6 Benefits of Hybrid Events

By administrator

Nov 3, 2022

With the Covid-19 pandemic era in the rearview mirror, we've pivoted away from virtual events and back to in-person attendance. However,  have you considered maintaining a virtual component to your future events?  Let's look at some of the benefits of hybrid events, and how we can apply lessons learned from the virtual event era to improve attendee experience.  

What Are Hybrid Events?

According to Forbes, Hybrid events combine an in-person event with virtual access to some or all components of the event. this opens your event up. to remote attendees in addition to those in-house. Hybrid events can provide visibility to people who may never attend in person. These virtual audiences can become key influencers, loyal attendees, and members of your event community that would otherwise have not been available to you. This larger audience will be a key demographic for event organizers to target going forward. 

1: Hybrid Events Allow for More Flexibility

Adding a virtual element to your event provides flexibility for both in-person audiences and virtual attendees. Keynotes can be live-streamed or recorded for replay, so if someone is busy networking and misses a speaker, they can go back and watch it later, on demand. Meanwhile, virtual attendees have the option of remote networking opportunities in addition to streaming keynotes from speakers. 

The choice and flexibility of a hybrid event extends well beyond the logistics of attendance. Your target audience can participate in polls, engage in games and contests, and promote their experience via social media. We've spoken in the past about how iPad rentals can improve the attendee experience, the same basic concepts apply here. Switching to a hybrid event format allows for more fun and participation for all involved, be it virtual or live attendance. 

2: Prioritizing Attendee Experience

The aforementioned flexibility is key to a great customer experience. Giving the attendees a choice as to how they spend their time and what keynotes and events they attend will put their experience first and foremost as it provides a more relaxed schedule without fear of missing out on anything. You Will strengthen your relationship with attendees as you've put their needs before that of your event. 

Giving attendees choice will be greatly appreciated. This can even aid in conversion and turn virtual attendees into in-person attendees for your next event.  

3: More Promotional Opportunities

Hybrid events offer many more branding and promotional opportunities than in-person events. There is a lot more real estate for brand-building online than there is any venue space. This also allows for exhibitors and vendors to utilize the online space for sales and conversions of their own. 

While on-site branding is an important aspect of event organization, the digital aspect should never be overlooked. A good event strategy for hybrid models is to make as much of the event available online as possible and allow for participation form vendors and exhibitors, making their virtual display pages easily accessible to all attendees, whether attending the event in person or online. 

4: More Attendees for Less

Hybrid event models allow for global expansion. While you were sure to nail down local and regional audiences with your event in the past, you can now get people from all over the globe to join your event without the necessary injection of cash flow to infrastructure, employees, and venue space. You will get more attendees from around the globe and save money in the process. This is an excellent strategy for both growing your event and bridging the gap between cost and results. 

5: Growing Your Network

Increasing the size of your audience can increase your chances of attracting more overall exhibitors, event sponsors, and revenue. Event size can more than triple with a hybrid element as you've made physical attendance optional.

Event organizers should take into account how much growth a hybrid event really provides and all the potential money and partnerships that come along with it. Should you have hosted an in-person corporate event instead, you wouldn't have been able to access the global network of attendees in as strong a number. You can turn a big event into a huge event as you attract more exhibitors and sponsorship opportunities who are no longer held to the confines of the in-person venue. 

6: A Gold Mine of Data

A benefit of the hybrid experience, you have access to a ton of data you wouldn't at in-person events. You can take a headcount of your attendees at a physical event, but when you bring in a virtual component, you'll know EVERYTHING. 

You know the participation numbers, plus how they engaged and when they dropped out of the session. You also gain information on your attendees' interests through matchmaking data and session participation, which can help you improve your future content. You gain a lot of trackable metrics that will help you learn more about your event and improve it in the future.

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Choose 2 Rent has everything you need to organize an event. The international leader in electronic equipment rentals offers everything from iPad rentals, to check-in kiosks, mobile internet rentals, and event badge printers. 

When planning your next event – Choose 2 Rent. Contact us today!