Why it is worth organizing online events

There are several reasons why you should consider hosting an online business event. We have collected them and present them below to show you that it is profitable to conduct online conferences, webinars, and streaming. And not only now — at a time of limitations in contacts with customers, forced by the epidemic.

The limitations caused by the pandemic have done their job. We have learned not only to work from home but also to shop, meet and learn. We got used to it. E‑meetings and streaming have become not only ordinary but also expected. It is a bit like the card payment process — at first, it was new, today we are surprised if we cannot pay by card. Besides, trends related to greater mobility, the flexibility of work forms, and the growing number of virtual contacts were already present before the epidemic. Its appearance only strengthened these processes and accelerated the overall transition from offline to online.

Conferences and stationary events will return to our calendars when possible because nothing can replace live meetings, face-to-face conversations, and handshakes. Meetings “in real life” have their undeniable advantages. Online events are not without them either, and therefore will stay with us even after the pandemic is over.

Online event implementation

What are the advantages of online events and conferences?

1. Security Online meetings work well in danger and the inability to meet in larger groups due to personal safety. They allow you to talk, conduct training, present the offer, participate in cultural or business events without risking direct contact with another person.
   
2. Ecology There is an increasing pressure to leave as tiny carbon footprint as possible. Companies are increasingly pursuing various policies to become environmentally friendly businesses. Switching to even partial remote work means that employees do not commute to work, reducing car traffic and reducing exhaust emissions. It is similar to online events. They allow, among others minimize the need for movement.
3. Saving Organizing online business events is cheaper than preparing a traditional meeting. We can exclude the costs of renting a room, parking lots, hotels, catering, hostesses, service, printouts, and other unexpected expenses from the budget. Among other things, instead of one online conference a year, the company can conduct several of them, effectively expanding contact with customers.
   
4. Accessibility and convenience Webinars, online training, the live streaming are more accessible to those interested, as they often have an unlimited number of participants. You do not need to travel there or rent hotels. These are events without borders — you can take part in them no matter where they are held. Also, their participants often have access to recordings and presentations, which allows them to return to materials and play back meetings many times. The organizers of such events also find it easier to recruit speakers who can also speak directly from home.
   
   

   Online conference from home

5. Quality And it is understood in two ways. On the one hand, it is more challenging to keep the audience’s attention in virtual meetings, so the quality of the materials must be at a high level. They must be rich in content. On the other hand, modern tools and technologies (fiber-optic internet) enable the implementation of very high-quality video streams and broadcasts. They also allow for a lot of interaction — moderated chats, comments, polls, and tasks with gamification elements. Online event platforms are dynamically developing and specializing. Today, we can distinguish several groups depending on the functionality we expect.
   
   • • Streaming  (e.g., YouTube Live, Facebook) — they give the best picture and sound quality. They are ideal for broadcasting lectures, events, and conferences to enable a stable broadcast even with a large audience. Interaction with the viewer takes the form of a live chat.
   • • Videoconferencing  (e.g., Google Meet, Zoom) gives a relatively lower image quality but allows many people to talk with cameras, microphones, and simultaneous screen sharing possible. They work well for smaller events.
     
   • • Webinars (e.g., Livewebinar, Clickmeeting, Zoom Webinars) — give lower image quality but allow both one-way image transmission and a discussion of many people. They have functionalities such as voting, quiz, virtual board. They work well for smaller events.
     

     Streaming and recordings — sources of valuable content

6. Measurability of results and customer acquisition Contrary to offline events, those conducted online allow for greater measurement of results, i.e., checking and analyzing participants’ behavior — from counting them to verifying who and when clicked on which link, who logged in or logged out. They are an invaluable source of knowledge about potential customers, which allows you to conduct practical marketing activities and facilitate customer acquisition (leads).
7. Recycling of content Online events can be recorded. Thanks to this, we gain valuable content that can be used many times and in many ways: for training materials, communication with clients in social media, in media relations — e.g., by sending out information about the event, making expert statements available to the press. There are many alternatives, and each way of reusing content helps you reach more customers.
   

This year and beyond will be a time of business events and online conferences. It is worth introducing them to the company for image and marketing reasons. At 25wat, we organize online events and film productions together with the Ikona studio. Do you want to see how we do it? Message Grzegorz Zięba, Head of business at 25wat: [email protected].