You're planning a virtual event. How can you make it stand out with VR marketing tools?

There are hundreds of virtual platforms nowadays, and in addition to choosing them based solely on objectives, budgets and audience, it is necessary to know the limitations of development. Currently, the ideal is to try to cover as much audience as possible, and for this, we cannot be limited to just Virtual Reality. With the increasing rise of WebXR, opting for platforms where the user can access these events through a computer browser, smartphone, VR headset, or perhaps even a television, is necessary for a greater reach of users. Note: it is worth mentioning that when developing applications in WebXR, it is necessary to be careful when developing very heavy 3D assets, as well as textures, etc.

Integrate social VR spaces where attendees can network, interact, and share experiences. Facilitate connections by recreating the social aspects of physical events, fostering a sense of community among participants.

Web-based or bespoke app? Accessible or immersive? Prioritizing the right platform is as crucial as picking the perfect venue for a physical event. Consider your budget, audience tech-savviness, and the level of interaction you crave. A basic platform might reach more people, but a customized VR app could blow their minds. Weigh options carefully – your event's success hinges on this first step.

So many tools we can choose, but let's consider a physical event. We're not only there to network and shake hands. Good food, entertainment, unexpected moments, engaging distractions are equally important in the event experience. Ok, food might be hard to translate into virtual events, but even this aspect could be some food for thought (pun intended) when programming your virtual event. Content is king, and no tool can shine without engaging storytelling. In between sessions we have amazing opportunities to engage your attendees, which I often miss. Many VR environments are simply 1-on-1 copies of physical environments, which can feel ackward and cold. Let's try to find a hybrid form between "space" and "interface"!

From a development standpoint, the choice between web-based VR platforms and standalone VR apps depends on factors such as accessibility, scalability, customization, interactivity, cost, and hardware requirements. Developers should carefully evaluate how each option aligns with their project's objectives and target audience to make the most suitable choice.

One of the crucial things about such events is ensuring the resonance of the theme with the audience. With personalised elements that can offer interactivity to the attendees, the environment can serve as the foundation of a successful VR event.

Design an environment/app/game that makes you proud and want to show it off to your audience at the event. There are so many elements to designing a VR environment including 3D models, 3D sound, and interactivity to name a few, but the visuals you display around the experience is perhaps the most important aspect to get right. Spend time on the branding, naming the experience and edit a video and display it on a large screen. Peak the audience’s interest from a distance and get them to want to experience your VR app for themselves.

For designing a VR environment, all we need: 1. Designing software based on the environment requirement (don't ask me which software). 2. Interface software, that will covert your 3D design into virtual space (Unity & Unreal). Also, we can directly design VR environments by using the latest software (ShapeXR and Gravity Sketch). There are other thousand ways available on the Web to design a VR environment, but I prefer the above two methods, because it's easy, less time-consuming, and most importantly I know these software, so there is no sense of learning different software where I will get the same output.??

In an virtual environment, often less is more. You need to consider the diversity of your users and their ease with technology, especially one that requires your spatial awareness such as VR. The less text, the more accessible it will be and the more representative. Make them engage in the scene by creating simple passive interactions (e.g collision box that triggers the pop up of an object or an audio). You want them to still be focus on your product, but they will remember it better around an experience they could feel a part of. Have a standardized style for your UI that matches your color and don't hesitate to engage their senses and use some feedback redundancy (sound, haptics)

Design immersive virtual reality experiences for applications such as virtual tourism, training and education simulations, remote meetings and collaboration, fitness and wellness activities, art creation and appreciation, real estate visualization, gaming, healthcare therapies, online retail and shopping, and social gatherings. These VR designs offer innovative ways for users to explore, learn, interact, and connect in immersive 3D environments across various industries and domains.

To create extra excitement and a taste of what is to come AR can be used with some of the same assets and characters that will be used in the VR event by sharing QR codes or links for people to access with their smart devices. The characters can then play pre-recorded messages and promotional content for the potential event goers which they can then also share and send to others. Then, seeing those same characters or assets at the event, in VR, that they saw in AR in the build up to the event will create a sense of familiarity with what is coming and make attendees feel privy to additional context.

One of the ways to attract the public to these events is by creating memorable assets, which make the user want to show their friends later that they participated in that event, some of these examples could be: ? Skins for the avatar; ? Animations that refer to the event; ? Avatar attachments; ? Custom stickers; ? Etc;

When you'd like to make a VR event and you need to promote it; There are a few pillars that you may not want to miss: ? Are you making an irl/online or a hybrid event? [Your promotional materials will change according to do that] ? Who is your target audience? Are they enthusiasts,XR devs or a great 'poutpoureee' of all? [The promotional material,your chosen platforms and your content creation should be alligned with your target audience]. As an example,if you're making a VRChat event;you're probably,targeting seasoned VR users and gamers; sponsored ads on Instagram may not work as well as you aimed but,if you're already a member of several VRC communities and share your announcements with them,you can reach your target audience easier.

Make your VR experience as memorable as possible. Your audience will likely have experienced many other apps/games throughout the event and you want yours to be one that is on their mind when they leave. Something you may want to do to help your audience remember your VR experience is to give away things such as business cards, stickers or flyers that clearly show the name of your app/game along with key visuals, social media information and anything else you wish to include.

This is the easy and the hard part. if you set up your event and the environment design in a proper way to catch the audience's attention and satisfy them with a marketable idea. then it will be easy to reach audiences. the hard part is that when it comes to VR, it is expensive and not so easy to use. so you need to convenience in a way that it is for the audience's benefit to use this tool and this can be tricky. It will change with the Idea and the way you are going to promote the event.

One of the main aspect is accessibility and interoperability. Is VR widely accessible by your audiance? May be you should host your event on a cross platform; so anybody with a VR headset, a mobile device or a computer can attend. Will you really need hardcore presentation mechanics? Then consider this and do not forget to host your event on a computer or web based platform. Or may be you will need event recording or AI features for the non-attenders. So They would reach to the top moments of the event even after days and it would create good follow-up chance.

Be creative while hosting the event and do things that other hosts may not have thought of to boost the recognisability/memorability of your VR experience. Examples could be include the ability to use a haptic suit in a game you’ve created, have someone dress as a character in your game and use props to decorate the space you are in. The goal is to be unique and stand out from the crowd.

For an interactive experience you could host your event in VR social apps like Meta Horizons or VR Chat. These apps could be useful for holding meetings or other events

When featuring a VR experience at an event, remember that while the headsets will draw attention, it's beneficial to broadcast what users are seeing inside the headset to a nearby TV or screen. This allows others to get a glimpse of the experience, sparking their interest to try it themselves. If real-time casting isn't feasible, consider recording a short clip of the VR experience to play on a loop during the event. This can effectively attract more attention and encourage participation in the VR activity.

Provide clear instructions: Guide attendees on how to access and navigate the VR environment. Offer tutorials and support resources for first-time VR users. Facilitate social interaction: Create designated areas for networking and socializing. Encourage communication through voice chat, avatars, and interactive activities. Monitor and support: Have a dedicated team ready to troubleshoot technical issues and answer questions throughout the event. Collect feedback: Gather feedback from attendees to improve future VR events and understand their impact.

Wenn es geht schon w?hrend des Events ein Recording durchführen und daraus ein Rückblicks- und Testimmonial-Video erstellen, welches im Nachgang viele Menschen aus meiner Zielgruppe erreichen sollte mit den üblichen Mittels des Online- und ggfs. Offline-Marketings. Z.B. eine Print-On-Demand Postkarte an jeden Teilnehmer mit einem Foto der Person / Avatars / Persona vom Event, klar, mit einem QR-Code zum Video etc.

Feedback is a great way of finding out what your audience thought of your VR experience. Remember to prepare questions with particular emphasis on how you can improve your experience. The feedback critiquing your work shouldn’t be taken as a negative, but rather it should be seen as a way of building your experience to its full potential, to be the best it can be.

What will the audience take away from the event? Will content still be available as in section 3 so word can be spread? Get feedback and act on it, giving updated content to keep the customer interested.

Consider organizing a follow-up event a few days or weeks after the main VR event, which can be in VR or on any other networking platform. Thank all attendees and share with them the main takeaways from your event, and how the success of this event will feed into future ones! Be fully transparent about the things that did not work and ask for feedback and suggestions for future events.

Take screenshots/pictures during the event and send them out as a thank you and throwback time. Little rewards for those who fill out a survey and some others rewards for the ones that shared on socials their time during the event. Gather mostly quantitative data that are easy to analyze and evaluate, but keep one or two open questions on the overall experience and feedback from the event.

A VR event should consider how non-VR users can still attend and contribute. The participation should not rely on having access to a VR device; instead, the organisers should offer alternative platforms that enable communicating with both people in the VR space and people who might just lurk on a non-immersive 2D platform.

It can all depend on the audience, as an educator and early adopter of VR at first it was new to our primary audience of 16-year olds but quickly soon wore off. This in contrast to the adults that we demonstrated a recreation of a historical village who were blown away and wanted to see more.

Enhance your VR event by incorporating haptics and other sensory elements: - Use devices like the Subpack, a personal subwoofer that you wear, for a physical audio dimension. - Introduce scents with products like OVR or through manual means. - Experiment with temperature changes in a controlled environment. These additions create a more immersive, multi-sensory VR experience for attendees.

The VR consumer market is very small compared to any other digital consumer market. If your goal is overall awareness of the event you should strongly consider integrating it with a broader traditional marketing campaign. This can happen in three stages. 1. Before the event, where you announce it on social media, show teasers of what might be expected, build up momentum and collect registrations. 2. During the event. Don't be afraid to do a live stream or engage the on-location crowd to use a certain hashtag to drive more awareness. Make sure you have participants agreement to share their image in online posts. 3. After the event you can create a case study/event break down post or video. This will help create expectations for the future.

I think the most important thing to consider is not to overdo the innovation. In most cases your audience will not be very familiar with very simple but “fresh” things so it may be good to keep it a simple as it gets but with full focus on a very simple idea/feature or your idea. This also goes without saying but for formality let me mention that whatever you come up it has to be stable. Stability and comfort will be more crucial for the final grade by your booth visitor than stunning graphics. So make it work as good as you can with the most limited version you can to make the solid result.