Virtual events have become an essential aspect of every industry. This is one of the significant developments of this century. Their usage & contribution to the global economy is getting bigger every day. Just like in physical events, sponsorships and advertising are significant sources of revenue generation for virtual events as well. Virtual events lack face-to-face interaction and the attention span of attendees is also short. But this doesn't mean that they do not offer a window for sponsorships and advertising.
With no massive hoardings or cutout displays, no verbal conversation or hand-to-hand exchange of merchandise, is it even possible for virtual venues to compete with the grand aesthetics of physical venues? This could be a common argument for amateurs! But technology providers have already come a long way in providing unique ways of sponsorship & advertising possibilities in virtual venues. At ibentos, we know exactly how to maximise the scope of sponsorship & advertising through virtual event platforms and extract high revenues!
Why do Virtual venues have equal advertising potential as physical ones?
The marketing calibre of any platform is gauged by three parameters, audience size, marketing avenues and degree of creative freedom. Virtual platforms have:
● Access to a global audience
● Multiple advertising avenues and branding
spaces
● Technologically enhanced creative freedom
● AI-enabled marketing tools
● Possibility of multiple iterations
That's what
makes the Virtual Platform a great advertising and marketing forum!
They may be
virtual in nature but their audience is real and of mammoth size, indeed!
By definition, any medium, real or virtual that has high viewership and is commercially profitable can be utilised well for advertising.
Let us now discuss, how you can exploit the advertising potential of your virtual event platforms and attract maximum sponsors & exhibitors. Practically, every space that your attendees cross in the process of event participation could be a good advertising avenue. Let's go by this sequence itself!
Website
As soon as your event is announced and the marketing campaign takes off, your website is the first place that your attendees visit. It is a portal for you to exhibit your background information, capabilities, achievements, yearly event calendar and of course information about your upcoming virtual event. You can share this space with your sponsors & exhibitors for the display of their advertising content.
Entrance
Have you seen the entrance of a shopping mall? It has large billboard displays of all the jewellery, apparel, grocery, restaurants, multiplexes and luxury brands that are housed within the premises. The entrance space of your virtual venue is a must-visit place for audiences and thus is ideal for branding and sponsorships.
Welcome area
When you enter a hotel, airport, food court, amusement park, fun fair or any other physical event, what is your immediate action? Yes, you take a wide look around the entire welcome area to have an idea of the all available options. That's exactly what your attendees do as soon as they enter the virtual venue. The entire welcome area- walls, staircase wells, pillars, ceiling hangouts etc every such space can be used for the display of sponsored content.
Sponsor Booths
How many times while walking through the walkways in airports have you encountered bank counters offering credit cards? Or while visiting exhibitions haven’t you seen sponsored appliances counters? Virtual events too have a fair scope of arranging sponsored booths. Virtual sponsored booths are dedicated spaces for sponsors to attract attendees and perform marketing activities. Though face-to-face contact cannot be arranged, there’s a good scope for one-on-one virtual interaction.
Auditoriums
Virtual
auditorium is that section of your event where a large audience is present at
the same time. This opportunity can be well utilised for the sponsor’s brand
promotion. Session breaks and recaps could be the time when the audience
wouldn’t mind watching the sponsor’s promotional videos. Paid promotions
through videos and sponsored links in between the highlight sessions could be a
high revenue-yielding chance for the organisers.
Gaming & Entertainment Zones
Every event whether commercial, educational or technical has gaming and entertainment zones for audiences’ indulgence & refreshment. It’s also the time when they are in a refreshed state of mind. The event designers can frame sponsor-themed games or activities with or without reward. You can exercise your creativity in this area so as to entertain your audiences and promote your sponsors collectively. Puzzles, quizzes, quick music concerts, ice-breaking sessions etc are some examples.
Networking Areas
Networking zones are a part of your event where people enter to form networks. Why not allow your sponsors entry into this area as well? After all, the real purpose of attendees establishing networks is to seek new business opportunities. Sponsors can also exploit this opportunity and you as an organiser can yield that extra sponsorship perks too.
Sponsored Breakout Rooms
Having sponsored breakout rooms is a trending idea nowadays. Every attendee logs into the breakout rooms at some point in the event. By introducing sponsorships in your breakout rooms, you can turn them into parallel activity areas. Sponsors can use this space for engaging the attendees in promotional entertainment activities. Why not make your virtual venues as lively as the physical venues of a gala event? For instance, an automobile expo is not just about sharing the technicalities of present & future cars! It has a dozen of other activities going on parallelly with the technical sessions.
So, the
incorporation of sponsorships in your virtual platform is a game of creativity.
Its a skill to open maximum sponsorship avenues yet keep them natural and
perfectly amalgamated with the event theme. At ibentos, we aim for high-level
customisation in each segment of our virtual and hybrid event platfroms.
Introducing innovative sponsorship windows is one of them. You can visit us at www.ibentos.com can take a peek at the virtual environment
designed for previous events.
Resource: https://dailybusinesspost.com/top-ways-to-maximize-sponsorship-in-your-next-virtual-event/