Hybrid Events
If the last few years have taught event leaders anything, it’s that the future is unpredictable. The marketing industry has enjoyed (endured?) quite the rollercoaster ride, as events shifted from in-person to virtual and now back to in-person and hybrid.
It begs the question: What’s working when it comes to event planning?
The answer for most is hybrid events, which are fast becoming a popular choice with event organizers - and for good reasons. Hybrid events give marketing professionals a vast menu of opportunities to revamp in-person and virtual event formats and create fresh experiences, inviting in new ideas, interactive formats, and digital ‘hooks’ for cap turing attendee interest and delivering event value. They also enable event organizers to provide unprecedented personalization, empowering attendees to curate the perfect event experience to meet their needs.
Consider that according to a recent survey by Markletic: 86% of B2B organizations saw a positive ROI from their hybrid events seven months after the event date
34% of event organizers expect to invest more in hybrid events in the next few years
21% of marketers said they are procuring a hybrid event platform
25% of respondents stated they will host between five to 10 hybrid events per year
6Connex Chief Marketing Officer, Luiz Martins, agrees that event industry momentum is with hybrid events. States Luiz, “Hybrid events have proven their ROI. Most of our customers aren’t making a binary, “in-person versus virtual” decision, but rather they’re turning to us to host a hybrid event, where they’re reaching the most people possible and taking advantage of the benefits of each format. For example, we’ve helped clients pull off events where a high-profile keynote speaker is tuning in from a remote location, increasing the event’s appeal by giving attendees access to an otherwise hard-to-get thought leader.” Predicts Luiz, “In 2023 and beyond, event organizers will focus on reach and engagement, not on format.”
And now that companies have learned just how well virtual events, with their enticing shelves of content snacks, feed the three market ing “Rs” of reach, retain, and ROI, they’ll continue to serve as an important marketing channel even when live experiences return to calendars post-pandemic.
Hybrid Events are Playing a New – and Essential - Role in Events Strategies
Industry experts agree that hybrid events — which are a combination of an in-person experience and a virtual one — are a growing trend. Remarks Jönsson, “Event organizers already know how to host a physical event. And over the last twelve months, they’ve grown accustomed to virtual event technology and seen the merits of a virtual format. The question we’re now getting from organizers isn’t, ‘Should we do our event in-person or virtually?’ but rather, ‘How can we do both effectively?’”
The answer is simple: plan.
In order to host a successful hybrid event, organizers need to avoid planning a physical event and a virtual event in parallel. “People often ask, ‘What does it mean to host a hybrid event? Is it a virtual event, but speakers are on-site? Is it a physical meeting, but the speakers are remote? Is it a full-scale physical event that is broadcast digitally?’ The truth is, a hybrid event can be any com bination of physical and digital components. There’s no single formula,” explains Sabine Adam, Director of Business Development and Key Accounts at Congrex Switzerland.
Jönsson concurs, advising event organizers to think of a hybrid event as a sort of puzzle. “Dif ferent pieces, such as speakers, sponsors, and engagement tools, fit together to build an event, and the pieces can fit together in any number of ways. Some events may be more physical. Others may be more virtual.”
86% of B2B organizations saw a positive ROI from their hybrid events seven months after the event date
Adam recommends that to execute a hybrid event well, organizers first need to think about where technology adds value to an event and then introduce the technology accordingly. “You can’t just copy and paste what’s been done in the past - either physically or virtually. Outline your event goals for attendees, sponsors, and exhibitors and then identify where technology plays best.” Jönsson agrees, adding, “The most successful hybrid events are those that can blur the lines between digital and physical engagement and drive traffic to each other.”
To start planning, Jönsson and Adam suggest organizers ask the following three questions, taking an “audience-first” approach. As Jönsson points out, “If the audience is happy, the sponsors will be happy.”
1. Where can we leverage technology to add value before, during, and after the event?
When planning your event, it’s a good idea to map the end-to-end attendee experience for both in-person partici pants as well as for virtual participants. Then, identify “technology touchpoints” in each journey to create as much overlap as possible.
X Pro Tip: Prior to the event, use a single registration platform for physical and virtual attendees. Then provide all attendees with a digital badge in the form of a QR code. This QR code can be scanned at sponsor booths, attendee sessions, etc., so that you are tracking all attendee behavior in a like-to-like fashion.
X Pro Tip: During the event, leverage registration and behavior information. Between registration data and behavior data, event organizers can aggregate a lot of information on both their in-person and virtual audiences. They can use this information to their advantage by partnering with an event technology provider with the necessary AI to recommend activities, content, contacts, etc., to each attendee both before and throughout the event, sending push notifications and personalizing the event experience to increase engagement.
X Pro Tip: Make sure the tools used to stimulate engagement online are rolled out to in-person audiences as well. For example, presenters can encourage both physical and digital audience interactivity by using QR codes that drive polls and surveys throughout a presentation. Or encourage the use of apps that work on both desktop and mobile to facilitate content engagement and encourage participants to network.
Many event organizers also gamify the experience for virtual and in-person attendees, offering prizes or other rewards to encourage engagement. Reminds Adam, “Regardless of how you’re attending the event, you’ll remember the content better if you interacted with it. Passive listening does nothing for retention.”
X Pro Tip: Leverage a virtual environment platform that allows various chat functionalities that work across all audiences during the event. Attendees should be able to easily find in-person and virtual attendees with like interests and must be able to connect.
X Pro Tip: Don’t overlook your sponsors. Use gamification tools and other strategies to drive both in-person and virtual attendees to sponsor booths and content.
X Pro Tip: Leverage the virtual environment for post-event marketing. Re-purpose popular content for a weekly blog series or social media campaign. Encourage frequent and consistent interaction with all event attendees to increase exposure and opportunity.
X Pro Tip: Keep session chats open following the event to create a community resource center and continued networking opportunities.
In order to engage as many attendees as possible, however they may be participating, event organizers need to build an agenda that keeps in-person and hybrid audiences equally in volved. Remember that hybrid events are likely to attract par ticipants with different attendance objectives: those who pri oritize learning and are seeking to hear from a thought leader or earn continuing education credits, and those looking to network to identify new opportunities and/or reinforce exist ing relationships. Therefore, it’s crucial to build an agenda that meets both needs.
X Pro Tip: Consider shortening session duration to 20-30 minutes, since studies show attention spans online are abbreviated. Presentations, expert panels, breakout sessions, networking events — all keep attendees moving between content and activities and create an active event flow.
X Pro Tip: Be sure to consider the length of the live event schedule. A hybrid event agenda of 10:00 –4:00 might work better than the traditional 8:00 –6:00 schedule of in-person events.
X Pro Tip: Build agendas that give attendees flexibility and prevent high-value content from competing. People increasingly want to be able to customize their own content schedule, so be sure they have that option — selecting between tracks or choosing activities that appeal to them. And make sure everything is recorded and available online, so if, for example, an attendee forgoes a session to attend a networking event, he or she can still access the content at a later time.
X Pro Tip: Present high-value content, such as a new product launch, in-person, and make lesser value content available virtually. Shares Adam, “If you have something you really want to show off, show it off in person, and then save everything else for download.”
X Pro Tip: If your event is attracting an international audience, consider offering live sessions multiple times throughout the day so virtual attendees have the opportunity to experience a live session at a time that works best for them.
2. How can we build an agenda that appeals to both physical and digital audiences?
3. How can we use technology to understand our event?
The virtual components of hybrid events track each behavior — registration, login, chat, view, download, and share. These numbers are instrumental in determining the number of people who attended the event and the quality of their engagement and experience. It helps sales drive opportunities to the bottom of the funnel quicker and informs larger marketing content strategies.
X Pro-Tip: Make sure your virtual environment technology can capture metrics to prove event success and identify sales and marketing opportunities. The following metrics are a great place to start:
• Registrations
The number of people who registered for the event.
• Session registrations
The number of people who registered for a specific session.
• Demographic information
Data such as location, age, and gender can help event organizers better understand their audience.
• Speaker engagement via event app
Number of speaker profile views.
• Speaker and session engagement via live polling
Response rate for in-event, live polling to measure attendee engagement during specific sessions and identify popular speakers.
• Session feedback and ratings
Data such as attendee satisfaction, attendee session engagement, content relevance, speaker performance, etc.
• Qualified sales leads
Number of customer prospects generated by the event.
• Connections
Data such as the number of people who attended networking events, exchanged contact information at networking events, set up 1:1 in-event meetings, engaged in 1:1 chats, etc.
• Attendee surveys
Data regarding attendee satisfaction.
• Sponsorship engagement
Attendee-sponsorship engagement such as visits, views, likes, actions, etc.
X Pro Tip: Don’t overlook cybersecurity. Event organizers need to ensure attendee information and all of the data they’ve collected throughout the event is secured to the highest standard with end-to-end encryption and no local applications for hosts or attendees to install.
A New Era of Event Innovation
As the adage goes, necessity is the mother of invention. Even before the onset of the pandemic, the need for com bined virtual and physical experiences has been shaping innovations in the 21st century. From booking hotels to calling cabs, the world has been steadily adopting innovative solutions combining both experiences. As the pandemic raged on and the world quickly found itself needing to function in both the virtual and physical realms synchronously, the events space is experiencing a renaissance with unique and innovative solutions rising to the challenge and filling in the gaps. Some of these innovations, for instance, are shaping the following:
Keynote address and break out session dynamics
When we participate in physical events, we usually move from the main theater to smaller break-out rooms, following specific subject matter “tracks.” With the advent of hybrid events, physical attendees can bring a headset (or sponsors can provide a headset in their “swag bag”) and attend their breakout sessions from anywhere using a mobile device.
Space utilization
Event organizers can schedule multiple sessions at the same time but rent fewer rooms. By streaming sessions on individual screens around a hotel lobby, for example, each attendee can access their specific session without moving from room to room.
Mix and match audience interactivity
The combination of physical and virtual attendees at a single event, all united by a single platform, opens the door to a multitude of unprecedented activities and dynamics. For example, event organizers are able to amplify gamification by assigning participants to groups for scavenger hunts that transcend platforms, mixing physical and virtual compo nents. In another example, the virtual environment’s A.I. can track attendee behavior at an event and suggest physical and virtual activities beyond the event environment, such as attending a physical bowling tournament or watching a virtual concert at a sponsor website.
The Many Ways a Hybrid Event Can Be Part of Your Strategy
Hybrid events can play different roles as a part of your event strategy aligned with your goals and objectives for your event. We have seen event producers leverage hybrid events in a combination of formats, the most common being:
Synchronous Events
The physical and virtual events that happen in parallel.
Virtual On-Demand
The virtual event is a followup to the physical event.
Partial Hybrid
Some portions of the physical event are made available concurrently with the virtual event.
Virtual Teaser
The virtual event is made available to audiences prior to the actual event, working as a teaser to generate buzz, pitch to sponsors, and drive attendance.
Synchronous Events
As the name implies, all attendees are present during the same hours. Pro ducers may choose to offer extended hours for virtual attendees. This allows producers to target the physical attendee audience, sometimes restricting to a certain guests’ profile, and assures event producers to set space limitations without giving up on content access and expanded geographic reach.
Generally, when running a physical and virtual event in parallel, the agenda and sessions are streamed live from onsite into virtual. Event producers typically require on-site production support and streaming platforms.
Pro Tips:
X Take questions from virtual attendees during main stage sessions.
X Encourage physical attendees to visit the virtual experience for attendee & content recommendations.
X Mimic exhibit floor “bingo card” with a virtual scavenger hunt.
X Include an “on-site cam” for virtual attendees to experience the feel of the physical event.
Virtual On-Demand
Virtual events are a great way to keep the event going after its live days. Most or ganizers experience the power of keeping events on-demand and know the value of sharing content with new audiences long past the initial event’s main dates.
We typically see live sessions being recorded for later, on-demand, consump tion to new attendees or those who attended physically and want to experience it again. As an added bonus, event producers may include new, fresh material on their virtual event, giving physical attendees another reason to visit. Event pro ducers typically require on-site production support and streaming platforms.
Pro Tips:
X Use knowledge from physical events to adjust your virtual experience: top sessions, Q&A sessions etc. Let virtual attendees “in” on the physical experience.
X Leverage AI matching to encourage physical attendees to visit virtual – more networking!
X Offer virtual show exclusives in booths.
Partial Hybrid
In this format, select portions of the physical event coincide as a limited virtual event, followed by a virtual-only event. Keynotes and general sessions are streamed live from onsite into virtual. Most producers choose to make only a Lobby, and an Auditorium enabled in the virtual experience. All additional sessions are recorded for virtual viewing at a later date. Event producers typically require on-site production support and streaming platforms.
It is common, in this format, for the event to kick off with a combined audience – both physical and virtual. It also allows building buzz and excitement for virtual. Attendees are en couraged to attend the virtual experience for continued learn ing & networking.
Pro Tips:
X Exclusive virtual content may drive increased virtual attendance.
X Leverage AI matching to encourage physical attendees to visit virtual – more networking!
X Offer virtual show exclusives in booths.
X Allows for adjustments to content, offers, and more.
Virtual Teaser
This is a great way to promote your event and get your audi ence in the mood for your event, content, and speakers. Con sider that virtual pre-event workshops can reach a broader audience. Event producers can provide a sneak peek feeling into how you plan your event so you can showcase upcom ing content, agendas, keynote speakers, promotional videos, sponsorship opportunities, product launches, etc.
Pro Tips:
X Leverage AI matching to encourage all attendees to make more connections; physical attendees now have more reasons to meet live.
X Use a scavenger hunt to unlock physical eventexclusive offers.
X Collect questions for keynotes/input for the final session agenda.