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Whether your event matters 1,000 people or 100,000, you can utilize a “hybrid” approach to move the needle. Hybrid events are designed to reach everyone possible while also utilizing scalable elements that aren’t dependent on pure size.
Hybrid events combine the best of both worlds: the personal nature of face-to-face gatherings and the massive potential reach of online campaigns. Everyone could theoretically have a massive impact on their company’s bottom line using hybrid events, but let’s look at 10 specific benefits you can expect in this type of setting:
1. Reduction of Travel Costs
Let’s say you’re hosting an event for 100 people. Using a traditional approach, the only way to achieve this is to book travel for everyone attending. That means airfare, rental cars, buses or vans, hotel rooms… the list goes on.
Using a hybrid approach means that some attendees will be there in person while others participate online. That means you can reduce costs by not requiring physical travel for a subset of participants, allowing for a larger budget to be allocated elsewhere.
2. Improved Brand Awareness
If you think you don’t have the time or resources to create an online campaign that will reach 1,000 people, you’re absolutely right! That’s where hybrid events come in.
The beauty of a hybrid event is that it allows you to use the same marketing budget you would normally allocate for an offline campaign and scale it as far as possible. You can reach people all across your city, country – even around the world – by utilizing social media and online marketing.
3. Improved Lead Quality
Typically, when a lead is generated by a website visit, that person may not have been expecting to hear from you. Even if they signed up for a webinar or download, the direct marketing nature of cold-calling and cold-emailing can often seem off-putting.
The beauty of a hybrid event lies in its ability to give attendees a sense of purpose. These people are actively seeking out more information on your company, your products or services… they want what you have to offer!
4. Improved ROI
The days of traditional marketing are over. If you aren’t able to track how each dollar is being spent and show a clear ROI, don’t expect any budget increases in the future.
Hybrid events allow you to utilize lead generation and even sales techniques with the use of direct marketing. Instead of simply launching an event without a clear idea on how it will help your business, you can work hand-in-hand with your marketing team to create goals and determine which activities will help you meet them.
5. Improved Traffic
Whether the goal of your event is to get attendees or simply get views, you can utilize a variety of marketing techniques to get the word out. This ranges from paid campaigns using social media targeting and banner ads all the way to creating audio and video for your podcast and YouTube channel.
After your hybrid event has concluded, it’s time to think about what you can do to make it go viral. War-paint selfies and celebrity hashtags are great for bringing in more live attendees, but after the event is over, your focus needs to be on getting these people talking online.
6. Improved Engagement
Even though some hybrid events will advertise that they’re using an “interactive” or “engaging” approach, they’re often misinformed. The truth is you have to be able to track each attendee’s interaction and engagement with your brand in order for it to improve.
The more specific the metric, the better. Track how many times a certain person has been engaged, which pieces of content received positive feedback and which pieces of content were ignored. Once you begin to compile this data, you’ll be able to create better-informed plans for the future.
7. Improved Company Morale
Doing work that makes a difference is important to an employee’s morale and productivity. If your employees aren’t happy about the company they’re working for, that will eventually begin to show in the quality of their work.
Holding a hybrid event gives your team something fun and interesting to look forward to, while also giving them the opportunity to learn new skills. It’s not only important for company morale, but it can also be great for employee retention because employees are able to feel more fulfilled at work.
8. Improved Employee Retention
Speaking of employee retention, there are several key factors that you’ll need to consider in order to retain your best employees. Some of these include access to training and education, opportunities for advancement within the company and the feeling that people are working toward a bigger picture.
Hybrid events can help achieve all three of these factors. Attending a hybrid event can be educational, like learning something new at a company-sponsored webinar; it can be an opportunity for advancement because everyone is trying to improve their skills and grow professionally; and finally, hybrid events give employees the feeling that they’re all working toward a common goal: increasing your brand’s reach and increasing your brand’s revenue.
9. Improved Workplace Culture
In today’s society, people are less likely to stick to a job for eight hours a day before checking out and going home to relax. Modern workplaces have shifted from this paradigm because employers know that happier employees are more productive employees. By investing in your employees’ happiness, you’re also investing in your company’s bottom line.
Hybrid events can help improve your workplace culture because they provide the opportunity for employees to engage with each other outside of formal meetings or office hours. This gives everyone more opportunities to interact with their co-workers and create stronger bonds with the people they work alongside every day.
10. Improved Marketing Skills
As mentioned earlier, the event marketing industry is growing at a rapid pace. It’s becoming more and more competitive, so marketers need to stand out from the crowd in order to get their message across.
Hybrid events not only provide attendees with useful information that will help them grow professionally, but they also give marketers an opportunity to connect with attendees on a more personal level. Markers need to be able to share their knowledge while establishing themselves as industry leaders, which can all be done at hybrid events.
It’s important for marketers to keep up with the latest trends and practices in order to stay relevant in today’s digital world. Hybrid events provide marketers with an opportunity to network within their industry, while also learning about the latest updates and changes.
Conclusion
The benefits of organizing a hybrid event are numerous and can be seen in various areas of your business. By investing in training and education opportunities for employees, developing your workplace culture and cultivating better relationships with potential customers, it’s easy to see that the benefits of hosting a hybrid event greatly outweigh any associated costs.
