Webinars and virtual events have become somewhat of a staple in the events industry, ever since the pandemic forced them upon us in 2020. But people are easily distracted online. It’s easier to not show up to a virtual event and building connections remotely is more difficult. That’s why prioritizing audience engagement for virtual events is so important. This article shares 12 ideas for virtual event engagement:
People crave in-person experiences today, which is one reason why events are so effective.
(In fact, our 2024 Outlook on Events report notes that almost 78% of marketers say events are the most effective marketing channel.)
But sometimes, getting people together in person isn’t feasible.
Webinars and virtual events have become somewhat of a staple in the events industry, ever since the pandemic forced them upon us in 2020.
And you know what? They’re not too bad.
Yes, they have challenges. People are easily distracted online, it’s easier to not show up to a virtual event, building connections remotely is more difficult, and digital fatigue is still very much a thing.
That’s why building audience engagement opportunities into your virtual events is a must. Whether you’re hosting a virtual conference, a small virtual get-together, or a webinar, here are some ways you can bring the energy.
Select the right speakers. Nothing kills an event faster than event speakers who are dry and uninteresting. Even the smartest, most innovative speaker will draw a disengaged crowd if they aren’t compelling themselves.
Get the audience groovin’. Start the event strong with some music. Whether you have someone playing acoustic guitar live, are streaming a YouTube playlist, or are picking up the mic yourself, this is an easy way to get your audience amped.
Use event technology with engagement capabilities. If everything you need is under one roof, it’ll be a lot easier to pull off a high-engagement virtual event. Make sure your virtual event technology has polls, Q&A, chat, and breakout sessions enabled. (We’ll talk more about each of these.)
Let attendees choose their own adventure. If you’re hosting a multi-day or multi-session event, the typical “choose your own adventure” is by using tracks. But how can you implement this if you’re hosting a short virtual event, or even a webinar?
Simply open multiple breakout rooms at the end of your event (even the last 10 minutes), and have internal representatives in each. Some ideas:
Have a live Q&A. This gives your audience a chance to dig deeper into the ideas you present at the event. But don’t rely on them to jump right in with the questions. Create seed questions just in case you have a shy group of people. These can jumpstart more questions from your audience.
Incorporate insights from your registration data. We love a good custom question on the event registration form. The data you can collect from these questions can help inform your event discussion. It can also get your attendees thinking about the topic beforehand, which can get them excited about participating in the event.
Send attendees pre-work. This encourages them to be hands-on during the event. Take the event ROI calculator example from a few items above. During one of our virtual events, we helped attendees build their own event ROI calculators. But to do that, they had to come to the event with some data specific to their company. By giving them this pre-work, it helped them maximize their time at the event — and stay engaged.
Use a variety of content formats. Having diversity in your content can help keep engagement and energy high, especially if you’re hosting a longer event. One of our favorite use cases: using pre-recorded video. This gives the audience a chance to hear from various people. (It also takes some pressure off of your event hosts and speakers, which they’ll love.)
Send attendees snacks for the event. A low-energy crowd is a disengaged crowd. And one of the best ways to boost energy: food.
Host a contest or raffle. If you’ve ever attended a Splash webinar, you know that we usually ask attendees to comment on a LinkedIn post. We raffle off a prize to one person who comments, and we reveal the winner at the end of each webinar. This is a great way to start a virtual event in an engaging way and keep them invested throughout. (Plus, it doesn’t hurt your social media engagement metrics.)
Another game we love at virtual events: trivia questions. Kahoot is a favorite tool of ours, especially at internal events, to create healthy competition and some fun.
Encourage conversations in the chat. Prompt them with questions. An easy way to start the conversation and connect people is asking where people are located. Throughout the event, ask questions related to the event content. Steer away from yes/no questions. Instead, use it as an opportunity to get real insights from your attendees.
Ask for feedback. Do this toward the end of your event. Ask a one-question poll: How likely are you to recommend this event to a friend or colleague? If you can’t get to this by the end of the event, make sure to send a request for feedback within 24 hours of the event.
Since 2020, webinars and virtual events have become an important part of marketing and event strategies.
And even though they might seem (at least on the surface) easier to plan and manage, they’re not without difficulties. Attendance rates may not be as high as in-person events and it’s much easier for attendees to feel distracted or disengaged.
That’s why audience engagement is so critical for virtual events.
When attendees are engaged and invested, they’re more likely to speak highly of your company, attend future events, and become a business opportunity.
