If you are looking to improve your marketing efforts and event strategy, you will have likely come across the idea of hybrid events. But, what exactly does this mean, and how can it add value to your marketing strategy? Let’s take a look.
What is a hybrid event?
Before hosting any kind of promotional event, you must first decide where you will host it. Traditionally, this will have been in a physical location, which is known as an in-person event. However, in part thanks to the restrictions of the pandemic, the popularity of virtual events hosted on the internet has skyrocketed.
Put simply, a hybrid event combines the key elements of both in-person and virtual events – it is hosted in a physical location, but also live streamed as a virtual event simultaneously.
How hybrid events add value to marketing efforts
- No limit on when content can be viewed
With in-person events, it can only be experienced once – by the people who are in the room at the time of hosting. However, thanks to comprehensive webinar platforms like ON24, the beauty of hybrid events is that you can record the live event and offer it to audiences who missed it on demand.
You can then post the recording on your website for people to view as they please. This allows for continued exposure even after the event has finished, and is particularly useful for marketing events, webinars, and product demonstrations.
- Widens potential audience
In a similar vein, some people might have missed the event due to other commitments or because it would be too far to travel. By hosting a hybrid event instead, audiences can choose whether to attend in person or virtually, depending on what works best for their individual circumstances.
Due to this, you will be able to reach a wider audience, as you can target both local and global demographics with your marketing event.
- Provides analytics that can be leveraged
With in-person events, do you really know anything about audience behaviour during the event, other than how many people attended?
By adding a virtual element, these people will attend via an online platform. This platform will be able to collect useful information such as inactivity, interactivity, engagement, and even if people leave the event. These insights can then be leveraged to improve all later events.
- Easily scalable
Hosting an in-person event will mean that you are restricted to a certain capacity due to the restrictions of the building you have booked. However, with hybrid events, even if you are at maximum capacity physically, you can still invite more people to join the event virtually.
- More environmentally friendly
In this day and age, asserting yourself as an environmentally-friendly brand is essential. In fact, one survey found that 88% of consumers wanted brands to help them be more environmentally conscious in their habits.
By hosting hybrid events, those who would typically have to drive, fly, or take the train to the event can instead attend from home. Though it might not sound like much, this can drastically reduce your carbon footprint, evidencing your commitment to the environment.
- Simplify the sales journey
And, finally, hybrid events can simplify the user journey to purchase. You can include interactive links throughout the event that encourage attendees to buy your product or service, or direct them exactly where to find information, driving traffic towards your website.
