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In a study by On24, 63% of marketers said they were more likely to attend a conference online than in person. In another study by Unisfair, 48% of marketers said they plan to use virtual events to drive leads and sales in the coming year. It's obvious that virtual events are increasing in popularity, which is why we are so excited to be holding our first Inbound Marketing Virtual Conference on Thursday. Virtual events are another excellent tool to leverage for any Inbound Marketing strategy, and here are four reasons why I think you should make your next event a virtual one.
Increased Reach
With a reach of close to a million people in over 50 different countries it would be impossible for us to find a time that worked for everyone. Besides TD Garden there are few venues that would be able to hold the number of attendees that we are anticipating for the The Biggest Webinar Ever! Virtual events allow hosts to support a global audience in a way that just isn't possible with a live one.
Convenience
Not only are virtual events convenient for the viewers, who can enjoy a presentation from the comfort of their home, office, or maybe even the beach, but they are also convenient for the presenters as well.
Virtual events eliminate the need for presenters to travel, allow them to pre-record their presentations if they can't participate live, and allow for a more structured Q&A than a live presentation would. This added convenience makes it much more likely that you will be able to attract high-quality speakers to present at your event helping to insure that your content is remarkable and your event unmissable.
Reusability
There is something to be said for being able to attend a virtual event live, but much of the benefit can still be obtained by watching a recorded session. Virtual events allow for the presentations to be easily recorded and distributed to registrants without much extra effort from the host.
Granular Engagement Measurement
At a live event you might have access to some registration info, and if you're lucky maybe 25% of attendees will fill out a post-event survey. Virtual events allow hosts to take advantage of a plethora of additional data. For each registrant you'll be able to see what presentations they viewed, what supplemental materials they downloaded, what questions they asked, and a number of other metrics you can use to determine their engagement.
In-person events have their advantages as well, and this decision definitely doesn't need to be an all or nothing one. Having a good balance of marketing efforts is what separates excellent results from mediocre ones, but I hope this post highlights some of the reasons virtual is on the rise. What are some of the ways that you've utilized virtual events for your business? Please let me know in the comments below.
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