With several businesses choosing virtual events and its digital alternatives, event attendees’ attention is being drawn in several directions.

As business leaders consider their choices to offer digital event opportunities, a critical concern remains: How do you craft a captivating virtual attendee experience?

In any virtual situation, it’s challenging to feel truly connected to the other attendants “in the meeting room”. In fact, it’s even more significant for businesses to think about their roles and how their teams can contribute to ensure the attendees’ have engaging virtual event experience.

Let’s explore the basic ways marketing leaders can take a people-first approach to their virtual event and display a more human side, even in digital settings.

1. Humanize virtual networking
Firstly, face-to-face communication, especially at events is unparalleled. It helps build connections that can foster into enduring business relationships. So how do we reproduce the power of in-person communication through the screen?

Firstly, review the logistics of your digital event. Wherever feasible, enable for one-on-one networking chances. This could be beyond the presentations – in the form of content-sharing, live polling during presentations or interactive Q&A sessions among the speakers and the event attendees.

Also, in virtual settings, the digital barrier can cause strained and unproductive conversations. So think of how you can assist your marketing teams to continue to have impactful virtual conversations and offer them with valuable guidance on how to remain authentic.

For instance, as apparent as it sounds – request all the participants to keep their video on! A crucial element that remains constant even in a virtual setting – is the importance of making eye contact. It helps to build long-standing relationships with those you’re connecting. This undersized act is a powerful opportunity to connect with your present and potential customers.

2. Employ data for consequential conversation
People participate in conferences (in-person or virtual) to build connections, pick up innovative tactics and strategies to bring back to their organization, to explore newer technology and make new connections that can usher business possibilities. Unlike in-person setting, there is minimal time in a virtual environment to know your attendees or comprehend who they are and their reason to attend the conference.

Hence, during an event, businesses need to be quick to show that they realize the challenging issue of prospects that can motivate them to act. This is precisely why the sales and marketing teams need to be equipped with data that will allow them to make the most of their time with attendees and also get to understand what they’re interested in most.

Employ technologies that enable you to captivate more significant insights from the participants as they register for the digital event. This can include – what they are keen to see or hear about. Leverage the data to customize experiences and furnish the sales and marketing staff with the intelligence they require to develop tailored offerings.

3. Consider personalizing marketing approach
The future of a tent-pole conference is still uncertain, and until it is back on, virtual events will need to be more targeted along with highly personalized content that will keep the attendees involved and steer towards more constructive conversations.

This need is more so in virtual settings for people to feel a connection to the content that they view on their screen. They need a highly personalized experience to keep them excited about your digital content.

Small and personalized events based on account-based approach will make way for fruitful dialogue and also exchange more specific content with attendees, and render the message that will resonate best with the group at hand.

The uncertain realities of the present times have made us value human connections more than ever.

Businesses need to prepare teams for virtual networking. They need to utilize data and insights to acknowledge attendees’ curiosity and pain points, opt an account-based approach to events, and businesses can make the most of virtual events to develop authentic business relationships that can propel true business results.