As In-Person Events Return, Hybrid Model Offers New Advantages

With continued concern over the Delta variant, the world remains in flux from the pandemic. 

However, as a marketer I’m excited that we’re no longer bound by the old rules. It used to be that in-person events were our only option. Few people, if any, were interested in watching a conference on a computer screen or mobile device.

Now, thanks to technology and the rise of virtual meetings, event planners and marketers can build an event and tailor its content to attract the greatest number of people, regardless of where they are.

It’s impossible to predict every change that events will undergo over the next few years. However, a few trends have emerged, including the probability that events, trade shows and conventions will include virtual elements for the foreseeable future. 

The story, not the platform

As the pandemic spread in spring of 2020 and marketers started transitioning to online events, many focused on the platforms they were using, rather than on telling the right stories. Moving forward, marketers should look at communications platforms as ways to expand the reach of their stories.

As always, we need to entice the audience to attend an event and then engage them once they arrive. That means distributing compelling content before, during and after the event to keep them coming back for more.

Tailored content 

The days of staging one-size-fits-all events are gone. Thankfully, hybrid events give communicators the opportunity to tailor their content to different audiences. With hybrid events, organizers and planners can pay specific attention to how attendees will engage with content. 

The virtual portion of a hybrid event can have its own unique content, rather than merely being a streamed version of the in-person segment. While people attending an in-person event mingle or network, those attending virtually can engage with exclusive content. The goal is to make every attendee feel valued, regardless of how they join the event. Someone who cannot be there in person should not receive a lesser experience.

New ways to connect

When the pandemic hit and many companies switched their events from in-person to virtual, they did so out of necessity. The opportunity for participants to connect with one another might have been lost. But hybrid events offer participants new ways to connect.

Demographic analytics have been an increasingly hot topic among marketers in recent years, especially as a means for targeting audiences on social media and via email campaigns. The same approach of using data to understand audiences based on their age, gender and interests can help marketers stage events. Doing so encourages connections among virtual attendees that might happen organically for those attending in person.

Hybrid events reach more people 

By adding a virtual element, a local or regional event that would otherwise attract a relatively small audience can turn into an international event with a large audience.

Hybrid events give organizers and marketers the opportunity to tap into both the in-person and virtual worlds and reach the biggest audiences possible.