Since 2020, the pandemic has led to a wave of event cancellations and a shift away from physical events, with industries getting used to going 'online'. But before you start helping brands run a successful online campaign, think back to the past few years and wonder if you have been hearing more and more about Hybrid Events.
What exactly is a Hybrid Event? You need to know what it is and understand its advantages before you can play your cards right.
Hybrid events are a combination of physical and virtual events. While hybrid events are being held in physical venues, audiences can participate virtually through live stream platforms and other online features making a far more streamlined event process. These hybrid events are gaining popularity due to the similarities with physical events and the ability to utilize virtual aspects.
In short, a hybrid event is an emerging combination that integrates a physical venue with a virtual platform.
Physical and virtual events are not the only options for organizers whilst holding events, as hybrid events can also be an alternative, even maybe the best solution. Several crucial factors cause hybrid events to become more popular in recent years, this blog post aims to discuss a few of those.
To begin with, hybrid events allow organizers to reach a greater number of audiences and enable them to invite speakers from around the globe. According to our events industry report, 85% of event organizers in Asia will transition their events into a hybrid model after the pandemic. Although more in-person events are being held recently due to the fact that the pandemic has been getting away from us, it is believed that more hybrid events would be seen since they have found that virtual events bring numerous benefits to them. Attendees from all over the world can participate in the events as it is possible that the numbers of attendees in virtual events are more than that of in-person events as attendees can attend virtual events at any location meaning global exposure. This also allows organizers to invite more speakers to their events and may mean a higher engagement rate with your audiences.
Physical Elements like face-to-face interactions are still important
Hybrid events allow the face to face interactions as humans are social beings and physical interaction are still important to networking and building relationships. Based on our events industry report, 47 percent of our surveyees said that their virtual events from last year decreased in attendance compared to their physical events. Although the benefits of virtual events are still fully undetermined, event professionals have still yet to discover how to replace that human touch, with human interactions being such an integral part of networking, its presence within the event industry is going to be controversial. However, we can expect that a form of hybrid events consisting of both the best parts of a physical event and the global advantages of a virtual event will probably become the trend in the event industry in the future.
Increase your event attendance and brand impact
One of the benefits of hybrid events is that it gives the audience the freedom to choose whether they want to participate in a physical event or a virtual event, and thanks to this flexibility, it encourages people everywhere to sign up for the event.
While physical events may not be available to everyone due to time, venue and budget constraints, hybrid events offer an online option that allows people to attend without the fear of missing out even if they cannot be there, giving everyone the experience of being there and building a brand community.
In the following table, we have listed the advantages and disadvantages of organizing both events in easy to view format. This may help your decision on whether to hold in-person or hybrid events.
| In-person | Hybrid | |
| Finance | Costs include venue, salary, traveling, food, and entertainment | The cost is lower since most of the audiences attend events virtually meaning companies can save on hotels, flights while organizers can save on venue costs. |
| Human resources | Speakers and staffs responsible for ensuring the fluency of the event in the physical venue | You may need staff who are more technically savvy to run the virtual aspect of the event |
| Interactions | Face to face interaction is the only option that allows audiences to communicate among themselves as they meet each other at a specific venue | In addition to the face to face interactions, a hybrid element allows you to speak and interact with audiences around the world |
| Lead Generation | Limitation in reaching audiences from different markets as audiences have to attend the venue in-person | Greater flexibility in approaching audiences from all over the world since they can attend the events at any location |
| Geographics | Limited attendees due to restriction in the size of venues and destinations | No limit and can attract audiences all around the world |
| Data collection | Record the data manually | Collect the data automatically and check event real-time performance |
The emergence of hybrid events has provided branding specialists and marketers with a more diverse range of campaign formats, and this model is here to stay in the post-pandemic era.
The most important question to consider before planning a hybrid event is: "How will this event help my brand achieve its goals?" To do this, you must first prepare a event marketing plan and be familiar with your audience and your objectives.
A successful hybrid event requires the following steps:
Step 1. Prepare your event proposal
Preparing an event proposal before the event will pave the way for the theme and framework of the event and allow you to understand who will be the most suitable event host, or to mark different moments in the event, such as snapshots of other meetings, and interviews.
Step 2. Choose your event host
"Why do you need a moderator for an event?" The presence of a host allows the online audience to get to the point of the questions and pass them on to the speaker. A competent host can make the guests shine, the event flow more smoothly and even increase overall satisfaction.
Step 3. Offer Q&A session
The exclusive Q&A session with the speaker can be the highlight of the event, especially for the online audience. If there is no Q&A session, you can still summarize the entire discussion and use the interactive features of the virtual conferencing software platforms to get the audience's comments and feedback.
Step 4. Choose the suitable platform for your event
With the rapid development of technology, hosting a virtual event is becoming easier and easier, and with EventX's Attendee Generation, virtual events are becoming more and more like in-person events, and finding the right software to do this is the key!
EventX is Hong Kong's leading virtual video conferencing platform, designed to be simple and easy to use, perfect for organizing virtual and physical online events, and with the ability to generate an attendee list (Attendee Generation).
From in-person to virtual to hybrid events, from pre-event to post-event, EventX has got you covered. Up till now, EventX has served more than 135 countries with nearly 10,000 events and more than 5 million attendees. We help you drive more attendees and increase conversion for successful events, making it easy for even first-time users to get started.
The global pandemic has changed the world and has brought different experiences in the event industry. Hybrid events will be the future in 2021 since the advantages of hybrid events make for safer event hosting, as well as increased marketing exposure. Click here to learn more about the benefits of hybrid events!
Frequently-asked Questions about Hybrid Events
Q: Why should I do a hybrid event?
A: The most popular reason is hybrid events can break down the geographical barrier and time constraints. As an event organizer, a hybrid event provides you with the opportunity to increase your audience reach, attendee engagement, and brand awareness.
Q: What are some foreseeable challenges for a hybrid event?
There are a few challenges that come with running a hybrid event. One of the biggest is balancing the needs of both the attendees and organizers. This can be difficult when it comes to things like layout, timing, and content. Additionally, it can be tricky to keep everyone happy when there are different expectations for each group.
There are also logistical challenges that come with organizing a hybrid event. This includes making sure that everything runs smoothly both during the event itself and in terms of post-event cleanup. It's important to keep things as organized as possible so that everyone is on their same page, no matter what time of day or night it is.
Ultimately, it's important to have a plan for everything in order to make sure that a hybrid event goes off without a hitch.
Q: Why should I host hybrid events with EventX?
A: We are localized for Asia with China’s streaming license so we can help your event access in China. With our 96% of Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT), we will ensure your events run smoothly with our platform along with our in-person and virtual event solutions. Furthermore, with our attendee generation feature, we fill your events with targeted attendees who are likely to become qualified sales opportunities.