The Digital-First Revolution: How Virtual Events Transform B2B Marketing
Covid has transformed how we view current events by switching from in-person to virtual events. Comparing pre- and post-pandemic B2B events shows significant format and execution changes. With the easing of limitations, event planners are resuming their usual activities despite significant changes.
Whether your company conducts its own event or exhibits an industry event, you should consider how to navigate the evolving event marketing landscape.
Virtual events exploded during the pandemic. Because of their greater convenience, wider audience, affordability, and technological improvements that improve participation, virtual events are becoming more and more popular.
This post will explain virtual events, their benefits, and how to prepare for and set objectives for your upcoming virtual event.
What is a Virtual Event on B2B Marketing?
Virtual B2B marketing events like webinars or conferences help display products and encourage networking. These events allow organizations to connect with potential customers and partners regardless of location, reaching a bigger audience than in-person events.
B2B enterprises have increasingly used virtual events due to their cost-effectiveness and accessibility. This event has no geographical borders, so the company may reach more people.
Benefits of Virtual Events on B2B Marketing
Boost Content
Your attendees—especially virtual ones—want this. They want to meet new people and reconnect with old acquaintances, but your event’s content is what matters. The content of your event should include videos, talks, Q&As, and more.
Digital-first thinking is crucial to generating compelling event material, where many attendees engage with online content. Being digital-first lets you budget for virtual content in advance so online guests get the same quality as in-person ones.
Rich digital material helps you connect with guests since everyone absorbs information differently and at various times. Planning ahead lets you create unique additional content like educational PDFs on a keynote speaker’s topics.
Thinking digital-first lets you create digital content with the same passion. It frees up the budget for creative material. You may even schedule your event around “virtual moments,” like an early greeting video for online guests or a social hour when in-person and virtual attendees mingle and discuss the latest keynote.
Empowering Strategy
Technology has revolutionized and greatly empowered event planning.
Digital-first event planning is highly efficient. New tools expedite communication, manage work, and rapidly produce budgets. Asking, “Can we do this digitally?” early on may help achieve the same goals more easily, inexpensively, and effectively.
Client and attendee goals drive event planning. The digital-first approach balances the needs of online and in-person attendance. You may even find innovative ways to connect these audiences.
Digital-first event planning offers eco-friendly ticketing and registration methods. The digital-first mindset empowers and maximizes planning!
Expand Your Network
Meeting people is a highlight of event planning. A digital-first mindset emphasizes companies in event preparation, thus expanding networking opportunities.
The rise of virtual events is bringing these partners to your core council for event planning. Live streaming, recording, editing, and other broadcast technologies are their specialties.
Digital-first event planning expands your audience beyond your professional network. Your tireless effort can benefit thousands more online, as attendance is almost unlimited.
Better Data-driven Decisions.
Understanding your audience is key to excellent planning. Events become more personal with more detailed understanding. Your success depends on data-driven event planning as personalized events become more popular.
Event planners can now obtain unprecedented data on attendees’ interests, aims, social networks, and past event complaints using digital tools. You may collect more data than ever and use this to gain actionable insights.
Data-analyzing software can gather data on event planning expenses and compare it to predicted earnings to make more compelling recommendations.
Replanning Engagement
Happy, engaged audiences is one of the main objectives for virtual events.
Gather virtual guests using event apps that let them ask presenters questions. It also allows introverted participants who are uncomfortable raising their hands to fully participate in your virtual event..
Event apps can track attendees’ preferences and recommend customized sessions and activities, thus increasing engagement. These individualized social recommendations and icebreakers help guests meet like-minded people. To encourage interaction from the start, consider using effective conversation starters that prompt participants to share insights, stories, or experiences.
Using event app tools, help attendees more efficiently. Interactive maps, AI guides, or a customized support chat let participants address issues, questions, and concerns immediately, improving the experience.
Setting Objectives of Virtual Events on B2B Marketing
Identifying Goals
Select the appropriate objectives for your event. What motivates you to invite guests to your event, and what outcomes are you hoping for? Consider how you’ll assess your event’s success, including the metrics and platforms for data collection and analysis.
Defining clear objectives will ensure you stay focused and on track throughout the planning process. Your objectives must align with your company’s marketing and brand strategy. Accessibility and measurability are essential.
Objectives for the marketing event may include:
- Generating leads
- Increasing sales
- Establishing your personal brand
- Building a reputation as a leading authority
- Building connections
- Introducing an exciting new product
- Engaging with customers
- Collecting information
Establishing clear goals and defining event outcomes allows you to concentrate on what truly matters for your company and is essential to how to build an effective B2B event plan.
Establish Objectives
Define your virtual event marketing goals clearly. You can start to establish the objectives of your virtual event by:
- Define your goals and objectives with clarity
- Quantify the success of your targets
- Ensure your goals are within reach and attainable
- Your objectives should align with both the business and your personal aspirations
- Establish a deadline for your goal
Setting goals without assessing their clarity or measurability complicates the process of tracking success. On the other hand, stating “I want to sell X number of tickets for my marketing event” is clear and quantifiable.
Measure Goal Achievement Through KPIs
Measuring the achievement of event goals is most effectively done through KPIs. To determine the number of participants in an event, simply compare the check-ins to the registrations.
Inquire with attendees about their satisfaction to evaluate an additional KPI. Event surveys provide a valuable opportunity to assess the effectiveness of your objectives and strategize for upcoming events.
Surveys serve as a powerful tool at any stage of an event—before, during, or after. They help identify participant interests, enable real-time program adjustments, and provide valuable insights for future planning.
For clear and measurable insights, opt for targeted survey questions that offer numeric response options, such as a scale from 1 to 10 for assessing enjoyment or involvement. This approach to gathering numeric data simplifies quantification, while comment boxes offer valuable insights. Surveys can evaluate satisfaction with sponsorships, helping to forecast future opportunities.
The success of an event can also be quantified through revenue and the generation of sales leads. When your event’s objective is to drive revenue or sales, having an estimated monetary value is essential for effective measurement. Be sure to analyze gross sales against event expenses to assess profit margins and identify opportunities for improving future events.
Read More: Renovation as a Business Strategy
What’s Your Next Step on Virtual Events?
Whether you choose a virtual event or stick to in-person gatherings, the remarkable advantages of digital-first event planning are indisputable. As an event planner, you’ll experience enhanced efficiency, precise budgeting, valuable connections with tech-savvy partners, and elevated content—all key advantages that will elevate your events to new heights.
Similar to other strategic approaches, those who embrace innovation early will enjoy the advantages of crafting memorable events, all while establishing themselves as frontrunners in their industry.