Case Study - Platform Search and Select

We all know there has been a massive surge of virtual events in the past year, which explains the number of event technology platforms pushing past 300. At the beginning of 2020, virtual events were not on anyone's radar. Fast forward a year and it’s safe to say they’re now here to stay. According to a recent study by Bizzabo called the Post Covid 19 Event Outlook Report, an astounding 93% of organisers plan to invest in virtual events moving forward.

With these stats, it can be extremely overwhelming for event organisers to know where to go when looking to take their event online. This is where we at EventMind come in, we help clients choose the right event technology platform for them and their event. In this case study, we wanted to help event organisers out there to prepare your business to make the best event technology purchase possible. We’re so passionate about event technology and we think it's really important for clients to have the information they need to make not only wise purchases, but time and money efficient decisions too. I’ll be discussing the process we went through with a particular client in the gaming sector, and how we found the right event technology for them.

With all of the event technology platforms on the market, it can be hard for event organisers to narrow down what suits their event. According to Bizzabo 2020, over 80% of event organisers have admitted that they reach a much wider audience with virtual events so i think we can all agree that virtual events will be sticking around for a while - so now is the time to really firm up your virtual event strategy and decide upon your desired platform. It has been estimated that event organisers spend roughly 16 hours on event technology demos, to put this into perspective, that’s 2 working days. Not only is time an issue for organisers out there, but companies don’t know who to trust with the amount of platforms on the market. With virtual events being fully in our lives now for the past year, it’s a great opportunity for companies to switch to a new platform as their understanding of event tech grows, and their understanding of the market and their strategy improves.

With time being very precious for many companies, at EventMind we wanted to help them with narrowing down the search for them with our platform search and select feature. Our platform search and select feature helps clients with choosing their event technology. We have a database of over 200 event platforms, and we work on an unbiased basis so we can provide transparent and trusted advice. With many teams usually waiting to make decisions, and the IT or tech team wanting an input in this decision - it can be really stressful to work together to find a solution which pleases everyone.

The Client

A client approached us from the gaming sector with the need to find a virtual event platform which they wanted to use for the next year ahead. They had eight weeks to make a decision on what tech to use, so plenty of time for us to have in-depth conversations with them and make suitable recommendations. This client had already used an existing platform which they adopted early on in the pandemic, however they’re now thinking this isn’t the best fit they wanted for 2021.

This client had a number of stakeholders in the business that had opinions on what technology was best, and what the strategy was for their online events to keep evolving as time goes on.

This presented challenges for the client to decide when and how to switch their tech provider, which is why the client came to us. The client was actually recommended to us as we provide unbiased and transparent opinions which mattered to them. With them being relatively short for time, they trusted our opinion which is why they chose our platform search and select feature. This service is one of our main ones as many companies don’t like making these big decisions themselves, and just don't have the time. We also find our platform search and select feature typically solves direct and common problems within a company. If you are struggling to find the right platform for you, book a time in our diary to speak here. Our overall aim was to help the client with this service in a quick and simple way which made sense.  When speaking with the client, the priorities of the platform were the following:

• Ability to host multiple live streams
• Multi Language
• Breakout rooms
• Easy to use platform

Within our service, alongside narrowing down the platform for the client, we also gave them the following:

• Audience insights
• Generational insights
• End of campaign report generation

We take pride in our time we spend on working with our clients, this specific client had an interest in the generation Z audience, and therefore we sent them a report explaining what generation Z are looking for from their online events this year.

The Process

From the moment of contact from the client, communication was key. We asked the client for their event briefs, and we put together a special matrix where they could put all their information.  The first step for us was to review the market thoroughly. This consisted of us doing a competitor analysis to see what similar events are on the market and what could impact or potentially affect our clients' events. During this market research we take our time as we want to fully explore the market and create a clear picture for our client. On a regular basis we speak to all of our event technology companies on our database and they submit us information we need to know for our clients. We have a really good relationship with the platforms on our database, and we only work with those we trust. When reaching out the event technology platforms with our clients event information, they submit a proposal to us which we then review and assess. With this knowledge we already had, we then narrowed down the platform search to a small number of platforms that we thought were most relevant and suitable based on our clients requirements.

With the information we have gathered, we then created a report for the client with our findings, considerations and recommendations for the event technology platform. With this report, we meet the client to have a broader discussion around it and to explain why we made the recommendations we have stated. We’re fully aware that clients who have modern audiences made up of a variety of age ranges are interested in the generation Z and millennial sector and this specific client was interested in this audience. For this reason, we provided our knowledge and report we had created to the client for our discussion. We’re seeing many clients now interested in content management systems as well as a virtual platform, and so we discussed with the client what they needed to know. They were debating whether they could do the content management system on the same platform as their event, and whether it should be done this way.

From carrying out our discussion based around the proposal we had created for the client, we agreed on the platform that would work best for them and they were able to approach us with any queries they may have had.

Summary:

From carrying out the full platform search and select feature with this client, we were able to fully provide them with the information they were struggling with, and also save their time. All they needed to provide us with was their event brief and requirements for their platform, and then we searched the most suitable platform for them as well as providing them with insights into the market and the Gen Z audience.

We really pride ourselves with our unbiased and trusted nature and we’re really happy the client was satisfied with the service they received and found the perfect platform for their events going forward in 2021!

EventMind does not endorse any particular virtual event platform or software. We review the platforms available on the market monthly (through a combination of client feedback, test events and demos). If you're looking to make online events simple, or want trusted and unbiased advice, then contact the team today by emailing [email protected] or calling 0330 133 3485. We are always keen to get guest contributors on our blog, if you'd like to write a blog on our site and be fully credited, please email [email protected].