A visionary in his ideas, Paras Lohani is the Founder and CEO of B2B Sales Arrow. A staunch believer of ‘Actions should speak Louder than Words’, Paras is stimulating the rapid growth and preserving the core of this organization. B2B Sales Arrow is a research-based digital technology organization that believes in nurturing business with passion. The company has specialization in end-to-end Virtual Events, Live Streaming, and Media Production, Bespoke Market Research and Analysis, Deep Database Research, and Lead Generation.
Introduction
The Covid-19 pandemic has invariably accelerated the growth of the virtual events industry. With government-imposed stringent health and safety protocols and social distancing norms leaving no alternatives, businesses across sectors switched to online events as a part of their event strategy. Subsequently, the digital phenomenon offering significant benefits gained wider acceptance and immense popularity amongst marketers and audiences alike.
A Grand View Research report expects the international virtual events market of the Asia Pacific region to grow at a CAGR of 26% from 2021 to 2028. The research findings indicate the decisive events industry relevance the digital phenomenon bears even post the pandemic years. Virtual Events empower brands and companies to maximize their event ROI. The digital phenomenon onboards renowned keynote speakers, leverages engaging breakout sessions, global sponsorships, and partnership opportunities to access a worldwide audience for profitable business opportunities.Though the viral outbreak in March 2020 skyrocketed the growth of virtual events, we examine various factors that drive relevance to and popularity of virtual events beyond the Covid-19 era:
Audience Preference: A Markletic report mentions that 55% of event organizers intend to make decent investments in virtual events, 2021 onwards. The report findings are indicative of the immense popularity that virtual events have gained amongst the Indian audience. As stringent health and safety protocols and social distancing norms restrict mass gatherings at in-person events, Virtual Events enable remote audience participation with no safety concerns and zero budgetary restrictions. Additionally, the online model of events offers more significant networking opportunities to the audience participating in multiple events remotely in a limited time.
Technological Advancements: Businesses expect robust technological advancement will significantly improve the production quality and minimize interruptions to enhance the overall virtual event attendee experience. Cutting-edge technologies such as Facial Recognition, Projection-Mapping, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality drive faster check-in processes, enhanced security, improved data accuracy, and a more engaging attendee experience. Interactive features, including live translations, subtitles, and AI chatbots, have improved communication between organizers and audiences.An E&Y report estimates the number of online users to reach 850 million by 2025. The growing virtual population will subsequently enlarge the attendee pool and thus attract more online event audiences.
Repurposed Content Post Event: Virtual Events enable breakout session recording to create post-event, on-demand offers for audiences worldwide. A mix of sales collateral and high-value gated assets, like eBooks and B2B marketing coaching sessions, drive engagement and generate leads who might eventually turn into clients. There is no limit to creating and leveraging repurposed content to expand event ROI.
Monetization Opportunities (Sponsorships & Partnerships) – Onboarding sponsors and partners is a highly lucrative option for generating revenue streams. According to Marklectic, the average cost of a Virtual Event sponsorship package is $8,456. The virtual model facilitates large-scale events with no physical space limitations, offering significantly more sponsorship rights to maximize ROI.
Summing Up
While the pandemic-imposed movement restrictions worldwide played a crucial role in the growth of virtual events, the online event model packed with significant benefits has earned immense popularity across sectors. Irrespective of the in-person events returning to the marketing landscape soon or not, Virtual Events have transformed the organizations’ event strategy. Multiple research statistics on upcoming business trends and future technology advancements add strong industry relevance to Virtual Events even post Covid-19.