Did you know you can reach a wider pool of attendees with hybrid events? Whether you’re planning a conference, association meeting, corporate sales kick-off, or executive board meeting, you have an opportunity to significantly scale the number of participants that attend your event in a hybrid format. If you leverage exclusive offers, innovative content, and digital marketing methods, you can captivate defined target audiences in new ways.
What is a Hybrid Event?
A hybrid event features both in-person and virtual elements. Attendees usually have a choice of how they would like to attend. No matter which option they choose, an effective hybrid event will provide beneficial networking opportunities, more robust programming, and greater access to a variety of speakers. This event type has become increasingly popular, fueled by social distancing guidelines and a re-energized work-from-home culture.
Strategies to Increase Hybrid Event Attendance
Hybrid events are still relatively new, so your foundational strategies are key. These three approaches can help maximize engagement and event registration. Let’s explore these three strategies in further detail.
1. Implement Hybrid Event Incentives and Exclusive Discounts
When you’re trying to reach a wider hybrid audience, exclusive discounts, registration incentives, and returning offers help drive expanded RSVPs. With the virtual component, you have an opportunity to attract new attendees who may not have been able to to travel to your event previously (whether due to cost or time constraints), so take advantage of it! Here are some ideas, which can be tailored to a virtual or in-person audience.
- Early-bird discounts to encourage confirmed RSVPs
- Attractive pricing tiers for multiple attendee types
- Intimate VIP experiences that add value
- Private, extended access after the event
Keep in mind, you don’t have to choose just one! You can implement multiple approaches as long as you clearly communicate the value to attendees. Don’t just focus on the experience or pricing tier itself; focus on its benefit to the potential attendee. Get them inspired and excited to attend your event!
2. Create Programming with a Digital-First Approach
Your event marketing can be stellar, but no one will sign up to attend if your programming misses the mark. One of the biggest mistakes is not crafting a custom experience for the digital audience. The digital audience is where you have the most scalability, so be sure it’s not an after-thought. To maximize your revenues (and reduce your production costs), you’ll want the virtual numbers to be strong.
You’ll want to ask yourself these questions when considering how to captivate, convert, and connect with your digital audience:
- How can we create unique content tailored to an audience watching from home?
- What types of experiences will be most valuable and attractive to them?
- How can we infuse fun elements throughout the event that keep virtual audience members from walking away or getting distracted?
- Which keynote or breakout speakers can we add to the lineup virtually who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to attend?
Don’t just think about your programming from a one-event perspective. Approach the programming with a long-term vision as well. In your planning, think about how you can capture that hot audience and turn them into multi-year attendees.
3. Plan for Extensive Digital Marketing
For hybrid events, digital marketing strategies are perhaps the most effective way to reach a wider audience. Think about how you can create a marketing plan that targets your expanded ideal audience and connects with them through social media, email campaigns, digital ads, video experiences, promotional partnerships, and dedicated website event pages.
Hybrid events eliminate any challenges with geographic distance from your events as virtual attendees can log in from anywhere around the world. Similarly, digital marketing has the ability to reach potential attendees living in any destination. Digital marketing strategies should be a central part of your event outreach and roadmap to drive attendance. Plus, by marketing on digital channels, you can reach other key stakeholders like vendors, sponsors, clients, and speakers. Here are some ideas to get those digital wheels turning:
- Create a social media strategy that highlights the benefits of attending your hybrid event
- Implement digital ads and paid social campaigns that include a promotion or exclusive offer for signing up
- Build an SEO-optimized sales page or event site with engaging content that centers on the attendee and why they shouldn’t miss out on your hybrid event
- Craft email marketing campaigns that re-engage and retarget past attendees
Digital marketing is a relatively low-cost promotional tool, so you’ll certainly want to take advantage of it. Think about the audience you want to reach, as there may be other traditional marketing elements you’ll want to incorporate in your plan as well.
Start Planning Your Hybrid Event
To reach your hybrid event goals, you must implement exclusive incentives and discounts, program with a digital-first approach, and launch digital marketing campaigns to drive attendance. By effectively prioritizing these three strategies, you will be on your way to surpassing your attendance objectives and scaling your hybrid event.
We’re here to help guide you through all the stages of planning a hybrid event in a collaborative and results-driven way. Contact us here for a complimentary consultation. Let’s dive in together!
