Many companies are adopting virtual events these days to increase registrations, improve networking, and reach additional attendees. While generating income is usually one of the main goals of hosting an event, understanding how to monetize virtual events can be challenging and complex. For example, since you can’t sell last minute tickets at the door, having a well-defined sales strategy for virtual events is critical.
If you’re an event planner looking for the best ways to monetize your virtual events, you’ve come to the right spot. In this post, we’ll dive into some of the best strategies for making your virtual event as profitable as possible.
1. Establish Paid Registration
It seems obvious to charge for registration but it can be easy to assume that attendees won’t want to pay for an online event. However, it’s important to recognize the value your event is bringing to your audience as well as the time and effort of any speakers or moderators. Charging for registration is a great way to make money for any event and can make your event seem high-level. To motivate and persuade potential attendees to buy a ticket, create a unique selling proposition that will attract them to your event. This could be promoting relevant content or advertising a popular speaker they can’t see anywhere else. Determine what makes your event different and distinguishes it from others, then leverage that to draw in attendees.
2. Extend Your Reach
Why restrict sales to the day of your conference? One significant benefit of virtual events is that you can continue to sell access for as long as you like – even well after the event has ended.
Depending on the platform you use, virtual conference content can be centralized and stored in digital libraries or continuing education sites. These online marketplaces make it simple to purchase materials for professional development and certifications many months after the actual event. For attendees who weren’t able to join on the event day, they’ll appreciate the opportunity to learn from your event on their own time.
Another way to increase your reach is to take advantage of advocate marketing, where your event participants recommend your products through various social media channels. This ensures that others will still buy your products or services long after the virtual event.
3. Obtain Sponsorship
Though event professionals are still figuring out how to integrate sponsors digitally, the notion of sponsorship remains as viable as ever in terms of profitability. The trick is to rethink the strategy.
Event organizers can add sponsored expert roundtables or host sessions, where they can advertise through various channels such as text messages, social media, or email marketing.
4. Sell Advertising Space
Like sponsor packages, you can also sell ad spots on your event website or digital program to earn additional income. Through your promotional efforts, these pages should get a lot of traffic, making it an attractive opportunity for businesses to advertise. One of the best ways to profit from ad income is to run advertisements most relevant to your event or use platforms such as Google Ads.
5. Earn From Affiliate Commissions
Affiliate commissions are another excellent way to monetize an event. If you’re promoting any affiliate items, lessons, or software during your virtual event, you could become an affiliate partner and earn a piece of the pie for every purchase, click, or download your partner gets.
Conclusion
It takes a tremendous amount of time and effort to create, plan, and execute events online. It can take some adjustment to plan virtual events and make them profitable, but it is possible. Utilizing the techniques we’ve just discussed, you can make your online event as successful as any in-person gathering.
If you’re looking for the best way to create buzz around your virtual event, InGo can help. Reach out today to learn how we can help you skyrocket event attendance for your business.
