It’s important to keep up with the trends when it comes to hosting an online event in 2022. We’ve now had two years to perfect the online event strategy, so it’s no longer acceptable for digital experiences to be anything less than amazing.
According to several marketing experts and event planners across the country, there are many specific virtual event features that audience members want more of in 2022. Plus, reports from Kaltura confirm that over 48% of global companies plan to host virtual events in the next year.
If so many businesses are planning to host online events, it only makes sense that they should observe current trends and make those events as enjoyable as possible.
Virtual event trends that are here to stay for 2022
Webinars
Webinars have gained an extreme amount of popularity in the past year. With the future of in-person events constantly in question, many people began wondering how they could host series-style events. Webinars are the perfect answer for anyone wanting to host multiple events for their audiences.
Not only have webinars proved to be popular among attendees, but they’ve also proven themselves to be a worthwhile investment for businesses trying to change up their marketing strategies. Webinar topics range from casual lectures to ultra-specific master classes, and they all bring in different audiences. To learn more about starting a webinar in 2022, check out this blog.
Virtual Reality
If you’ve heard anything about the metaverse in recent months, then you likely have also heard about virtual reality. Many online events have started to incorporate virtual reality aspects within their online events. In fact, Jumbo created a platform for Quills Fest, a virtual event that was made in conjunction with a virtual reality space. Quills Fest was created to make an interactive art museum tour in which audience members could attend either digitally or in virtual reality.
This example shows off the flexibility of online events- people can often attend in whatever way they’re most comfortable with. Adding a virtual reality aspect to your upcoming event gives your attendees more options that make their experience more interactive and personalized.
Premium quality
This trend has a lot to do with what we talked about in the introduction. People are no longer accepting virtual events that are haphazardly put together. Subpar events were acceptable at the beginning of 2020 when many event planners were forced to throw something together last-minute due to quarantine. Two years later, however, we’ve all had practice.
Audience members want virtual events to be just as professional, white-label, and well-done as the in-person events they’re used to. This means your video, audio, and platform quality need to be top-notch. No one wants to go to an event with laggy visuals and audio that peaks in and out of their headphones. In order to have a successful event, you need to put the time and money into getting high-quality technical gear. If you need any recommendations for professional-approved tech, check out this blog.
Gamification
Even if you’ve never heard the term ‘gamification,’ you’ve likely seen it in action. Any time a virtual event adds polls, trivia games, or special reward tiers, they’re implementing gamification. This is mostly used as an engagement tactic in order to keep attendees interested in your event for longer periods of time. Now that so many events have utilized this, however, it has become a necessity.
Audience members have become accustomed to having the opportunity to interact with one another via chat and trivia questions- both of which come from gamifying your event. This interaction is something that attendees miss desperately from in-person events. Adding friendly competition with games and chat rooms gives them the opportunity to be social with one another.
Hybrid capabilities
If you remember one trend from this list, it should be this one. Hybrid events are by far the trendiest way a company can host an event in 2022. Professional marketers across the globe swear that hybrid events will experience a huge increase in the next few years. Over 97% of experts in marketing believe that hybrid events will continue to increase in 2022.
Hybrid events are truly the best of both worlds for audience members. Those who enjoy attending in-person events can, and those who would rather participate online can do so as well. This kind of flexibility lends itself really well to our modern, busy society. While many people say they want the return of in-person events, just as many people would probably rather continue attending events virtually.
The best choice your company can make to keep both types of people happy is to offer multiple options to your audience members.