Ultimate Guide to Virtual Event Platforms in 2024

Virtual event platforms continue to grow as businesses rely on them to hold events. The market size is estimated to reach USD 30.6 Billion in 2027 from USD 12.4 Billion in 2022.¹

This article covers virtual events by outlining their benefits, use cases, and challenges for businesses to plan and increase audience engagement during their marketing events or training sessions.

What is a virtual event platform?

Virtual events platforms are a type of software that allows individuals and businesses to host and manage events online. These platforms incorporate different tools to engage participants and enable interactivity, such as:

• Live polls
• Chat rooms
• Surveys

Some platforms integrate automation features such as uploading speaker information or creating calendar events. And some platforms provide analytics capabilities such as attendee counts, engagement in chat, and touchpoints.

What are the benefits of virtual event platforms?

Virtual event platforms provide significant benefits in terms of:

Cost

Hosting live events costs businesses up to $30k per day for 10 participants, including event space, tables and chairs, food and beverage, travel and hotel expenses, staff, printed brochures and banners, etc. and the costs do not include speaker or advertisement budgets. Virtual event platforms reduce event hosting costs significantly as they eliminate most event-related activities. ~84% of businesses that relied on virtual event platforms to host events in 2020 said they spent less than they did when running in-person events.

Global reach

Business marketing conferences and events aim to attract as many clients as possible. Relying on virtual events can widen the reach of the marketing message to global clients and increase the exposure of the brand.

Social distancing

After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, it was reported that 72% of events have been canceled or postponed due to health risks, and 50% of businesses made a move to virtual events. Hosting events on virtual platforms enables businesses to maintain operations while avoiding health risks and complying with healthcare policies and regulations.

Analytics

Virtual event platforms enable businesses to automate event data collection, such as:

• Check-in numbers
• Attendee demographics
• Length of stay during an event
• Speaker and subject ratings
• Live poll response rate
• Number of questions asked during Q&A session

Another type of data to be collected is attendee satisfaction. ~90% of virtual event organizers use surveys to measure attendee satisfaction. Event data provides insights about market trends, engaging topics and products, client and employee sentiments, and enables businesses to predict business and market needs.

What are the use cases of virtual event platforms?

Depending on business goals, virtual event platforms can be used for:

Communication

It is estimated that 49% of businesses organize between 20-30 virtual events per year. Virtual event platforms are mostly used for enabling communication with employees, clients, and business partners, and the most popular type of virtual event is small gatherings, followed by networking events and round table discussions. About 26% of virtual events are being held to maintain a relationship between employees and managers and boost employee morale via virtual happy hours and games.

Marketing

Many companies allocate around 10-20% of their marketing budget to virtual events. Online marketing events can be held for product launches and demos, or trade shows and expos in the form of:

• Webinars
• Conferences
• One-on-one virtual meetings
• Live chat or Q&A session
• Webcasts

Several large enterprises launched their new products in virtual events in 2020. For example:

• Apple announced the launch of the new iPad and Apple Watch in a 50 min virtual event
• Cannon launched their new cameras in a virtual Q&A session

Training

Virtual training events are anticipated to witness the fastest growth from 2021 to 2028 among virtual events. These types of virtual events can be held in different forms including webinars, Q&A sessions, and one-on-one meetings. Virtual training events can be:

• Recorded videos
• Virtual workshops
• Product onboarding
• Thought leadership
• Lunch & Learn sessions

Recruitment

Virtual event platforms enable recruiters to:

Conduct interviews

In addition to live video calls with recruiters, virtual event platforms enable candidates to record videos, answer questions about the job, and upload files such as certificates or reference letters. Some platforms leverage natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning to analyze candidate sentiment, scan resumes and references, as well as test candidates on specific job-related skills.

Virtual career fairs

It is estimated that virtual career fairs have an average participation rate of 50%, however, this figure has increased to ~90% since the outbreak of COVID-19, and experts predict that 80% of recruiting will remain virtual for the foreseeable future. Companies, such as Google, hold online career fairs in the form of recorded videos explaining company culture, open positions, interview steps, etc.

What are the challenges facing virtual events?

2 main challenges face virtual events:

Technical issues

According to a 2020 report, when asked the question “What is the biggest annoyance of virtual events?” responses were as follows:

• Bad internet connection (38%)
• Bad microphones and audio (30%)
• Bad cameras and video quality (20%)
• Messy background (12%)

In general, ~38% of marketers say they run into technical problems when hosting virtual events. Nonetheless, most technical issues can be tackled with better-quality equipment.

Audience engagement

Keeping an audience engaged in a virtual event is a difficult task, especially for B2B marketers. ~67.7% of event marketers struggle with engaging attendees during virtual event sessions. However, event organizers strive to increase audience engagement by reducing the length of presentations, hosting multiple speakers, and interacting with attendees via polls and Q&A sessions.

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External Links

• 1. ”Virtual Event Platform Market by Component, Organization Size, End User and Region – Global Forecast to 2027“. G2. January 2024. Retrieved January 11, 2024.