Have you ever considered participating in a virtual summit? In this post, we’re covering how you can benefit from doing just that.
Best Tips for Seeing ROI From Participating in a Virtual Summit
From maximizing ROI with a pre-event marketing strategy for virtual summits to making it as niche-specific as possible, here are 11 answers to the question, “What are your best tips for seeing ROI from participating in or hosting a virtual summit?”
- Give Sponsors a Seat at the Table
- Define Clear Goals and Metrics for Success
- Monitor Everything
- Make It as Niche Specific as Possible
- Build Relationships With Attendees
- Offer Virtual Sponsorships
- Evaluate Networking Opportunities Gained
- Bring Value to Your Target Audience
- Include a Pre-event Marketing Strategy
- Optimize Content to Match Summit Topic
- Choose the Right Platform
Give Sponsors a Seat at the Table
Invite industry experts from up-and-coming companies who would co-sponsor the event with you in order to make a much-needed splash. For a summit, you always need a variety of expert speakers. Why not invite someone who is also seeking a seat at the table?
Assemble this virtual summit to be an opportunity for them, giving them hard data about who is taking part and why they can build credibility by being seen as an authority alongside the other participants. So long as they have something of value to add when speaking to a topic, they can get your ROI, so you can make it a better overall event.
Jonathan Zacharias, Founder, GR0
Define Clear Goals and Metrics for Success
One tip for seeing ROI from participating in or hosting a virtual summit is to define clear goals and metrics for success. Before the event, determine what you hope to achieve, whether it’s increased brand awareness, lead generation, or thought leadership opportunities.
Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with these goals and track them throughout the event. This can include metrics such as registration numbers, attendance rates, engagement levels, and post-event follow-up activity.
By tracking these metrics, you can assess the success of the event and make data-driven decisions about how to improve future events. Additionally, make sure to promote your event effectively through targeted marketing and social media efforts to attract the right audience and maximize ROI.
Brenton Thomas, CEO, Twibi
Monitor Everything
If you don’t monitor your goals and KPIs, they won’t help you. Thankfully, there are many products available on the market to assist you in doing this. For your events, a virtual event platform, for instance, will automatically track information about audience attendance and interaction.
SurveyMonkey is a top option for surveying tools and will enable you to create stunning polls and surveys that you can distribute to your audience. The responses you get will give you in-depth perceptions of the thoughts of your target audience, which you can use to organize future virtual and hybrid events that are more successful.
Alice Hall, Co-founder and Creative Director, Rowen Homes
Make It as Niche Specific as Possible
I have been involved several times in organizing virtual summits for our health and wellness start-up. In fact, we have often tried to expand our B2B sales potential by leveraging these summits to network and find clients.
However, one thing I have realized is that virtual summits only work if they are niche-specific. In other words, you cannot afford to have generic events that are too broad in terms of themes.
Instead, focus on very specific themes, and it will be much easier to attract a solid group of attendees. This will make lead generation much easier for you.
Logan Nguyen, Co-founder, MIDSS
Build Relationships With Attendees
One tip for seeing ROI from participating in or hosting a virtual summit is to focus on building relationships with attendees. While the ultimate goal of a virtual summit may be to generate leads and sales, building strong relationships with attendees can lead to long-term benefits and a higher ROI.
During the virtual summit, engage with attendees by participating in live chats, Q&As, or breakout rooms. This will help you establish a personal connection with attendees and show them you are interested in their needs and concerns.
After the virtual summit, follow up with attendees to thank them for their participation and offer additional resources or support. This can include sending personalized emails, offering exclusive discounts or promotions, or providing free consultations or demos.
Jason Moss, President and Co-founder, Moss Technologies
Offer Virtual Sponsorships
Including sponsorship opportunities is one way to guarantee that your online and virtual events are financially successful. This has the potential to be a very profitable source of income. The average price of a virtual event sponsorship package, according to studies, is $8,456.
The question is how can you get sponsors to give you thousands of dollars? You present them with something equally worthwhile.
If thousands of people have signed up for your event, businesses will clamor to buy sponsorship packages. Giving sponsors access to the analytics data you gather throughout your event can also attract their interest. Other businesses would love detailed information regarding the target market they are attempting to reach.
Keep in mind that the size of your expo hall isn’t an issue while conducting a virtual event. This implies that you can increase revenue by selling as many sponsorship packages as you can.
Himanshu Sharma, CEO and Founder, Academy of Digital Marketing
Evaluate Networking Opportunities Gained
I gauge ROI from participating in virtual summits in terms of the networking opportunities I gain in the process. I evaluate the number of connections I make through links on social media, LinkedIn in particular, email address exchanges, or someone reviewing my company’s product. The focus is not entirely on the numbers, but on the possibility of future business and collaborations.
Liam Liu, Co-founder and CMO, ParcelPanel
Bring Value to Your Target Audience
As a female founder of one of the largest independent packaging companies in North America, I have participated in and hosted several virtual summits. These events have been a gateway to connect with customers, peers, and fellow industry experts. In addition, they have also helped us to generate a significant return on investment.
An important tip for seeing ROI from participating in or hosting a virtual summit that I have noticed is to focus on providing value to your target audience.
Focus on creating a program that provides genuine value and experience to your audience. This might involve bringing together industry experts to share insights and expertise or offering training sessions or workshops that teach sought-after skills or knowledge. By focusing on providing value, you will attract a larger audience and build a strong reputation as a leader in your industry.
Kathy Bennett, CEO and Founder, Bennett Packaging
Include a Pre-event Marketing Strategy
One tip for seeing ROI from participating in or hosting a virtual summit is to create a pre-event marketing strategy. This should include a strategy for engaging potential attendees, creating a presence on social media, and building relationships with potential partners.
Additionally, creating a pre-event email series to remind attendees of the summit and providing incentives for signing up early can help to boost attendance. Finally, setting up affiliate programs for additional revenue and offering discounts for larger groups or individuals signing up together can also be effective.
Andreea Saveluc, SEO Team Leader, NoN Agency
Optimize Content to Match Summit Topic
Summits look to engage an audience by zeroing in on a particular topic that poses a challenge in the industry, requires urgent addressing, or offers opportunities. This approach draws a larger audience and contributes to the summit’s success.
So, if you seek to increase your ROI, a dominant strategy is to optimize your content so that it matches these issues that are being addressed and helps the audience understand how partnering with your brand could prove to solve and fight these challenges or maximize opportunities.
Relevance is of great importance to an informed audience, and in establishing yourself as relevant in a particular situation, you can hold their attention and also steal the limelight at a virtual summit.
Ariav Cohen, VP of Marketing and Sales, Proprep
Choose the Right Platform
After hosting a few successful virtual summits, I have found that the key to maximizing return on investment (ROI) is in choosing the right platform. Choose a platform that will provide you with the necessary features, such as automated emails, simple registration, and easy integration with your website.
It should also be customizable and user-friendly so you can concentrate on marketing and promotion efforts instead of worrying about technical issues. Do thorough research when selecting your virtual summit platform for maximum ROI.
Joe Troyer, CEO and Growth Advisor, Digital Triggers
Want to start a Virtual Summit of your own? This post might help: How To Plan A Virtual Summit For Your Business
