having a virtual event is to bring people together to interact, learn, exchange ideas and collaborate. If you wanted people to just sit quietly and read by themselves, you could have sent them all a book (instead of inviting them to a virtual event). So make the most of the interactive features offered by your virtual event platform. For example, Social27 offers the Mood-o-meter to gauge the emotional reaction of your audience during each presentation or keynote. You can also do other types of instant polling and surveys that go beyond the simple “multiple choice” answers of a traditional webinar.
• Make a “game” of it: People tend to learn the most (and remember the most) when they’re having fun. Virtual events don’t have to be dry, “corporate” affairs. Far from it – with the virtual event technologies available today, there are more ways than ever to use game dynamics to create a fun, collaborative, even competitive (in a friendly way!) atmosphere within your virtual event. With virtual event game dynamics, you can send your attendees on a scavenger hunt or form them into teams to collaborate on shared goals. You can award special “virtual prizes” like badges (similar to Foursquare badges) and other “honors” to give your attendees a memorable experience.
• Mix it up: Whatever types of content you create, keep in mind that variety is the spice of life, and this is especially true for virtual events. Too much of the same type of content can get monotonous, no matter how well the content is produced. Give your audience some education along with some fun. Use video as well as audio. Mix in some straightforward, simple text-based elements along with big multimedia “showstoppers.” And don’t be afraid to allow for some spontaneity – too much scripting can be boring. Some of the most memorable moments from live events happen when talented presenters improvise and react to the audience’s response.

Whatever content you create for your virtual event, keep in mind that there are some key differences between the experience of attending a virtual event and attending a live “in-person” event. You need to keep the audience’s attention not only with compelling content, but with interactive features to get them involved. Even though the people attending a virtual event are not together in the same room, great virtual event content will make them feel part of something larger than their computer screen.

About Ike Singh

Ike Singh Kehal is the CEO and co-founder of Social27, a leading virtual events solution with Enterprise clients across the globe. Ike is a respected business professional with 15+ years of marketing, sales, and business development experience. His latest company, Social27 was founded in 2007 to take advantage of the growing need for social media and game dynamics integration in virtual events. Prior to starting Social27, Ike drove numerous startup projects, including Indiabulls Retail, where he was CEO. Previously, he held various business strategy positions at Microsoft, spread over a seven-year period. Ike is a committed member of the virtual events community and contributes regularly to the discussion at http://www.virtualeventshub.com

Join the conversation. Agree with me? Good. Disagree? Even Better! Tell me why…

What overall “content strategy” do you use to create compelling content for your virtual events? What was the most surprising type of virtual event content that you’ve seen?