How Virtual Events Are Transforming How We ‘Do Business’

—By Peter Mitchell, Managing Director at Through The I—

There is no doubt that most of us have come to terms in the last 20 months with what it means to live life ‘remote’ in our business lives. Home working as a new normal has been a game changer for lots of us, and as a society we will spend the next few years working out what new normal ‘actually’ means for us both as a society and in our own daily lives.

Our business lives are important to all of us and have also changed dramatically as leaders and marketers. Even though lots of us remain nostalgic for our pre pandemic approach to all things, there is a very compelling case for staying virtual in our dealings with our customers, clients, prospects, patient groups etc.

I would be forgiven for saying… ‘you would say that wouldn’t you’ so let me explain. We look forward at TTI to a future filled with Hybrid events where the Physical and Virtual worlds work perfectly together.

However, Across worldwide industry for years physical events ruled, they were exciting opportunities to do businesses, build networks… to see and be seen. Often, seen at industry level as a rite of passage travelling to Barcelona for the World Mobile Conference for example was a short cut and prerequisite for being cool and current within the Media Industry. Attending World travel Market if you are in tourism was the pace to do your deals…

However, the pandemic has change this really for the long term. In our experience, all industry is good a learning new thing (even if originally a distress purchase) Virtual Event Solutions have shown businesses real value that they will not ignore going forward.

So, what are some of the things we’ve learned about value from Virtual?

Virtual Events Drive Better Return on Investment

Not just because they are cheaper (please read on). But, they are cheaper. No/smaller event space, catering, travel, and accommodation etc. And there is data to support this.

Virtual Events Are Good When Produced Well

Far from being ‘less’ interest, fun, entertaining, visually appealing etc. They can be more. And the pace of improvement has been immense and all whole attends feel the. Engagement rates are better. And there is data to support this. Attendees stay for longer, go to break out sessions, engage in Q&A, offer feedback, and ultimately go on to buy. And there is data to support this. Please get in touch with Through The I (TTI) for details…

Geography is Nothing

People attend from all over the world, with no travel cost and associated impact on the planet! The potential for benefit to a business’s ESG strategy is massive.  #Cop26.  And there is data to support this

More Business Not Less is Possible

Because of the cumulative benefit of the above, return on Investment from Virtual event is Higher. And there is data to support this. Oh yes… And, there’s lots of data to validate a business’s decision making.

At TTI we use data to drive our content strategies, not the other way around. we use technology to enhance experiences and help reduce the impact of our clients work on the planet.

It is our firm belief that physical and hybrid events are an important part of the future, but most importantly that far from being a return to the past, the physical will be a way to ground and improve the virtual experience. This plus all of the ROI benefits being driven by more attendance, better experience richer data and the optimisation potential it represents means that virtual events are not only here to stay but continue to grow in value for today’s business leaders and for generations to come.