Organising online conferences is becoming increasingly easy thanks to the development of new tools that are available to all. However, it’s important that you dedicate as much time to their preparation as you would for any other event, in order to maximise your chances of achieving your objectives. Here are our tips for getting started in organising online conferences with all the odds in your favour.
Summary
- Meet the prerequisites
- Manage registrations for your online conference
- Propose premium access
- Explain the procedure to follow on the day
- Communicate after the online conference
- Find new partners
1. Meet the prerequisites
Organising an online conference requires you to master certain essential tools, starting with a videoconference platform. First of all, ask yourself what features you need depending on the format of your conference, the number of speakers and attendees, its duration, etc. You will then be able to sort among the multiple tools and their endless features, including unlimited number of attendees, question-and-answer window, screen sharing, file sending, and so on. Zoom, YouTube, Google Meets, Skype… there’s certainly no shortage of solutions. Some organisers even use WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. The quality of your internet connection should also be considered. Make sure it holds up!
In terms of content, create a unique online conference plan in order to differentiate yourself from all the other forms of conferences that already exist. With the development of virtual events, you should highlight your added value and what makes you different. To do this, try to schedule speakers who wouldn’t have been able to physically travel to your location and thus negotiate a lower fee.
2. Manage registrations for your online conference
Organisers who use a booking system for online conferences are winning on a number of fronts. They sell access to their conference prior to the event and therefore know the precise number of attendees. They set different prices according to the procedure for their conference and gather information on each attendee, including surname, first name, position, company, etc. They monitor the presence of those who have registered with a dedicated feature.
Weezevent’s solutions propose all these intuitive features for all conference organisers. Manage registrations for your videoconference by creating an event, then publishing your registration module on your website or your Weezevent mini-site. Gather valuable information on their profiles with a customised registration form.
Tip: At the start of your online conference, review each attendee on your Weezevent interface by following the path Applications > Access control > Access lists > Actions [Name of your event] > Start ticket validation. Tick the boxes that correspond to the registered attendees and find out your attendance rate.
3. Propose premium access
Structured pricing for your online conference will make it easier for you to manage premium or VIP access. With a booking system for online conferences, offer additional services to attendees who choose a premium or VIP price. This can take the form of a small business meeting after the conference or exclusive content on the part of your keynote speaker. Use your imagination and boost your revenue!
4. Explain the procedure to follow on the day
Provide guidance to those who have registered up to your online conference by including the link to the event in the confirmation email as well as all practical information designed to reassure them. Not all your attendees will necessarily be big technophiles, so it’s up to you to do your utmost to ensure they’re all present on the day. To do this, remind them of this information between 24 hours and 1 hour before the online conference. With our emailing and CRM solution for online conferences, schedule the sending of this email in just a few clicks. Since all those who have registered for your event are synced with the CRM, you can segment and target your campaigns as you wish.
5. Communicate after the online conference
Organising an online conference is not an end in itself. Once you’ve reached the deadline, the adventure begins! Planning another edition, a face-to-face conference, or any other event would be a good way to follow up on what you successfully organised the first time. Your communication strategy must therefore be fine-tuned, especially if you decide to continue holding online conferences. The virtual link with your audience must be nurtured on a recurring and regular basis, like an essential meeting.
So, between each online conference, launch a discussion and ask your attendees why they enjoyed the previous conference, which topics should be addressed at the next edition, the speakers they’re impatient to hear from, and so on. With WeezTarget, our CRM for online conferences, you can easily segment your audiences and hit the bullseye with attractive emails according to each profile: regular attendee, registered but not attended, speaker, etc. Monitor the KPIs for each email campaign in real time, including conversion rates, number of tickets purchased, turnover generated, and so on. You can even track these indicators for your publications on social networks with our link tracking tool.
6. Find new partners
The virtual nature of online conferences doesn’t mean you can’t look for new partners. You just need to envisage different forms of exchange. For instance, you could offer a targeted organisation to pay you a certain amount in order to create online publicity on Instagram, YouTube or Facebook. For the organisation, associating with a virtual event that’s in tune with the times will give them a modern image and guarantee a level of visibility. For you, this will ensure more registrations if your targeting is successful. Envisage your future partnerships!
Are you ready to launch your online conference? Managing registrations and premium access, CRM, communication… Take a look at all of our online solutions’ features by clicking on the button below:
