Hopefully by now you have determined the type of event you want to host and chosen the best virtual events platform to suit your needs. You are now in the pre-event phase and this is critical to your success. Deciding on your objectives, developing a timeline and overall plan, collecting all the elements (content, speakers, presentations, etc...), assigning roles and identifying responsibilities, lay the groundwork for the virtual event planning process.
Consider these fundamental questions:
- What are the objectives of this event? Are you creating a virtual event to drive leads or generate brand awareness? Is your virtual event for a product launch, a recruitment fair or an internal training day?
- What is your budget? Create an outline for the budget and decide before proceeding with the planning. Make a checklist of resources and where to allocate them to make your virtual event successful.
- What metrics will you use to measure the results or define success? Registrants, attendees, leads generated, average time within the virtual environment, downloads, chat interactions, etc....
- Who is your target audience? Is there more than one?
- Will you have sponsors/partners as part of the event—if so, how many? What will your sponsorship packages look like, and how much will you charge for them?
- Will this event be internal or external and open to prospects, customers, and partners? ● Will you charge for the event or is the attendance free?
- What do you want people to take away from attending your event?
Once you have answered these questions you can begin to work on content. Speakers, webinar presentations, themes, material upload, guidelines and the exhibitors or partners involved will all contribute to the strategy.