Businesses looking to grow their online reach have started hosting a global audience. That is how you build industry connections and have sales coming in from across the globe. A virtual summit is an online conference held through a virtual events platform. These virtual conferences are the ultimate chance to educate and engage remote attendees in an immersive virtual space. But, it may still bother you, why host a successful virtual summit? A virtual summit or online conference offers an ultimate platform to spark discussion, share information, create engaging sessions, and most importantly, facilitate the networking of a global audience.
Firstly, let us explore in detail what a virtual summit is.
What is a Virtual Summit?
A virtual summit is almost a replication of an in-person conference just held online. Generally, there are 20-30 experts on board who speak on their relevant expertise. These keynote speakers can easily enter the event from remote locations. Generally, a virtual event usually goes 3-4 days long, with the main concern being attending to the audience’s core issues. In fact, online summits support individual and group interactions way more effectively than in-person events.
The online summits are free to attend-hence the email growth opportunities. People sign up and register for the one-day summit or more and review the product and services available. Later, the same attendees make relevant purchases and help a business earn its revenue.
In simpler terms, a virtual summit is also called an online summit, online conference, virtual conference, online event.
Steps to Host a Successful Virtual Summit
Determine the Purpose of Your Event
To begin with, your business should determine the purpose of your virtual conference or summit. Why is there a need to host a global audience? What does your business expect from this conference? How is it important for your business reputation? These questions should bug you when it’s time to host a successful virtual summit. You do not want to dive in without having a clear understanding of the purpose of your event. The success of your conference depends on how well it was planned and managed. It is always better to be clear beforehand if you wish to earn out of your event or build a strong business profile.
Once you have identified the purpose of your event, you will be able to answer the following;
Prepare for your Virtual Summit
A well-prepared event sure becomes the talk of the town. In order to save yourself from the last-minute hassle, prepare well and plan out the entire summit.
Build an Engaging Landing Page
Where are you welcoming your audience? It is the landing page of your virtual summit that firstly attends to your audience. Therefore, you need to have a compelling landing page to get registration from interested individuals quickly. In addition, it is the first impression of the event you are leaving behind. Therefore, you should make sure you have customized it as per your branding, so the attendees do not feel lost. Likewise, managing the content and offerings is also an important aspect of your event. For instance, you should mention the audience’s benefits by attending the event, event agenda, bios of keynote speakers, and schedule of speaker sessions. Also, mention FAQs and attend to any queries from the attendees that might guide them to register to get more people on board.
In the end, it is your choice however you wish to design the event. But note that your landing page should be informative and precise. Also, do not forget to add convincing calls to action notes to turn their minds towards attending the conference.
Get Good Keynote Speakers Onboard
The most integral step to hosting a virtual summit is to have good speakers onboard. Speaker sessions are the core of virtual summits. Your speaker sessions at the conference might go around your business niches, but alongside, it is important to attend to each audience type present at the conference. For example, you can engage marketing personnel with speaker sessions on current marketing strategies. This is how you would be able to make your session exciting and engaging for the audience.
So, firstly look for good speakers. With virtual events, you are at the leverage to find remarkable speakers who may be residing at far ends of the world. Without the travel and accommodation expenses, these speakers would be invited to speak at the event. At the top, with a virtual summit in practice, you can get them to speak for an hour or so within their busy schedules. They need not take one or more days out for the event.
Now, when it’s time to streamline the speaking sessions, then make sure you offer a variety of sessions;
Create Networking Lounge and Encourage Interactions
We often forget that it might be a first experience attending an online summit for most of the audience. So, take considerable steps to design an event that will be welcoming, engaging and interactive for the audiences. As for you, a virtual platform should be a chance to use immersive features into creating a memorable conference experience. Networking is the sole of any conference. Thus, create individual or group networking opportunities by formally setting up networking lounges. Multiple chat options are available such as audio/video conferencing. So, use the platform to your maximum and set up networking executive rooms, providing speaker and audience chats, community chats and attendee interactions.
Design a Fully Branded Event
Your audience would be more responsive towards an event that entirely displays your branding. So, use standees, company representative avatars, 3D animations and graphics to represent the company branding. In addition, there are many more chances for you to personalize the event, such as design halls and lobbies as true representatives of your workstation. Moreover, there’s a chance to fully customize the booth with logos, video and images that showcase your business.
Set up a Meeting Scheduler Option for Attendees
Another important feature to be installed is a meeting scheduler. You can get attendees to set up meetings with company representatives without waiting for them to get free. These meeting schedules are also a great opportunity for attendees to schedule a meeting with executives. A private chat can be arranged in a room when it gets tough for representatives to attend to each query in a group meeting. This would be easy to set up and function, attending to the needs of attendees and organizers. So, install a button at each event page, booth or speaker session, or attendee profiles to encourage the interactions.
Evaluate the Summit Progress and Success
A virtual event gives the equal opportunity to evaluate the overall event progress. For example, a virtual summit gives you a complete record of the real-time event analytics from registration data to booth activity. Get metrics on logins, webinar views, and speaker session attendees with fast track systems. Moreover, you get to download chats, transcripts and track overall audience behaviour with user journeys.
Moreover, it helps businesses evaluate what works best for them. Finally, the best practices can be repeated for future conferences to host a successful virtual summit.
In Conclusion
Without a doubt, virtual summits are here to stay. The immersive features and benefits of a virtual platform are exactly what businesses have been looking for. Isn’t it like a dream to have an international audience and industry peers talk about you? Thus a virtual conference promises global leads and potential prospects from remote ends of the world. Join Virtual Days to host a successful virtual summit or conference. Grow with us, and let us take your business to new heights.
