Hybrid Events are the new bridge between physical and virtual reality. These events are associated directly with the pandemic. The pandemic obligated businesses to integrate hybrid events to guarantee people safety in these challenging times.
Still, we believe that hybrid will not be only a pandemic trend. Same as remote working, these events will be here to stay even in a post-pandemic world. The reasons for that are many:
- Increased reach & attendance
- Improved return on investment
- Valuable data and metrics
- Higher attendance
- More accessibility
So, hybrid events are nothing to fear. These events will boost your efforts and allow you to achieve better results. Let us provide the reasons why these events are vital in 2021 and beyond.
Increased reach and attendance are two of the many benefits.
You will see an increased reach and attendance because you give your audience a solution between in-person and virtual events. A recent survey showed that 96 % of people who attended a hybrid event, when asked if they would participate if the event was only in person, responded NO.[1]
Another stat shows us that 23% of event organizers who hosted hybrid events said more people participated in their future events.[2]
Higher Engagement with your virtual audience.
Since people are participating virtually in your event, that means they can like and share whenever they want. All of these likes and shares provide a higher engagement that you can use for branding purposes.
You can also set Frequently Asked Questions during your event to maximize engagement.
More powerful sponsor opportunities
Did you know that 72% of corporate sponsors have shown an interest in participating in hybrid events? The reason for that is simple. They are evaluating the many benefits that these hybrid events offer and raising their budget to participate. Your advantage, in this case, is that you can easily show them reports and data collected from the event.
Reduced environmental impact and costs
Hybrid events will be the new normal in 2021 and beyond because everyone is more aware of our planet’s health. By organizing these events, we can minimize the number of people who travel and protect the environments that surround us better. Many companies have decided that they will put this idea into practice even in a post-pandemic world. Apple is already creating a strategy regarding that issue.
Except for the reduced environmental impact, there is a second benefit too. Organizations are witnessing lower costs due to hybrid events, and that can help a lot. They can forget tickets and accommodation costs and promote a whole new way of organizing events.
The difference between hybrid events and virtual events
Corporate events were famous once upon a time. Virtual events were also the first solution due to health concerns, but these events became a little boring. Corporate virtual events presented three main problems since the beginning:
- a lack of efficiency in communication
- a lack of collaboration
- the lack of the virtual infrastructure to relay complex info
The solution for ensuring employee engagement and building an organizational culture at the same time lies in hybrid events.
The reason for that is simple. Employees will be more engaged because hybrid events offer creative ways for communicating vital things, include breaks, provide a high audience and avoid events from becoming boring. Differently from virtual events, hybrid events give all of the above and three other main benefits:
- effective communication
- increased collaboration
- the possibility to relay complex info
Innovate Marketing Group can help you to achieve organizational success through hybrid events in creative ways. Visit us.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QGWSOnqBEA *source
[2]https://www.bizbash.com/production-strategy/strategy/article/13230620/12-insights-from-mpis-research-on-hybrid-meetings source*