Effective engagement has never been more crucial for growing businesses. Hybrid events can kickstart post-pandemic growth for SMEs and help to avoid a black hole of valuable audience data as restrictions ease.
Many businesses will be scheduling in-person events as lockdown restrictions lift. However, a return to face-to-face functions could mean a huge loss of the customer insights which are generated through virtual events. This is likely to result in a ‘black hole’ of data, as it is much harder to harvest meaningful feedback from live attendees.
To combat this, companies should instead consider tech-enabled hybrid events which drive meaningful engagement with a wide audience, helping to elevate a brand whilst hitting important sustainability objectives.
The data ‘black hole’
Virtual events have boomed throughout the pandemic, with one virtual events platform seeing business growth of 1000%. This has given companies unparalleled insight into their audiences, as data analysis can easily show which digital content has generated the most meaningful engagement ‘ a powerful tool for companies.
Virtual events are clearly popular; data from Eventbrite shows that by November 2020, attendees were spending 34x more time attending virtual events than they had been in January 2020. Hybrid platforms that combine both digital and in-person engagement will be a prime solution for SME managers, and event organisers should be looking to offer these tech-enabled solutions as the norm.
Hybrid strategies like these can ensure that events retain the flexibility of virtual platforms whilst offering the social perks of traditional engagement, maximising opportunities for data-driven business growth.
Optimising hybrid
Businesses that adopt hybrid events should recognise that the virtual and physical elements need to be of exceptional and equal quality. Too often a ‘hybrid’ event has meant an in-person conference with the addition of a video camera at the back of the room as an afterthought.
This lightweight implementation of the hybrid format is not enough to achieve meaningful engagement, or combat the issue of the data ‘black hole’ posed by the return of in-person events. Businesses that are looking for long-term strategies to kickstart post-pandemic growth should ensure that delegates feel that they have front-row seats whichever way they experience the event. Technology will be central to this ambition, and both event providers and SMEs should invest in tech that will stream live functions whilst also offering the interactive digital elements that we have grown used to.
Deploying a hybrid structure shouldn’t segment your audience into two separate experiences; instead, communications channels should ease interactions between speakers and attendees whether they be in the room or attending remotely, and facilitate networking whether they’ve travelled to the event or tuned in from their sofa.
Prioritising sustainability
The ability to participate in a hybrid event from home means that travel logistics and emissions are no longer an issue for a large proportion of attendees. SMEs can use this to their advantage to meet their commitments to sustainability and accessibility.
Pre-pandemic, the events industry had significant environmental impact and relied heavily upon long-distance travel. Now, large firms such as EU banks are promising to reduce business travel time by as much as 50%. Hybrid events can allow businesses to encourage this sustainable shift without sacrificing levels of engagement; people who are close enough to attend in person can do so if they choose, but those who live further afield won’t miss out.
Time is precious
The value of time has gained new meaning thanks to COVID-19. The hours freed up from a lack of commute have caused a fundamental shift in priorities, and people are unlikely to revert to pre-pandemic routines.
Hybrid events are optimised to respond to this change and to kickstart lead generation through what can be termed a ‘return on behaviour’. Flexibility of choice is at the heart of hybrid events, allowing people to engage with consistently relevant content through whichever channels offer them the best value for time. At the same time, more accessible content can be available for longer, enabling speakers to have a much wider reach.
Growing businesses are in a prime position to take advantage of this engagement revolution. The benefits of hybrid event experiences for attendees, speakers and host businesses mean that they are both professionally and commercially valuable, built upon a premise of ‘no walls, no clocks ‘ and no limits’.
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