Brands are shifting their in-person events to the virtual world as they adjust to remote working patterns due to the unexpected circumstances of the previous year. While in-person events will undoubtedly resurface in the months ahead, there is no doubting the inherent advantages of virtual and hybrid events as a means of engaging worldwide audiences while drastically reducing logistical costs and problems.
Many companies are turning to virtual events these days to boost registrations, improve networking, and give guests more flexibility. While generating cash is one of the goals and objectives of a business event, mastering the art of event monetization can be difficult. Since you can no longer sell tickets at the door, having a well-established sales strategy for events is critical.
Due to the current difficulties in the events sector, event planners have been compelled to aggressively expand into the online space. Everyone has mastered the technical aspects of live event streaming by now, but many people are still unsure about the most essential question: money.
Although not every event aims to earn a large profit, all of them have the same goal in mind: to ensure that their sponsors' brands are well-known. Nevertheless, you anticipate that these events will generate some revenue, mostly through ticket sales. More importantly, companies that often hold events in Malaysia can introduce themselves to previously untapped markets worldwide through virtual events and increase their global market awareness.
Here are a few ways that organizers can monetize their online events and optimize their revenue opportunities:
Even during live-streaming events, online adverts can help produce revenue. It can specifically target a demographic with its advertisements. To monetize virtual events, broadcast adverts between each session. Create compelling movies that will keep the audience updated and entertained.
Keep in mind, however, that you must consider the viewpoint of the viewers, as some of them may object to commercials being shown during the virtual event. To keep attendees involved and interested throughout a virtual event, create adverts that are relevant to the event sessions. Advertiser videos should be 11 to 20 seconds in length, according to studies.
Different platforms offer various types of innovative advertising opportunities. Boom allows organizers to monetize from selling rotating banner adspace. Alternatively, exhibitors are able to pay for their video ads to be played during break periods throughout the event.
In the same way that SaaS companies and digital platforms offer premium features that can be unlocked for a price, virtual events can work the same way. Once you have established all the basic features and the foundation of your event’s structure, it’s time to think about how to offer added value in the form of features to enhance the experience of exhibitors and visitors, at which point you can charge a fee for these locked features.
With Boom Malaysia, you can monetize by selling private breakout rooms to exhibitors for their service agents to connect with visitors, or by allowing exhibitors to purchase additional content slots to upload their marketing materials for visitors to download.
Alternatively, organizers can sell gamified objectives to drive purposeful play to exhibitors or conference sessions for audience attraction.
Big Data is a massive industry, and data is a huge factor in many aspects of business and brand growth in this digital era. This is what makes it so valuable, and sponsors or brands are willing to offer a good price for the information you compile (as long as it’s ethical and doesn’t breach and privacy policies of course).
Virtual events provide the perfect medium for organizers to retain and sell data to interested parties. For instance, Boom Malaysia allows you to monetize by selling event reports to exhibitors who are looking to tap into the valuable data for business or marketing purposes.
When considering how to monetize an online event, the first and most apparent notion that springs to mind is to shift the content and all presentations online and charge money for access to them. The only issue here is that participants are hesitant to pay to simply watch content.
According to several studies, persons who work from home spend an average of 4-6 hours on job-related chores. They have time for self-improvement and personal growth. However, many online educational courses are currently free, and there are terabytes of free content available on the internet.
In some circumstances, it may be more advantageous to make your event free to draw a larger crowd and generate revenue from something else. Major international events that have shifted online owing to the current lockdown employ this monetization method the most.
You should not attempt to promote a virtual event on your own. You should also use your sponsors, presenters, workers, and even the attendees themselves to provide credibility to your event. Internally, you must enlist the help of all necessary stakeholders. If your event's main purpose is to increase sales or leads, for example, you should enlist the help of your sales and marketing departments.
It is critical to gain their support and involve them in your decisions. This can help you increase registrations, attract the proper people, and lessen the danger of having to postpone due to a lack of planning or effective promotion.
Online event marketing is just as effective as offline event marketing. Other things can be sold to monetize free online events. At all events, digital, informational, and educational products are among the best-selling items. The direct sales approach focuses on increasing the primary product's sales conversion rate among a small percentage of the online event attendees.
An online event app can incorporate an online store or order form. If you already have an online store, all you must do now is include a link in the app. If you do not already have one, any landing builder can help you create one quickly, and you'll be able to sell merchandise, goods, or services with just one click.
Real-time event analytics and information are provided by an event app. Use the data you collect to increase ROI and the event experience by making modifications during virtual event preparation. It can also boost sponsor revenue because it is one of the most effective ways to reach a certain target demographic. Furthermore, because the mobile app may be loaded and utilized for the duration of the event, sponsors can reach the target demographic for a longer period.
Selling video recordings is the second option to make money from online events. Recorded presentations are a valuable resource that can and should be utilized to generate revenue. Access to recorded content could sell in the weeks leading up to the event when the promotional campaign is in full force, and during the event itself, when many participants are willing to pay a little fee for access to fascinating content that they otherwise would not have seen online.
In fact, recorded content can even be sold after the actual event by allowing post registrations at discounted prices, after which participants will be able to watch the recorded content from the sessions that they previously missed.
When exploring this path, event organizers should think about where these recordings will be stored, how they will be paid, and how they will assure data security and copy protection. What kind of profit can you expect from selling recorded content? Depending on the pricing, 3-6 percent of registered participants will buy recordings, according to our experience. This translates to 30-60 purchases for a 1,000-person online event.
There are many ways to monetize your events, and innovative opportunities to boost your revenue can exist in great event platforms. It's important that organizers focus on optimizing their revenue through different monetization options in order to reinforce your bottom line and improve business growth.
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Boom is an online event platform offered to anyone or any business, a stage to showcase and sell their products live to event attendees.
Learn more at: https://boom.rocks/
