The Covid-19 outbreak continues to make virtual collaboration a mainstream tool. Institutions and organizations have adapted to this change and people have become accustomed to it. As organizations and events see it, virtual events culture will continue to prosper, and become as powerful as physical events.

One of the key challenges in hosting virtual events is audience engagement. So, to amplify engagements within your virtual event, leveraging the right engagement tools is the key.  The idea is to boost virtual event engagement and have attendees hooked from the comfort of their homes. 

How to make a virtual event engaging?

This is the major question that lingers in the minds of event planners who are regularly hosting such events.

1. An eye catchy interface:  With the help of the fast-pacing technological advancements, web developers have been able to take the level of virtual events to the next notch. Advanced UI and UX techniques are being used to improve the quality of experience.  This will attract more users and will help drive better responses from the attendees. Virtual platforms now come with varied customisable features that allow users to create a digital session as per their preferences, thus enabling a captivating environment for the existing audience.
   
2. Amplify on social media:  One must not undermine the potential of social media platforms. These platforms are a great source to promote your upcoming virtual event to entice more individuals. Event profs can strategically plan out and create engaging content that generates excitement in people about your event, much like physical events. While all may not attend the event, social media will certainly help amplify the reach, send the right message and perhaps, generate better engagement in the long term for your event.
   
3. Gamification: Gamifying various areas of your virtual hybrid events is one to accelerate the virtual event. Incentivizing attendees with digital rewards are one of the smartest virtual event engagement ideas today. Allow your attendees to earn cool rewards or points for every action they take and have some gratification or giveaway rule that will help in more drop ins, and also keep users hooked till the end!
   
4. Keyword’s optimization: Keyword optimization is one innovation that attracts more traffic, and drives quality engagements before, during and after the virtual events. Adding appropriate keywords to your data allows users to come across your content more frequently.  With the help of the right keyword optimization tools, you can easily analyse what your target audience is looking for and incorporate the same in your content to make it more worthwhile.
   
5. Create a tempting sneak peek: A great marketing strategy than showcasing a tempting glance of your virtual event. Virtual events make this possible, with the use of digital technology and providing a tempting sneak peek into how the event will unfold. This tactic develops a sense of curiosity among the audiences and helps them understand your perspective with better understanding. 

Attending virtual events is not as stimulating as a live physical event. Herein, virtual event attendee engagements remain the major challenge. Virtual events therefore stand a risk of attendees who may sign up, but don’t join or drop-off amid sessions. Attendees partaking in online sessions at their convenience from their space are often distracted by other activities on-hand. So, it is essential to deploy the right event audience engagement techniques and tools to make virtual events an enriching and memorable experience.

Author:

Anubhav Bajpai, CEO & Founder, VouchPro on Five ways that take virtual events up a notch.