Today, everyone is turning to conducting online events, as it is not possible to gather the participants at one place in this pandemic time. Organizers conduct conferences, exhibitions, summits, fests, shows, launches, town halls, trade shows, meetings, fairs, AGM, award shows, and various events virtually without hassle.
Virtual & hybrid are two types of events that are a powerful weapon connecting companies with global audiences through virtual booths & sponsored sessions with in-person meet. Still, the question that arises is what are the real differences between hybrid and virtual events?
Let’s begin this guide with a short introduction of both the virtual and hybrid events, continuing with the key differences.
What Are Virtual Events?
Interacting with global people & sharing the standard virtual environment on the web is called a virtual event. Organizing any sort of event online is a virtual event that is the necessity of the time now. All the businesses, health care, entertainment industry, education sector, and various other sections use a virtual event platform.
The organizers create a virtual world for the audience with booths and interactive rooms to discuss the decided agendas. Participants can enjoy the fun games, shows, live performances, and many more happening virtually. Even the speakers can stream live or upload a pre-recorded video in order to answer the various questions in real-time. Virtual events give the same experience as physical events.
What Are Hybrid Events?
The hybrid event is a live in-person meeting combined with a virtual platform for various audiences from across the globe. In short, a combination of both in-person and virtual events is called hybrid events. The viewers can enjoy the live streaming of trade shows, conferences, seminars, workshops, product launches, meetings, and exhibitions from their location heading somewhere else. This event is a bridge between face-to-face and online events as it brings both virtual and physical audiences in the same frame.
The hybrid event is becoming very popular these days as many businesses conduct such meetings and conferences on a daily basis. It helps the participants to attend an ongoing meeting virtually when reaching the venue is not an option. You can find several hybrid event platforms online offering different features and elements.
Let’s move to the key differences between virtual and hybrid events in order to understand the advantages and disadvantages of both.
Differences Between Virtual and Hybrid Events
Cost-Effectiveness
Budget is one of the most important factors to consider while conducting an event. Virtual events are more cost-effective than hybrid events as the virtual-only requires paying for the software and the setup.
But in hybrid events, organizers have to pay for the venue, transportation, food, and physical setup, adding the hybrid event platform and set up cost. It is like paying double for a single event so that both physical and virtual attendees can participate in the event hassle-free.
Different Format
No matter what type of event you want to conduct, You can organize any event easily by choosing a virtual platform. It only requires a good Internet connection and the link to reach the user interface for a virtual event.
But in hybrid events, organizers have to face more complexity. They are required to conduct two events simultaneously, one physically and the other digitally. Managing both the physical and remote attendees can be difficult.
Audience
The format you will choose for your event depends on your targeted audience completely. Some of your audience may like to attend your event physically, but the other millennial users may demand to conduct your events virtually.
So, with hybrid events, you can organize both in person and online meetings at the same time. But with virtual events, the audience can connect only online with the organizers.
Attendee Footprinting
Collecting the data of the audience while attending the event is crucial as it can help to get more conversions and boost revenue. In a hybrid event, you can get information from both the in person and online participants.
However, in a virtual event, you get the power to master data of only the online audiences. Anyone can exchange their business card for B2B businesses and various leads with a detailed analysis.
So, you can get more information with hybrid events.
Flexibility
Hybrid events are a mixture of both in-person and virtual events. So, it is likely that you have both the choice to reach the place or attend it virtually. So, it is your personal decision how you will participate in it. This way, audiences find hybrid events more flexible as you have both the choices.
However, the virtual event is best for the participants who do not want to go to any venue or travel. They can attend the entire meeting from their house without hassle.
Similarities Between Virtual and Hybrid Events
Networking
The organizers can reach maximum audiences with both hybrid and virtual events. Networking is the common factor between both of them. In the hybrid event, the representatives can meet the attendees by both means face to face or virtual to share all the information & turn lead into a conversion. In virtual events, you do the same digitally. Audiences can collect data, chat and enquire more about your product, service, or whatever you are offering to them. Your booth representatives will share all the details with a soft copy of the documents.
Virtual & Hybrid Merchandise
In hybrid events, the speaker or expert merchandise the service to both physical & remote participants and similarly, they do on virtual platforms. They introduce and share all the essential information of the product online. The audience asks questions and gets involved in a discussion via chat, audio, or video call options. By taking the hybrid event services, organizers can do both in-person and online demonstrations of the products.
ROI Effect
Virtual events can be organized for a longer duration to accumulate more leads and reach more people with a single event. ROI can be affected and increased by both hybrid and online events. Both the events persuade the audience & convince them to fulfil the event purpose. You can find endless opportunities with both virtual & hybrid events.
So, these are the key differences and similarities between virtual and hybrid events. Hope, you will find this article interesting and helpful to understand both types of events.