7 Tips To Maximise The ROI of Your Hybrid Event

The past year has brought drastic changes and evolution in the event management industry. Due to the pandemic, many companies shifted from physical or in-person events to virtual events. As the vaccination drives bore fruit, there was a gradual shift back towards onsite events and activities. However, companies are again avoiding in-person events with the rising cases due to the massive spread of the new variant – Omicron. 

This brings us to a type of event that can cater to both the audiences, in-person and virtual – namely, hybrid events. Corporates prefer organizing a hybrid event due to its range of flexibility. With both modes of attendance possible, hybrid events tend to attract participants from around the globe! 

If you, too, are planning on organizing a hybrid event, you must know a few things about the hybrid event’s Return on Investment (ROI). Maximizing your event ROI is more than just ticket sales and promotions. It is about finding that sweet spot that gives your attendees a memorable experience and makes them come back for more. 

Here are seven tips you can use to maximize the ROI for your next hybrid event.

1. Build Your ‘Attendee’ Base

Your first step should be to build a solid attendee base by providing valuable content and interacting with your target audience. This strengthens your brand’s credibility and helps create a dedicated audience base that looks forward to your brand’s updates and events.

Build an online community that is assured that your hybrid event will be worth attending. You can do this by connecting with them in the form of blogs, infographics, vlogs, YouTube videos, and eBooks. You can utilize the snippets of past event speeches on instagram or videos on YouTube to build their excitement. You can convert former event data into website content or blog posts and reach readers worldwide. 

Collaborating with other professionals in your domain is another way to reach your target audience. Such partnerships are beneficial to both parties and open an untapped audience section for you. Digital marketing campaigns, too, are a great way to reach out to potential attendees for your hybrid event. This increased exposure helps generate more leads, drive sales, and increase brand awareness at the same time.

2. Redirect Saved Costs into Content 

With hybrid events, you will be saving money because you will be using smaller venues compared to in-person events. Redirect saved costs like this into the content of your hybrid event.

A study shows that 80% of people attend virtual events to gain knowledge, while the second biggest reason is networking. Now that you know what your audience is looking for, providing well-researched, valuable content during the event is necessary. The best way to do so is by including noteworthy speakers. Host keynote speeches online with eminent speakers from diverse fields. Investing in high-quality content is a great way to maximize ROI because it simultaneously boosts your credibility and brand affinity.

3. Utilize Virtual Sponsorships and Create Distinct Sponsorship Packages

Create sponsorship packages of varying budgets to cater to as many sponsors as you can. If your hybrid event is being conducted on a large scale, businesses will look forward to purchasing a sponsorship package from you.

Offer them banner space on the event page, virtual event platform, virtual booths, screen ticker, landing page besides just the physical banners and hoardings.  

You can also offer sponsor engagement by giving them the stage to interact with your audience directly or host a game between sessions at additional costs.

4. Implement Online Ticketing

If you’re thinking of maximizing your ROI, you must have already considered online ticketing. To attract attendees, devise a ticketing system that caters to the needs of your diverse audience having different budgets. 

You can use a tiered ticketing system that prices tickets differently for various levels of access to your hybrid event. This ensures that your event is affordable and diverse at the same time.

5. Focus on Audience Engagement

According to a survey, 49% of marketers believe audience engagement is critical for making an event successful. Here are some tips to boost audience engagement. 

• Ensure that presenters interact with both – virtual and in-person attendees.  
• According to Virtual Event Statistics 2021, networking is one of the main reasons people attend hybrid events. Make sure you provide ample networking opportunities for your attendees, as it boosts audience engagement.
• Send out surveys to know your audience better. Surveys are a great way of knowing audience preferences, and it helps pave the way for your next hybrid event. 

Gamification is another novel idea to improve audience engagement in hybrid events. Exciting events such as scavenger hunts are scattered across your virtual event platform, and the venue is sure to keep your audience attentive and eager.

6. Make Use of Attendee Metrics

Data analytics is a factor that can revolutionize your next hybrid event. Analyzing attendee metrics gives you insight into what content worked for your audience and what didn’t. Also, it enables you to compare the metrics of onsite and virtual attendees.

Audience metrics can also help you get sponsorships, especially if your event has thousands of attendees. Apart from the exposure, a bonus offer, such as sharing audience metrics to aid their consumer behavior analytics, can help attract sponsors.

7. Choosing The Right Virtual Event Platform

Have you attended a meeting or event online and been troubled by bad sound quality or streaming quality? You’re not alone! Statistics show that a significant portion of the budget for a hybrid event goes into the virtual event platform, yet, lousy connectivity and speakers remain two of the most irritating factors to attendees. 

To provide attendees with a great experience, you need to invest in a suitable virtual event platform. Your hosting platform can make or break your event, making it a pivotal factor influencing your ROI.

With FLOOR, your attendees will experience a seamless hybrid event. Apart from high-quality streaming and sound quality, FLOOR offers varied features such as ticketing and data analytics for audience metrics. When hosting a hybrid event, you need to realize its potential to reach a larger audience. Focus on expanding your audience while staying within budget is the key to boosting your ROI.

Lastly, ROI is not always measurable in numbers, such as revenue. It can also be in the form of new leads, a greater audience, and brand awareness. With the right virtual event platform like FLOOR and an optimal event strategy, you can easily attain an excellent ROI for your hybrid event.