Event attendance rates for online events are often lower than those for in-person events, but there are a few things that organizers can do to boost attendance. Here are 11 easy and useful tips to help you achieve a higher attendance rate for your next online event!

The emergence of online events

Event planners have long known that the Internet is a powerful tool for promoting and organizing gatherings. But recent years have seen an uptick in online events, which are held through websites and other online platforms.

Online events offer a variety of advantages over traditional gatherings. For one, they can be conducted remotely, which allows participants from all corners of the globe to take part.

Furthermore, virtual events are often more affordable than traditional ones and don’t require as much infrastructure or preparation. And last but not least, they’re often more interactive and engaging because participants can interact directly with each other through forums or chat rooms.

Despite these advantages, virtual events still face some challenges. For one, it can be difficult to create a successful event if no one knows about it beforehand. And even if people do know about it, they may not show up if the event isn’t interesting enough.

 

What are the benefits of online event attendance?

Online event attendance has many benefits, including:

1. Increased Engagement and Recruitment

People can attend virtual events from anywhere in the world have a greater opportunity to engage with the organization and potentially become brand advocates. This increased engagement can result in more event attendees joining future events, as well as recruiting new members and employees.

2. Improved Customer Relationships

With customers able to attend virtual events from anywhere, companies can build stronger relationships with their customers by engaging them more regularly online and on social media channels. This creates trust and builds loyalty among customers, which can be extremely beneficial in today’s competitive marketplaces.

3. Increased Sales Opportunities

By increasing your visibility and reach among your target audience through online event attendance, you may be able to increase sales opportunities by reaching a wider audience than would be possible through traditional events alone.

4. Differentiated Products and Services

By making your brand more visible through online event attendance, you can build a stronger brand image that is sometimes more important than the products and services you provide to customers.

5. Improved Employee Relationships

Through personal interaction with the target audience, employees can promote events, build more meaningful relationships with customers and increase customer loyalty.

 

Strategies on how to increase attendance rate in online events

Online events can be a great opportunity to build connections and promote your brand, but if not managed correctly, they can also lead to low attendance rates. Here are some tips on how to increase attendance at your next online event:

1. Focus on engagement with speakers

Some online events may not feel as exclusive as they could be. Additionally, some speakers may only be available to attend certain events. By emphasizing exclusive opportunities to engage with speakers, organizers can increase attendance at their events.

– Offering the opportunities to engage with speakers can help make an event more exclusive and draw in a larger crowd of attendees. This can be done by limiting the number of engagements that are available each day or week, or by setting up a lottery for those who want to engage with the speaker in question.

– In order to maximize the potential for success, it is important to communicate these exclusivity policies clearly to participants. Doing so will ensure that everyone knows what’s required in order to participate and that no one feels left out.

For example, if you are running a business event, you might want to state that event attendees must have an active company email address in order to participate. It is also important for participants to know about the exclusivity policies upfront.

– In order to make sure that the exclusivity policies are properly enforced, it is important to have clear enforcement procedures. For example, you could have a list of participants who have been invited and send an email with the details of the event.

2. Promote on social media channels

When trying to boost event attendance, an important part of event marketing is to leverage social media platforms. By using a variety of social media channels, organizers can reach a wide audience and encourage more people to participate in the event.

You can leverage social media platforms for promoting events include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Each platform offers its own unique advantages and disadvantages. For example, LinkedIn is often used by business professionals as a means of networking; Twitter is known for its immediacy and ability to spark conversation, and Facebook has become the dominant platform for online marketing thanks to its extensive reach.

The key variables that affect success when promoting an event across social media platforms are content quality, timing, and strategy. Effective content can be created in any format (text, images, videos) and posted on any channel.

3. Emphasize email marketing

Email marketing is a great way to increase online event attendance. By increasing the number of people who are aware of and interested in your events, you can create a more engaged community around them. Here are a few tips for boosting email marketing engagement:

– Make sure your email campaigns are relevant to your audience. Send emails that focus on what your attendees will benefit from and why they should attend.

– Use images and videos to capture attention and make your emails more compelling.

– Be sure to send follow-up emails after your events to keep participants updated and engaged.

– Use automation tools like A/B testing and segmenting to optimize your email campaigns for maximum response rates.

– Keep track of how many people open, click through, and sign up for your emails, and make changes based on that data feedback.

4. Make use of your website

Many businesses and organizations focus on their website as a means of promoting and marketing their events. Websites can be tailored to be more interactive, user-friendly, and informative. There are many different ways to boost online event attendance by making your website more engaging for potential attendees.

Some tips for increasing website engagement with potential attendees include using interactive features, including polls, quizzes, and games; incorporating social media links; and creating blog posts or videos related to the event.

Additionally, providing detailed information about the event such as start time, location, and program content can help attract interested individuals. By focusing on these strategies, businesses can increase online event attendance while also ensuring an enjoyable experience for those who attend.

5. Provide great content

Providing high-quality content and information is essential to increasing attendance. Participants want to know what topics are being covered, what the event schedule looks like, and how to participate. Offering engaging content will help keep people interested in your event.

Additionally, providing helpful resources such as FAQs or social media links will make it easier for attendees to get involved. By focusing on these important details, you can ensure that your virtual event becomes a success!

6. Keep your sessions concise 

There is no doubt that having an engaging and informative online event can help to increase attendance. However, many organizers find that their events tend to run a bit long, potentially losing participants along the way.

One way to combat this is to keep the sessions concise and focus on key points. This will help attendees stay engaged and informed, which can ultimately lead to higher attendance numbers.

Additionally, by breaking up the presentation into small chunks, organizers can make it easier for attendees to take action or ask questions afterward. Overall, these tips should help organizers create successful online events that are also well-received by participants.

7. Offer external incentives

Event planners can start offering external incentives for the virtual attendance such as cash prizes or free tickets can help increase the online event attendance rate.

Studies have consistently shown that monetary compensation can encourage virtual attendance to participate in activities they would not ordinarily do, such as attending a meeting or attend a webinar. Incentives can also be used to motivate people to complete tasks and achieve results.

There are a few considerations that should be taken into account when designing an incentive program: what types of rewards are available, how often should rewards be given out, and how large should the rewards be?

Rewards can take many different forms, including gift cards, discounts on future purchases, travel opportunities, and more. It is important to make sure that the program is accessible to everyone and that it is consistent across all channels.

8. Efficiently utilize your sales team

Utilizing the sales team by giving them what they need can help increase the online event attendance rate. Sales teams need access to data, tools, and resources so they can effectively sell products and services. These may include information about the product or service, how it works, and how it can benefit customers.

Providing sales teams with what they need also helps ensure that events are effective and successful. By providing this information in an organized manner, organizers can create a more engaging experience for attendees.

Additionally, by giving sales teams the tools they need to increase attendance, organizers can avoid low turnout rates and improve their bottom line.

9. Cross-list your events

The cross-listing of events can help in event marketing and it increases the virtual attendance rate. This is because attendees will be more likely to attend an event that is listed on multiple lists.

When a user sees an event that is cross-listed, they are more likely to attend because it gives them the opportunity to see several events in one place. Additionally, if the event is cross-listed with high-quality events, users are more likely to attend.

Cross-listing also allows organizations to reach a larger virtual audience by targeting users who are interested in multiple types of events. By creating a cross-list, an organization can create a better online presence and increase its chances of success.

10. Enhance the user experience with technology 

The virtual attendance rate can be greatly improved by making attendees feel comfortable with technology.

There are a few things that event professionals can do in order to make virtual attendees feel comfortable using various technologies, such as providing tutorials or training sessions beforehand. Additionally, it is important to have responsive design in place so that users can access information and materials regardless of their device size or screen resolution.

And finally, always keep in mind the user’s experience when designing navigation and pages; try to make it easy for participants to find what they are looking for. All of these measures will help increase the attendance rate for online events, ensuring that everyone has a great time.

11. Schedule regular “just for fun” sessions

Many virtual attendees enjoy participating in online events, but simply scheduling them does not always result in a higher event attendance rate. To increase attendance and conduct a successful event, it is necessary for event professionals to create an engaging and exciting event that will draw in participants.

One way to do this is to schedule regular “just for fun” sessions that are different each time. This will keep participants engaged and excited about future events, resulting in a higher attendance rate overall.

 

Benefits of using an event app for event attendance

There are a number of reasons why you should consider using an event app for your online event attendance. Event apps are easy to use, efficient, and can help keep you organized.

They also make it easier to keep real-time data on the event attendance numbers, share event information with attendees, boost attendee engagement, and they can provide tracking tools to ensure that all attendees have received important information about the event.

Additionally, many apps offer built-in social media features for content marketing that give a good chance to you to connect with attendees and share updates about the event. Overall, using an event app is a great way to keep your online event running smoothly and ensure that everyone involved is well informed.

WebMobi: Book a demo

 

Wrap Up!

In conclusion, boosting online event attendance rates is essential to keeping the audience engaged on the virtual event platform and coming back for more. By increasing the amount of attendee engagement and interaction with attendees, organizers are getting a good chance that participants will want to come back again and again to their virtual event platform.

Read: Tips for professional event live streaming