Virtual Events Market: Predictions for 2012

As we start 2012, the virtual events industry is looking at another year of exciting opportunities. I’d like to take a quick look back at where we’ve been in 2011, and then offer some predictions for where the virtual event industry is headed in 2012.

Virtual Events Industry – 2011 Year in Review

The year 2011 saw several key trends in virtual events, as virtual event platforms and solutions providers started to become more prevalent in helping companies create and manage virtual events. As we discussed in our article on Virtual Events statistics, 60% of marketers planned to increase spending on virtual events during 2011. However, there is still significant potential for growth.

Despite the success stories for the virtual event industry in 2011, many companies still have not heard about the latest virtual events technologies, have not tried them, or still need to be convinced of the value of virtual events. One of the biggest signals that virtual events still need to “close the deal” with many marketers was a 2011 survey by Exhibitor magazine on Virtual Events, which showed that many organizations are still trying to understand how to use virtual events, and how to measure their value.

According to the Exhibitor magazine Virtual Events survey:

Many companies have not tried using virtual events: 60.5% of companies have not yet hosted or participated in a virtual event. This is a sign that many companies have been reluctant to explore using virtual events, either because of concerns about cost, lack of familiarity among the target audience, or lack of control over the event itself.
There is high familiarity with the concept of virtual events, but low confidence in execution: Although 53% of the survey respondents said they were familiar with the overall concept of virtual events, only 28% of the survey respondents said they felt comfortable with knowing how to logistically execute a virtual event. This is a challenge for virtual events platform providers like Social27 – customers need to feel confident with the planning and execution of the virtual event. They need to understand the “ins and outs” of how the event is going to work.
Marketers don’t know what to expect from virtual events: 26.1% of the marketers surveyed said that their virtual events had “met” their marketing objectives – but 43.5% said they were “not sure.” This is a sign that many companies need to get better coaching from their virtual events platform providers on exactly how to set measurable goals for each virtual event – and how to create accountability within the organization to achieve those goals within the context of a virtual event.

Virtual events offer significant advantages compared to “in-person” events, and can also add value as an add-on “hybrid event” to supplement a physical “in-person” event. Whether it’s cost savings, seamless integration with social media, more measurable interaction with attendees and customers, or the many other benefits, there are many reasons why virtual events are likely to continue to grow as a portion of the overall events and conference industry. The challenge for 2012 is for virtual events platforms and service providers to continue to educate and persuade the market about the value that we offer.

Predictions for Virtual Events in 2012

We recently held a series of video discussions with Social27 customers, colleagues and industry thought leaders on where they see the virtual event industry headed in 2012.

See what these virtual event industry experts have to say about the future of social media and virtual events:

Hanson Hosein, Director of the Master of Communication in Digital Media (MCDM) program at the University of Washington.

Social media and real-time interaction are going to matter more than ever at virtual events. Real-time communication will become much more important. Much of the Internet is “asynchronous;” you can read an article or watch a video anytime you want. But for virtual events, people still want the common bond of talking as something is happening.
More accessibility to the social media platforms themselves: Mobile technology will become more widespread – for example, social media will move beyond homes, offices and phones to our cars, or to the gym where we work out.
Re-think your best practices beyond social media. Think holistically about why people engage, and what connects them to each other. Think about network analysis, ask who are your “influencers,” what is the psychology and motivation behind why people choose to interact with you. Putting out good content matters most.

Liz King, Virtual Events expert at Liz King Events

Virtual event planners are going to start experimenting more in 2012. People are already becoming more familiar with virtual events platforms and technology. It’s becoming more intuitive for people to log on to the virtual events, and figure out how to use the platform.
In 2012, virtual events planners and hosts are going to get better and speaking and interacting with online audiences. There are some things that are different about running a virtual event and presenting at a virtual event as opposed to speaking to a live audience. More people are going to get better at this in 2012 – and this is an area of opportunity for virtual events platforms and virtual event service providers to add value for clients as well.

Daniel Levy, Consultant, Pharmarena – he has worked with Social27 to put on a major virtual event for the pharmaceutical industry in Europe

A big trend for 2012 will be Hybrid events. Daniel Levy is seeing this trend in France and Germany, especially for tourism-related events. The reason? It is easy to use virtual events technology to integrate the physical “in-person” event with social media.
The technical market will continue to adopt virtual events in 2012. Various companies in Europe have already been investing in virtual platforms and have been 100% satisfied. There are not very many virtual event platform providers on the market in Europe, so this is a big opportunity for the companies, like Social27 who are already offering these solutions.

What do these predictions mean virtual event managers and companies hosting virtual events?

Think hard about analytics and metrics: When you host a virtual event, make sure you know what’s working, what’s not, and how do you justify it to the decision-makers at your organization. As Hanson Hosein said, “We’re beyond the ‘Wild West’ of social media where we just throw things at a wall and see if it sticks.”
Use the time before the event to generate excitement: As we discussed with Daniel Levy, the time leading up to your virtual event is an ideal time to create “teasers” for your audience. The virtual event doesn’t “start” on the first day of the event; it actually starts many weeks or even months before the start date, as you build buzz and generate awareness with your audience.
Education and planning are critical: Don’t make the mistake of thinking that virtual events are “easy.” Putting on a virtual event, despite the cost savings on travel and facilities, will still require an investment of time and resources to plan out the flow of the event, figure out what you want your guests to experience, and learn how to maximize the potential of the virtual event environment. Virtual events platform providers like Social27 can make it easier by providing coaching and advice on how to get the most out of your virtual event technology’s capabilities.

About Ike Singh

Ike Singh Kehal is the CEO and co-founder of Social27, a leading virtual events solution with Enterprise clients across the globe. Ike is a respected business professional with 15+ years of marketing, sales, and business development experience. His latest company, Social27 was founded in 2007 to take advantage of the growing need for social media and game dynamics integration in virtual events. Prior to starting Social27, Ike drove numerous startup projects, including Indiabulls Retail, where he was CEO. Previously, he held various business strategy positions at Microsoft, spread over a seven-year period. Ike is a committed member of the virtual events community and contributes regularly to the discussion at http://www.virtualeventshub.com