Hybrid events are a fusion of face-to-face interaction and virtual components. In other words, a hybrid event is an event that can be live streamed for audiences to participate anywhere in the world whilst also being attended at a physical location.
The #dreamteam have been delivering hybrid events for several years and never has there been a more important time to provide events in this format. The global pandemic has changed the way companies all over the globe work – as we’ve been forced to transfer and deliver every meeting and event online, and even when the world goes back to normal, hybrid events will be here to stay.
Here are 10 reasons to run a hybrid event:
1. Increased reach and audience
Not only will your event be delivered to those physically at the event venue, but it can also be live streamed anywhere in the world to reach two or more times the number of people originally planned! Hybrid events also allow both those physically and virtually at the event to engage and participate.
2. Better for the environment
As we all have a responsibility to do our bit to help the planet, hybrid events are a sustainable way to bring people together. They reduce the number of people having to travel to the physical event location, therefore appealing to those who are looking to reduce their carbon footprint. This will ensure they don’t feel guilty about travelling a long distance to attend, therefore almost making it certain they will attend online. Also, having fewer physical attendees will help your company be green as less wastage will be created from catering or throwaway accessories.
3. Saves travel time and cost
Some attendees may be put off by the cost or the amount of time it takes to travel to the event. If they have an important meeting an hour or two before your event starts, they would not be able to physically make it but hosting a hybrid event allows them to join online in less than minutes. Another benefit is that it saves both the travel time and cost of your sponsors and crew, especially if your budget is tight.
4. Higher engagement with your audience
Usually, only physical attendees at your event will be able to engage by asking questions and applauding each of the speakers, however if your event is a hybrid event your virtual audience can do so much more! Your virtual audience can be actively participating from their mobile phones, tablets or computers and can like, share, comment and much more during the event. As a company you can even hold polls during the session to get feedback and opinions from your audience on the topics discussed!
5. Increased sponsorship value
Delivering a hybrid event doubles the exposure that your sponsors have as they can get in front of both the live audience and the virtual attendees. This will appeal to your sponsors as it is giving them a larger reach creating a larger lead pool for them.
6. Increased marketing opportunities
One amazing benefit of running a digital event is that you can easily record and reshare your event on your social media channels. This will increase the number of people who can view the event and also allows those who may have missed out to catch up. This is also a good way to promote future events, by taking snippets of your recording you can use these to advertise your next hybrid event!
Not only this, but the data and insights from the event can be tracked and can show what worked well and what didn’t which can influence future events.
7. Gives you valuable data and insights
One of the best features of running a hybrid event is the fact it gives you valuable data and insights for your company. You can not only know the exact number of attendees, but you can also find out how they engaged and whether/when they dropped out of the session. As well as this you can track the data to learn about the success of the event to help improve events in the future.
8. Improved return on investment (ROI)
Due to hybrid events allowing an increased number of attendees, meaning a larger reach, they can offer an increased return on investment.
9. Gives you better flexibility
Once the world returns back to normal, you should ensure that you have something in place if a major event was to happen again. If suddenly you have to put all your events online once again you wouldn’t be able to get the same number of attendees to your event unless you had a hybrid event platform in place.
10. You can keep up with the ever-changing needs of your audiences
Even though Covid-19 isn’t here to stay (we hope!) many people have adapted to working online from home and some companies will be using online event services more often than before the pandemic. This is partly due to their employees preferring the work from home life and proves that many companies can in fact work from home just as efficiently as their offices. This will call for more events to be held online, so there’s nothing to lose getting your company set up with hybrid events!