The growth and normalization of attending events virtually is one of the few positives of this pandemic. Going to your favourite festival online would have seemed crazy last year, but now it’s as normal as it gets right now. But to get here, we’ve had to learn the ins and outs of virtual quickly. Which won’t go to waste, as virtual events will still play a huge part of 2021 and beyond, vaccine or not.
Over the next few weeks, we’re going to share some of our learnings, starting with “5 questions to ask yourself when choosing a platform”.
1)What’s simplest? – Don’t over-complicate things. This will be your guests first experience, so consider every aspect of your event before choosing. Try to pick a platform that’s simple – easy to sign up, doesn’t have too many steps, doesn’t require endless downloads.
2) What’s my audience? – Try to keep in mind what they are already comfortable with. What browsers or social media platforms they may use. It can be frustrating for guests – especially less tech savvy ones – to navigate something entirely new on arrival.
3)What kind of interaction is required? – If your event needs break-out rooms, polls, and Q&As, you’ll need a Webinar platform such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Hopin. If you only require a speaker to a larger audience, then look at a streaming platform like, Vimeo Livestream or YouTube Live.
4)Who’s doing it well? – Take a look around and see what other events similar to yours are doing. Find out which platforms the most successful ones are using. For example, for music look at Tomorrowland. For tradeshow look at CES 2O21, or for sports look at NBA Teams. For internal employee engagement check our work on Diageo’s Senior Management conference here.
5) Do I require stats after the event? – Some “streaming platforms” will have limitations compared to “webinar platforms” on statistics available post events. So if you’re figures based, all encompassing purpose built virtual platforms are your best friend. We’ve found Hopin to be a great platform for this, or as well custom builds where you can set your own tracking KPIs.
That’s 5 things to ask yourself before you choose your platform. There are so many out there, so there’s bound to be one best suited to your event.
