Tips & tricks to help you choose the best virtual event platform

Did you think that with come back of face-to-face (F2F) events, virtual events would disappear???

Well, we had our doubts too.??

Regardless of getting back to in-person events, we’ve seen that Virtual Events are here to stay. And not only as full digital events, but especially digital pre-and post-event communications, interactions, and community building have become an essential part of the overall strategy.??

With that in mind, Event Organizers should be prepared to go virtual at any moment, even if the event is planned to be a 100% F2F. This could happen overnight, as we have seen many times in the past years.??

Although the logistics and planning are very similar to F2F events, they are a very different beast. The key challenge is to find a platform that allows you to fully engage with your target public and offer a complete event experience and content.

When researching online, you can find hundreds of different platforms. It is overwhelming, and doubts will arise. How do I choose the right one? Will I get all the tools I need to engage with my attendees properly? Will it work? Will I be able to prepare everything in-house, or do I need external help??

To answer all these questions, we’ve prepared this simple listing on finding the best Virtual Event Platform so that you, as an Event Planner, don’t have to waste time nor effort in selecting the right one for your event.?

The first step is to figure out what makes it the best platform for you, your event, and the goals you want to achieve. We have gathered this under the WIPI acronym.??

So, what’s a WIPI platform then??

• Works. It Works for us (event planners) and our event. It has everything we need and provides excellent functionality.?
• Intuitive. It’s simple and easy to use for everyone?
• Plug & Play. It doesn’t require any special software to be installed, and the hardware requirements are basic?
• Integrated. All the tools are built-in, and it offers an integrated experience?

The next question is: what does it take for a Platform to be WIPI? We’ve done some research, and we like to sum up the main categories one must consider.??

COST, OPERATIONS, STREAMING, INTERACTION, TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS, and finally, ANALYTICS. Let’s take a deeper look into each concept and make sure you understand it all.??

COST?

Anything related to its price, cost model, subscription options and levels, etc. Some platforms will charge you per number of registrations, length of the event in days, or depending on the features you add. It is essential to be aware of this, as your event budget varies.?

OPERATIONS?

This is probably the most extensive category since here we can find whatever affects the platform’s basic operations and personalisation, mainly under these three pillars:?

• Registration?
• Communications?
• Design?

The more customisable these three pillars are, the better the experience for your attendees and the easier it is to reach your goals and obtain good feedback. Think of it as the matrix of your event. Try to have as much control of it as possible because every little detail counts for the attendee’s journey.?

STREAMING??

When it comes to content delivery, posing the right questions is essential. The streaming platform is one of the key elements that help your event to be successful. Knowing which protocols the platform is using or the latency on the streaming can make a real difference. It will determine the quality of the video and sound during the event and thus affect the attendee experience.

Event Organizers should be prepared to go virtual at any moment, even if the event is planned to be a 100% F2F

INTERACTION?

This is probably the most important category of all, the game-changer. Attendee engagement comes mainly from interaction, so pay special attention to this one and see what the platform has to offer under these three sub-categories:?

• In-session interaction: Q&A, chat & polls during the sessions.?
• Networking options.?
• Gamification tools.?

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS?

Anything with the word “technical” is often overlooked. We tend to trust that things will work for everyone, and the reality is different. Keep an eye on things like browser compatibility, mobile responsiveness, server capability or external integration availability, to name a few. Again, you don’t want your speakers or attendees to face technical issues.??

ANALYTICS?

Virtual Events can give you access to some very privileged information about your attendees. They can show exactly what your audience is more engaged with and for how long. There are so many metrics to analyse that we could write an entire article about data analytics in virtual events. And to be right about what platform fits your goals best, remember one rule: the more data, the better.

But not only the amount of data necessary but also how this data is presented. Make sure your chosen platform gives you understandable and easy-to-work-with reports since it will make your life much easier. Any after-event sales action brings the opportunity to convert into a lead.?

A lot of details to consider as you see. We will dive deeper into details and compare platforms in the following articles.?

GET IN TOUCH

If, in the meanwhile, you need to prepare a virtual event, remember that Intracon can help you leverage the best solution for your case. We are experts in finding the best tool and configuring platforms and running it entirely for you, hassle-free, especially in this ever-changing environment where time and resources are critical.??

If you are IN for a free call with an expert, please get in touch with us and let’s start talking about strategic partnership starting to embrace the change: Meet with Carolien Kroon .?