The success of a virtual event depends as much on the platform you use as it does on speakers and marketing. A good virtual event platform streamlines event management and helps event organizers reduce costs, engage attendees, and reach larger audiences for online events.
But that’s only half the story. The right virtual event management platform can be a powerful tool to drive lead generation and grow sales for your business. If you want the best return on your investment, you owe it to yourself to understand how a virtual event platform can help you achieve your strategic business goals.
In this article, we’ll discuss four strategic elements to consider when assessing a virtual event platform’s present and future value, and we’ll look at four platforms that can help you achieve your strategic goals.
A virtual event platform can provide a significant strategic advantage to your business. Here are four key elements to consider when you’re comparing different platforms.
Do you plan to host live or hybrid events? If so, you should look at virtual event platforms that can increase attendee engagement and help you reach a larger audience. That means you need a platform that can meet the needs of both in-person and virtual attendees and provide a seamless experience.
High-quality live video educates, influences, engages, and inspires audiences at hybrid and live events. Platforms should let you livestream or webcast events and enable real-time interaction between in-person and virtual attendees and presenters. Look for platforms that can record and store videos so attendees can access sessions they missed or want to see again. Also, consider platforms that allow multicasting and social media integration to maximize audience reach.
To build brand awareness, attract leads, and grow sales, you must provide an immersive event experience that engages attendees. Look for customizable virtual event platforms that let you change almost every aspect of your event’s look, sound, and feel. With fully customizable platforms, you can incorporate your branding and provide a seamless attendee experience at every touchpoint. Customization can also help attract sponsors and exhibitors by letting them incorporate their branding throughout your event.
Platforms with engagement features and tools keep attendees engaged with your event and allow them to interact with each other and with presenters and exhibitors. Collecting and analyzing the impact of your event lets you ensure you’re maximizing your return on investment and reaching your event goals. Consider virtual event platforms that provide engagement KPIs such as the number of attendees and their location, their level of engagement with live streams and content, how they paid for the virtual conference, and how long they stay on the conference platform.
Pro Tip: Learn how you can use Sequel APIs to get attendee engagement data insights and analytics at a user level, session level, or across a company.
A virtual event platform with effective marketing and branding features can be an excellent way to raise brand awareness and generate demand in the global market. Leverage your event with customized branding, email marketing, and sales and lead engagement tools to attract and engage attendees and convert them into customers.
If you’re already happy with your CRM and other business systems, you should look at virtual event platforms that offer smooth integration with your existing marketing solutions. If you’re not using a CRM, you may want to consider platforms that offer lead generation and email marketing features.
Pro Tip: Hosting your virtual event on your own website is the best way to drive website traffic, convert attendees to website visitors, and drive sales. Learn how to add live video to your website with Sequel.
Sponsors can be a great source of revenue, and they can attract more attendees to your event. Go beyond simply placing sponsors’ logos on your event landing page to incorporating sponsorship opportunities throughout your event. Consider platforms with the flexibility and customizability to provide sponsored assets like sponsor landing pages, meeting spaces or presentations, branding on live streams, and digital show bags.
Monetization features can turn your event into a revenue generator and help improve ROI. Online stores, on-demand content, and special features such as VIP access to private seminars or Q&A sessions are great ways to monetize your event.
Virtual events are also an ideal fundraising solution for nonprofits and charitable organizations. If you are planning a fundraising event, consider platforms that offer fundraising tools such as crowdfunding, raffles and contests, and auctions.
Pro Tip: Event data provides valuable user insights that you can leverage to qualify leads and drive more sales. Create a data-driven monetization strategy using our guide.
Sequel is an evolutionary virtual event platform that brings the in-person experience to hybrid and virtual events. A simple and elegant solution based on flawless technology, Sequel creates an immersive and engaging branded experience right on your website – with no extra code.
Access powerful and user-friendly engagement features such as networking circles, live Q&A, polls, and chats that let event attendees interact in real-time. Our virtual event features are designed to reduce distractions, ensuring virtual attendees stay focused on your event.
You’ll have everything you need to generate demand and drive conversion. Sequel grows traffic to your website, helps you rank higher on SEO, and converts 100% of event attendees to website visitors.
From small meetings to large-scale global conferences of up to 2 million attendees, Sequel will help you create events that drive demand and grow sales to give your business the strategic edge.
No Code Website Embedding: Host events directly on your website to boost your brand, drive SEO, and increase conversions.
Virtual Stage: Sequel’s virtual stage lets you host live virtual events. Provide the best livestream experience possible with virtual green rooms, dedicated RTMP streaming, backstage areas, and advanced video production tools like video overlays.
Flexible: Add Sequel to your tech stack with CRM, marketing, and video production overlays.
Hybrid Events: Provide a seamless and engaging experience for in-person and virtual attendees.
Build Your Own Event Platform: Use Sequel's API to create your own virtual event platform, with a low code option for developers to cut development time from months to minutes.
Live Support and Training: Enjoy live support and training through onboarding, implementation, and management of your events.
Splash gives event marketers the tools to design, build, and execute virtual and hybrid event programs. The Splash platform helps companies market, measure, and scale their event programs by automating event planning, ticketing, registration, and email sequence. It also provides tools for event privacy and protection and event role management.
Custom marketing tools: Create fully-branded event pages, emails, invites, registration forms, social cards, and confirmation pages to provide a seamless registration experience.
Attendee Data Capture and Analytics: Capture attendee data at registration and through RSVPs and check-ins and use real-time data visualization to assess event performance quickly.
Automated Registration: Splash automates and streamlines event invite, reminder, and follow-up email sequences and uses smart guest lists and targeting to optimize the registration process.
Built-In Integrations: Share event data in real-time with integrations for Salesforce, Marketo, and Slack or use Splash’s API to build any connection you need.
Sequel Virtual Stage Integration: Turn any Splash event into a virtual event by embedding Sequel’s Virtual Stage into your Splash page.
Run The World is an all-in-one virtual conference and event platform that provides ticketing, event registration and hosting, payment solutions, email marketing, live streaming, and audience engagement and community management tools. Events and virtual meetings hosted on Run The World feature a built-in online community so attendees can interact before, during, and after the event.
Affordability: Run The World’s free tier allows you to host an unlimited number of virtual events with up to 50 attendees. The Pro tier will enable you to host 500 attendees for $79/month.
Free Features: All service tiers include a host of free features, including registration and ticketing, customizable invitations, round table breakout sessions, and interactive polling.
Multistreaming: RTMP streaming to YouTube, Facebook Live, and other platforms.
1:1 Speed Networking: The Cocktail Party allows up to 3 rounds of one-on-one networking.
RallyUp is the only virtual fundraising event platform built from the ground up to help nonprofits raise funds in the online giving community. RallyUp provides virtual and hybrid event hosting, interactive livestreaming, and a range of embedded fundraising activities such as auctions, raffles, sweepstakes, a-thons, and crowdfunding.
Free to Use: RallyUp offers free pricing to nonprofits and charitable organizations.
Streamlined Fundraising Management: The platform streamlines the processes for fundraising, donations, event management, and campaign tracking to save time and money.
Custom Event Branding: Event organizers can create custom fundraising pages, URLs, campaigns, and other elements to provide a seamless experience.
Integrations: RallyUp integrates with fundraising and social media platforms like ActiveCampaign, Stripe, Facebook, and DonorPerfect.
Scalable and Flexible Fundraising: Auctions, raffles,a-thons, crowdfunding, and sweepstakes can be scaled and configured to meet the organizers’ needs.
With unsurpassed demand generation capability, no-code implementation, and video streaming functionality, Sequel checks every box in your virtual event strategy.
Schedule a personalized demo today to see how Sequel can help you get the most out of your virtual and hybrid events.
Or, if you want to dive right in, create a free developers account, download our documentation, and start building your own virtual event platform in minutes.
