Hybrid events in India and the world are now fast becoming the go-to strategy for most businesses, and with good reason. After all, it is time to embrace the virtual aspects of work while staying rooted in the power of physical connections. And what better than hybrid events to connect with your customers and reach new ones?
In 2021, large and small enterprises went big on hybrid events. More than 70% of large enterprises and 63% of small to medium enterprises started to include hybrid events in their portfolio.
What Are The Known Benefits Of Hybrid Events?
To know why hybrid events are taking up a large share of the pie, it is important to understand what challenges they help businesses and marketers to overcome.
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They provide better ROI
While it is true that setting up hybrid events in India is not all that cheap, the opportunity to reach a larger audience and generate more sales pipeline and thereby more conversions is also higher. So, theoretically, hybrid events get you better RoI than just in-person events.
Huge costs are involved: 38% of companies found that venue, audio/video, and branding efforts took up a large chunk of the investment. However, nearly 90% of companies have also admitted to a positive RoI from hybrid events about seven months after the event.
The RoI is a factor that plays into the decision of sponsors too. In fact, hybrid events are a great way to attract powerful and big names as sponsors.
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They boost your sales pipeline.
“My sales pipeline is too long!” said nobody ever. And if you run a company that specializes in organizing events, hybrid events are especially important in helping recharge your sales pipeline.
Not only do you have the opportunity to showcase your ability to put together engaging, immersive experiences, but your events can be recorded on the cloud. They can be accessed by potential prospects or rewatched by attendees in future.
There is more than one beneficiary in this scenario: the person watching the event because they get access to all the information, the business highlighted in the event, and the event marketing company that helped set up the entire event.
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They can target specifically.
The power of using some of the best hybrid event platforms in India is not just the reach; but also it is the entire virtual experience you can create. Of course, nothing beats physical branding experiences, and however, virtual platforms have innovated so much that you can personalize your brand’s message across platforms.
Businesses have put in a lot of effort to build platforms that can help marketers choose demographics and regions and layer their branding with the right elements to get their audiences to take ‘action.’
‘Action’ doesn’t always mean a sale; it could also mean asking a question on the platform or responding to a survey. For instance, Almond Virtex allows for 1:1 chats with attendees, virtual exhibitions, personal booths, and social media integration. These are top-notch engagement tools that every business needs today. And these are in-built on Virtex.
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They can help you engage with prospects all over the world.
If we had to pin it down to one benefit, this would be it. The best hybrid event platforms in India understand that an event, no matter how big or small, makes no sense without the ability to reach out far and wide. So, you can rest assured of huge numbers.
Don’t mistake these platforms to help you bring in a large pool of attendees. They can also engage with them in a variety of ways. These can help build the profile of attendees, encourage them to ask questions, take polls and surveys and much more. This is valuable information to any brand or marketing team because it forms the basis for creating long-standing relationships with customers.
Virtex provides a real-time dashboard to track engagement. This information can change the course of the event- make it more engaging, provide more details, introduce more Q&A.
Post-event statistics help formulate strategies for the future. For instance, information such as the number of attendees who left in 30 minutes or the ones who participated in a specific activity, or who went on to your social media profiles can help determine how your next event or marketing campaign should shape up.
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They reduce your event-planning and environmental costs.
Does your marketing event really have to be in-person with swanky pop-ups and stalls? Instead, get your marketing team to utilize its creativity on setting up a hybrid event. Though one cannot take away the efficacy of in-person interactions and networking, shifting to virtual platforms can help you save cash. It shows your attendees that not only do you want to reach out to a larger audience, but also that you care about your costs and the possible impact you are having on the environment.
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They create strong communities.
The purpose of any event is to bring people together. People join your event to learn, contribute, or be entertained. Hybrid events provide a better chance of building a sense of community through the use of features that can create engagements between the in-person audience and the virtual attendees.
For instance, on Virtex, participants can chat with each other and build connections on the platform and off it through social media channels. Businesses that understand this can use the engagement tools at their disposal and improve the possibility of networking that begins at their events and continues long after. They can build a community that is highly engaged.
The benefit of a community for any brand is that they can continue to have a long-term engagement with it. Big brands build communities, and these are platform-agnostic, meaning they could be built through massive in-person events or enthralling virtual conferences.
The writing is on the wall. Nearly three-fourths of event management companies have accepted that hybrid events are going to be the chosen path for businesses to connect, engage, and expand. 2021 witnessed the gradual shift, and 2022 will be the year of adoption.