For a brief moment, virtual meetings became the center of the event universe pretty much out of necessity.

At the time, event planners made the most of the shift away from in-person events, pulling out all the stops to keep attendees engaged. Big guests, interactive games, build-your-own-drink happy hours? It was all on the table.

And that pushed production values to new heights. If you haven’t compared an Apple keynote from 2019 to a more recent Apple keynote, you owe it to yourself to see how dramatic the shift really was. For some organizations, even at a smaller scale, the change was dramatic and lasting.

Now, people are willing to travel to in-person events. And in-person events of all kinds are thriving—concerts leaped back in a big way in 2023, for example, and 69% of event planners surveyed by PCMA Convene expect increased in-person attendance over the next couple of years. By contrast, 38% of respondents expected a decline in virtual or hybrid events.

Despite that, digital events still play a key role in reaching your audience. (After all, it’s not every day you can hop on a plane.) How can you keep them interested? A few points to consider:

Yes, Virtual Events Still Have Value

With virtual events on the back burner, that might encourage planners to invest less time or energy into virtual meetings.

Is that a mistake? Potentially. While in-person events currently dominate the event calendar, virtual events are now second nature for millions of people, thanks to tools like Zoom and social networks like Twitch. And they still have a place, whether your vantage point is B2B, marketing, fundraising, or associations. According to LinkedIn’s B2B Marketing Benchmark 2024, 51% of respondents said they use in-person events as a marketing channel, making it the most-used non-digital marketing channel. Nearly as many (46%), however, said they also use digital events.

Kristin Arnold, the founder of Powerful Panels, a consultancy focused on building more engaging panel discussions, says different types of attendees get different things from each setting.

“I think people are much more comfortable in the virtual environment, so I see this not just relying on one way or the other,” she says. “People are being more intentional and thoughtful about it. Do you need to make people come together, between the time and the expense that it takes?”

Building distinct lanes for both digital and in-person events could help you get more out of each.

Admit It: Not Everyone Wants To Engage (But Some People Do!)

One of the biggest challenges with virtual events is that the digital setting makes them easy to tune out. Some people might sign up for your lunch webinar and never show up, choosing work or lunch instead, and catching the video after the fact. There is, of course, value to offering video content to your audience on demand for those who learn passively.

But that makes life a lot harder if your goal is to drive engagement. Arnold notes that tactics generally used to work people into in-person settings, like small talk, are rarely possible with virtual settings.

“You show up when the meeting’s supposed to start, if not a couple of minutes later,” she says. There’s really no chit-chat there, depending on what your culture is. And nobody sticks around—you’re off to the next meeting.”

With that in mind, Arnold suggests looking at the goals of the meeting. Are you trying to build attendee relationships, educate your audience, or convey important information?

For some virtual settings, having a chat box makes sense; other times, it might be a distraction. By understanding your audience and building with intent, you can build something that makes sense for your audience’s needs.

One thing that might help: Making it somebody’s job to keep an eye on engagement in chat or discussion areas, something Arnold calls an ombudsman.

“I like using an ombudsman, so someone is actually looking at the chat box, bringing something that’s relevant to whatever is going on in the conversation, so that you know you’re not missing anything,” she says.

Your Event Software’s Untapped Feature Set

A virtual events platform like EventMobi often has numerous features designed to boost engagement and get people talking.

During the pandemic, these platforms gained lots of technical sophistication and new features. But event organizers overlook these potentially useful features, Arnold says.

“You know, it used to be, we’ve got this new feature. You can use annotation, and you’re teaching people how to use it, and it was like, ‘Well, that’s really cool,’” she says. “And when was the last meeting you were at that you used annotation as a feature?”

For that reason, it’s important to understand what’s at your disposal—and what makes sense for your needs. Even if you want to keep it simple, developing strategies to integrate these tools into your events ensures you’re maximizing their potential.

“Have you set up the systems that you could do some polling, that you could do some word clouds, that you could put people into breakout groups? Which are pretty much the three kinds of standard things that you do in a virtual setting,” she says.

Integrate Tangible Elements Into Virtual Events

While virtual events may separate attendees by distance, it doesn’t mean you can’t make room for more tangible or physical elements. Ever do a virtual happy hour? You can still apply that package-sending strategy to your current events.

Mailing things beforehand is also a smart idea for remote speakers, as it can create opportunities for improved production quality. For example, event organizer Alicia Jenelle of The Jenelle Group recommends giving presenters the tools they need to ensure a high-quality experience.

“For the presenters, we also encourage our clients to have production kits sent to the speakers to ensure the viewer has the best experience,” Jenelle says. “A production kit typically includes a branded backdrop, ring lighting, extended Wi-Fi, external webcam, microphone, etc. to ensure their space is perfectly set up in a broadcast format.”

As Jenelle notes, this helps encourage attendee engagement by removing distraction factors, such as poor-quality video or an unclear or distracting background, which can take away from the information being shared.

In terms of attendees, Arnold suggests offering an “experience box” that can include ways to respond to questions on camera, such as red and green flags, or physical whiteboards.

“I just think having a whiteboard that you go, ‘Okay, everybody write down the one word that comes to mind when you’re talking about virtual meetings,’ and everybody holds it up? That is awesome,” Arnold says.

One idea for engagement that might be worth trying for a more intimate group: Including a gift card for a food delivery service to make the lunch break feel special, even if they’re not traveling to the event.

Don’t Ignore The Virtual Elements Of Hybrid Events

All that probably sounds fine for virtual events. But what about hybrid events, which integrate digital elements into the in-person event? It might be tempting to aim a camera at presenters, turn on the livestream, and call it a day. But that may not be enough to engage your virtual attendees in the long run.

Lynda Hoff, CMM, CMP, the manager for Member Experience and Events for the Ontario Nurses Association, suggests taking an approach to events that treats the virtual experience as separate from the in-person experience, with distinct content.

“We do interviews with different suppliers,” she says. “We do interviews with our VPs—anybody that’s, you know, interesting.”

The result of this approach is that attendees feel like they’re getting something of value that can make logging into the event worth their time.

“So you’re including them,” she says. “But you’re giving them the, ‘This is what you’re missing. Why don’t you come next time?’”

And even if you’re trying to walk and chew bubble gum by combining online and offline elements simultaneously, it can be done—if you’re willing to invest in a virtual MC to help shape the offering for attendees, says Arnold.

“If you have a live MC, the virtual and the live MC can actually coordinate and really design some neat things that the virtual audience could do,” she says, such as collaborating on Q&A sections, for example.

The goal is to allow everyone to work together, so that all attendees get value. And that doesn’t just require tools—it requires awareness and frequent call-outs, what Arnold calls “an acknowledgment that there are people in the virtual world” during your in-person event.

This may require a little extra coordination, but with a well-organized hybrid event strategy, your event may be off to the races.

EventMobi is here to make your next webinar a success, sign up for a free demo!