The global virtual events market is forecasted to jump from close to $199 billion in 2022 to $1,066 billion by 2032. That means the number of virtual events every year will continue to rise, and event organizers will need highly engaging platforms to host these events.
While Zoom or a similar tool has everything you need to host a webinar, a virtual event that spans several hours, consists of multiple activities, and has thousands or tens of thousands of participants requires a specialized tool or virtual event-hosting platform.
Besides handling the traffic, such a platform should have features that keep the audience engaged. Here's how you can boost virtual event engagement for your video conferencing app.
Prepare Event Organizers for Success
Empower event organizers by preparing them to leverage your video conferencing app effectively.
Provide Comprehensive Training and Support
Conduct interactive training sessions to familiarize event organizers with the app's features and functionalities. Set them up for success by showing them how to navigate the app, set up virtual event spaces, and use engagement-enhancing tools.
Establish channels for ongoing support, such as dedicated help desks or knowledge bases, to address any questions or concerns that may arise during event preparations.
Offer Technical Guidance for Smooth Event Execution
Thirty-eight percent of marketers run into technical issues when hosting virtual events.
Offer event organizers technical guidance to ensure smooth event execution, including:
- Audio and video setup best practices
- Optimal internet connectivity requirements
- Recommended hardware and software configurations
Conduct technical rehearsals with event organizers to troubleshoot any potential issues in advance. With this level of technical support, you can help event organizers deliver seamless and uninterrupted virtual event experiences that contribute to higher engagement levels.
Be Available to the Organizers During the Event
Thirty-four percent of virtual event organizers mention "coordinating with virtual events platform vendors" as a major challenge. And 50% find it difficult to integrate event data into existing marketing operations.
You can help organizers address these problems by making it easy for users to connect with you and giving them all the technical support they need to integrate your app with their CRM or databases.
Also, offer live support and let them know how to reach you if they encounter any issues during the event.
Optimize App Features for Enhanced Engagement
Seventy-six percent of virtual event organizers acknowledge the need for diversified experiences. Features such as customizable branding and user interfaces, integration with other collaboration tools, and advanced chat and messaging can help organizers create unique and engaging events.
Offer Customized Branding and User Interfaces
By giving organizers the option to customize the platform where the virtual event is hosted, you'll help them create a personalized experience for their attendees. Give event organizers the option to add their logo, change the color scheme, and customize the user interface of the app.
Add Interactive Features to Help Attendees Collaborate and Socialize
Fifty-five percent of event organizers believe that large-scale virtual events feel less personal, and 44% believe they offer fewer opportunities to socialize. You can help address these challenges by offering:
- Virtual breakout rooms so attendees can connect in smaller groups
- Interactive Q&A sessions and live discussions through text, video, or audio chat
- Polls and surveys to encourage active participation
- In-session chat to facilitate real-time communication among attendees
Welcome, one of the more popular virtual event hosting platforms, uses Stream's chat and video APIs to provide a highly interactive experience to thousands of participants of large-scale events.
Track Relevant Video Engagement Metrics and Gather Feedback
The organizers of the event will track their own metrics and measure the success of their event in a slightly different way than you. They will mostly focus on participation rates, the number of leads or subscribers they acquired, or the impact of the event on their outreach and web traffic. As a product manager, your biggest concerns will be:
- Weekly meeting frequency — the number of meetings per user or per team divided by seven
- Average meeting duration — the total duration of all meetings (in minutes) divided by the total number of meetings
- Meeting participation rate — the total number of people that actively attend and contribute to meetings
- Active user rate — the number of users or teams that attend multiple meetings every week
- Audio and video quality — measurement of packet loss, delay, jitter, and video resolution during each meeting
Measuring the above metrics will help you compare your numbers with industry standards and identify areas that need improvement. It will also help you analyze attendee engagement patterns and behaviors. For example, your meeting participation rate and active user rate will help you identify your most engaged users, and you can then interview or survey them to get ideas for new features or to improve your current features.
When collecting feedback from event organizers, ask about:
- Their overall experience using the virtual event-hosting platform
- Specific features or functionalities that were particularly helpful or lacking
- The level of support and assistance they got during the event planning and execution phases
- Their opinion on the customization options available for the video conferencing platform
- Any technical challenges or issues they encountered while using the platform and how they were addressed
- Suggestions for enhancing the platform's capabilities for future events
It will also be helpful to interview event attendees to get feedback on attendee-facing features such as in-session chat and breakout rooms, as well as their overall experience with the platform.
Leverage Stream's Capabilities To Boost Virtual Event Engagement
Stream offers pre-built, customizable features such as chat and video calling through APIs. These features support team collaboration, live-streaming, recording, and many other functionalities that organizers need to increase virtual event engagement. You can use these APIs to introduce video and chat features to your software platform or app quickly and help organizers host highly engaging virtual events. Learn more about Stream's video call API today.
