3 tips for holding virtual events in the age of Zoom fatigue

This article is brought to you by Studios, Tech in Asia’s advertising arm that connects brands with Asia’s tech community through the power of storytelling

To many of us in the past year, working from home and answering conference calls have become almost synonymous. And until the world opens up again, virtual meetings will be the way forward.

With a virtual event popping up every other day, and the rise of what some call “Zoom fatigue,” event organizers like myself are constantly thinking of ways to cut through the noise and engage viewers. Here are some best practices that I have discovered along the way.

Understand your audience and help them grow

This may sound like a given, but in the midst of coming up with the next big event idea, many marketers often forget about the most important thing: their audience.

Here at Tech in Asia, we often start with these important questions whenever we organize virtual events:

• What does our audience want to know?
• What are the gaps that we can close?
• Who can our audience learn from?
• How can we deliver the best content to our audience?

When trying to answer these questions, it helps to walk in your audience’s shoes. What are their daily routines like? What are they most interested in? What are the latest industry trends? What has already been done a million times? Back these up with relevant data and work toward creating fresh content to excite them.

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Another tip is to get out there and be an event audience yourself. I’ve personally attended a bunch of virtual events, forums, and conferences held by other businesses and made sure to take note of the good, as well as the bad, aspects of each. Emulate the best practices and learn from others’ mistakes – that’s the fastest way to learn!

Find different ways to engage your audience

In the age of virtual fatigue, it can be hard to get people to RSVPs for your events, much less get them to actually pay attention during the sessions.

In order to differentiate your virtual events from the same old same old, you’ve got to explore various content types and channels.

It’s important to constantly explore and evaluate different platforms to create good virtual event experiences and satisfy your audience’s needs. Some good platforms include Topia.io and Gather.town, both of which have non-conventional user interfaces that are perfect for virtual networking.

At our Tech in Asia Conference last year, for example, we experimented with a hybrid event format, one that combined a physical venue with an online experience. We also had several speakers join us physically on stage to add that human touch.

Photo credit: Tech in Asia

To further boost audience interaction, we introduced a system that ranked attendees on a leaderboard according to their activity – such as posing questions, visiting virtual booths, and attending segments – and awarded prizes to the most active users.

If you’d like to tap into our content marketing and virtual event expertise, feel free to view our media kit below.

Content is (still) king

Most people attend events for educational purposes, so crafting unique content angles that aren’t covered widely is a difficult but crucial part of the process.

Many people also attend events when they’re intrigued by a leading company or a particular expert in the industry. That’s why it is equally essential to involve speakers from reputable companies that can provide an in-depth view on the event topic.

That being said, virtual events must also be succinct – finding the balance between length and depth is the key to a successful event.

If your organization wants to reach the tech and startup community in Southeast Asia, Tech in Asia has the storytelling tools and loyal audience base to help you reach your goals. You can get in touch with us here or view our media kit below.