How to increase virtual event attendance

Does the topic of scaling your audience size hit the first three rows of your event planners' to-do list in event preparation? If your answer is yes, you’re not alone! According to Markletic Event Research, 70% of the survey respondents believe that the number of attendees is a highly contributing factor to the event’s success. 

Wondering how to increase the turnout of your virtual and hybrid events? Bear with us as we give you a list of actionable recommendations for boosting your virtual event attendance! 

Insights into the virtual event attendance

In 2020, Statista Research Department compared the number of attendees and registration fees between virtual and on-site events. The results reflect the reality: virtual conferences charge lower registration fees and report 34% more attendees than in-person events.

However, most remote meetings do not charge a fee at all – Event MB claims that 74% of all virtual events are free. It means that anyone from any part of the world can now access various events that appear in their social media feeds. Registering for an event has become so easy – no need to buy tickets or fill out any lengthy website forms.
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Does it mean that a virtual event will be more successful than an in-person event? It might look like that, but the answer is no – at least not yet.

What causes the most uncertainty while organizing virtual events is the registration/attendance rate. According to Forbes, industry professionals report that only 30-50% of registered users attend the online event they signed up for. When it comes to on-site events, the odds are much more promising, with 50-90% of the audience members usually participating.

Here’s the golden question for the event industry to crack: How can we make these numbers close? Let’s find out!

Boosting your virtual event’s attendance rate

If you're organizing a fully online or a hybrid event, there are several effective ways to have a greater audience turnout. We present to you seven helpful tips on how to increase virtual event attendance for your next event!

1. Choose the right time for your event

There are three main factors for timing – date, time, and length of your event. Recent observations show that the best days for a virtual event are Monday and Friday. The same research reveals that you should start your event at 9 a.m. or after lunch for the highest attendance rate and after 6 p.m. – for the highest engagement rate.
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It is hard to come up with the perfect event length: Bizbash claims that your virtual event shouldn’t last more than 2-4 hours. However, the audience's attention span is only 15-20 minutes, so having more short talks or limiting sessions to 45 minutes will provide the best results. And don't forget to include breaks – Zoom fatigue is no myth!

2. Consider implementing registration fees

It might seem counterintuitive, but it works! According to virtual event software providers, applying low registration fees as a symbolic entrance fee can increase your event’s attendance. However, remember that the pricing shouldn’t be high.

The reason why registration fees secure higher attendance is psychological: if someone has to pay, they are more committed to their purchase and likely to spend more time thinking about it. Paying a small fee while registering will minimize the no-shows and increase the number of registered attendees interested in your topic.

3. Encourage attendees to invite friends

Don’t underestimate the power of referral systems in a virtual event. In a recent study by the Asia Pacific University of Innovation and Technology, scientists have found that social influence is a significant factor related to an event’s attendance.

Just like in offline events, participants are more likely to attend events with their friends than on their own. After the event is over, attendees will probably discuss what they have seen and heard together, resulting in a better virtual experience.
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You can easily enable attendees to invite their friends. An easy way to do that is to implement a referral system. And it doesn't have to be complicated – simply add one question to your registration form where people can enter their friend’s email address. Another easy way to implement this is to encourage the registered people to share a link to an event on social media. 

4. Engage your audience

Audience engagement plays a crucial role in virtual event attendance. Attendance is not just about attracting more people but also about retaining their participation during virtual events. How can you increase engagement levels?

For starters, consider including your attendees in various activities. Some conferences announce prize giveaways for those who participate in the entire online event. Other event planners choose to include breakout sessions where attendees could discuss with each other.
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You can also choose online meeting solutions that have interactive functions. Remote meeting platforms like Interactio provide many engagement tools for your attendees – live polls, Q&A sessions, surveys, screen sharing, private and group chats, and more! 

These features will help your participants embrace the community aspect of your event – something no less important than the attendance rate. 

5. Let your attendees know that you are waiting for them

Many potential participants tend to register for an event weeks before its start date. Don’t forget to send out a reminder email a day before the actual event. To avoid spam complaints, make the email as simple and human as possible. 

If you are organizing a paid event, consider sending out an event welcome kit through post. It does not have to be full of free items – something as humble as an invitation card with a nice message will make people feel appreciated. Small touches like this can help you build a connection with your future attendees and boost their desire to attend. 

6. Ask event speakers to promote the event

What if you could reach your target audience through your virtual event speakers? You can ask them to promote your event on their social media profiles. Why is it effective? Let's just say that your speaker can have a large following of fans who want to hear them speak at your online event. That's right – this is a great way to grow attendance rates!
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7. Provide interpretation

Global outreach can increase virtual event attendance. By targeting an international audience, you can get more people to register. However, people from other regions might hesitate to participate because of language barriers or not understanding the event language.
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To tackle this problem, many businesses, organizations, and event planners have started integrating remote simultaneous interpretation (RSI) in their events. Having the opportunity to experience an engaging virtual or hybrid event in a native language can entice more people to join it. And did we mention that you can easily achieve a seamless event experience through a single RSI solution?

In short

Hosting a virtual event is no walk in the park. Pre-event preparation takes months, and you also have to worry about driving attendance. However, strategies such as audience engagement, effective promotion, and registration fees can boost virtual event attendance.