Conferences, events & meetups are popping up everywhere in this professional ecosystem. While planning for a professional or social event, the main goal is to bring people together for a shared purpose – to debate, celebrate, educate or inform. Live in-person events are the best way to distribute content and network, but in today’s world, there are several types of events to host. . Let’s elaborate on the pros and cons of physical vs virtual events which helps you to determine which type is right for you!
Sounds great, right?
Live in-person events are the best way to distribute content and network, but in today’s world, there are several types of events to host.
Hybrid Event – Depending upon the people’s desire, some may attend in-person and others online.
Virtual Event – Entire event presented online.
As the result, virtual events platform is clearly on the rise and it’s proving themselves as the most powerful weapon today. Yes, from local in-person events and workshops to business conferences and webinars, we’ve seen how virtual events have been skyrocketed in this ever-changing landscape.
See, how time flies? With all those commotions, your mind asks you one question – Physical Vs Virtual Event-which approach is the best for your event. Let’s elaborate on the difference between physical vs virtual events which helps you to determine which type is right for you!
For visual learners, here is the handy infographic which sums up all your queries.
| Category To Compare | Physical Event | Virtual Event |
|---|---|---|
| Mass Data | Very hectic to collect registration data and require very extensive qualification to identify target prospects | Easily collects content engagement data and analytics to help sales close prospects quickly |
| Networking | Physical events are conducive to network success | Its network success is quite large; showcase your brand and increase booth traffic |
| Cost-Effective | It incurs costs such as event space rental, staff, food and travel expense | Decreases your per attendee cost and eliminates expenses such as rental, food, labour and travel |
| Flexibility & ROI | Physical events have a finite shelf-life of 2-3 days and thus decreases ROI | It can remain live year-round and thus increases ROI |
| Customized Merchandise | Attendees collect merchandise, allowing companies to promote their brand during and after the event | Sponsors may ship merchandise to registrants to promote their brand offline |
For an elaborate breakdown, scroll down a bit more and find out the pros and cons of virtual events and physical events. Before knowing about its pros and cons, let’s have a quick glimpse of the virtual event engaging ideas. So that, you can grab your audience’s attention and improve brand reputation.
Table of Contents
Pros & Cons Of Virtual Vs In-Person Events
1) More Value at Lesser Cost
In terms of food, travel, and accommodation, physical events shake your daily grind and expense you a lot. Some of the cost included for the physical event is,
- Renting out the space to conduct the event
- Hiring speakers, attendees, and caterers
- Paying up for employee’s travel cost
- Accommodation for speakers and attendee
Can you able to get the picture? Fortunately, there is an alternative – Virtual Events Platform
Many of the virtual event platforms will provide you with the 3D or 2D event space for exhibitors and attendees so that they can accommodate their space no matter where they are in the world. In addition to this, speakers also agree to speak for the minimal or standard price because of their convenience.
Bottom Line: Virtual events are most cost-effective. What’s your thought?
2) Measurability of Data Collection
In the in-person event, all the data like the number of attendees who visited a booth or attended a webinar, registered attendees count are collected in a hand-written sheet. It can be an ordeal and thus it takes a long time to record that physical information.
Whereas, virtual events are data-miners and hence collect those data in a fraction of a second. In addition to this, you can analyze some metrics like which speaker garnered with larger audience space, which material is downloaded, again and again, interaction level of participants, and more. The best part is, all exhibitors can access the data and grow their email list by providing the best email marketing strategy.
Bottom Line: If you require big data, go virtual! What’s your prediction?
3) Builds Relationship with Exhibitor –Networking
Today, almost everyone in this world spends so much time online and sitting in front of smartphones or laptops. On contrary, it looks nice when we someone in front of their eyes and say hello and give a gentle handshake. Meeting people in person gives an add-on and allow people to build relationship among them. But, how many times have you met the right person with the right point of contact?
On the other hand, to avoid this contrary virtual event platforms provide chat rooms in terms of both audio, video, and text chat, thus all participants form long-lasting ties effectively. So, networking can also be done easier virtually.
Bottom Line: While comparing the pros and cons of physical vs virtual events, Chatbox will not beat up a real handshake. But sometimes sales inquiries and helplines are often better for business people. Choose the best virtual event platform with add-on features.
4) In Terms of Flexibility
Organizing conferences, workshops, webinars, meetings work well in virtual event than in physical events. Virtual events are organized as per the comfort of the attendee and you can even record the ongoing session and send you the important insights if you are stuck up in busy schedules.
On the other hand, physical conferences also offer recording sessions but they cannot be accessed again and again. Whereas virtual events platforms give access to revisit the recorded session again and again on their own with the flexibility of time zones and geographical constraints.
Bottom Line: Again the virtual event placed the top position in the chart.
5) Measuring Long Term ROI
Predicting the long-term ROI seems difficult to measure right away. Both the events can grab a large audience and provide strong brand associations. The only thing is virtual events run longer, reach more people and nurture more leads.
Bottom Line: What’s your thought regarding this? Well, virtual events provide long-term ROI but it purely depends on your business goal.
Final Thoughts
With all those verdicts on the pros and cons of in-person vs virtual events, does the physical event gets demised? Never! Never! Both the events serve in many factors. At the end of the day, people want connection as well as convenience. In advance, many organizations opt for both physical and virtual events called “Hybrid Events”. Hybrid events bring physical audience and virtual attendees in the same frame and thus deliver value to the attendees.
To survive in this digital marketing landscape, choose the best virtual event platform and innovate the way of building, engaging, and monetizing your community. Book a demo with us or contact our team of experts for more information. Have questions? Leave a comment below.