Driving Attendance: You want your customers and prospects to attend? Let them stay home.
Last week, we hosted two prospect events for the same company. One required a flight and a full day of travel. The second, we hosted virtually. Both events featured highly sought-after whiskey and a fully white glove experience. The in-person event had only 20% of expected registrants show up. The virtual event, which had a considerably lower price point per person, had 60 guests in attendance, or an 88% attendance rate. The conversation on the virtual event flowed beautifully with most of the engagement focused on the host company and their product. The virtual concluded with a salesperson swooping in to charm a group of prospects that stayed on the call because they wanted more information and were ready to close.
THIS is why we keep preaching the glories of virtual. High impact, low lift, and a radical act of hospitality to boot. You want your customers and prospects to attend?
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Let them stay home.
We all know those people who love their miles and take any excuse to jump on a plane. We love, respect, and are grateful for them, but most of us do it begrudgingly. Most of us prefer our soft clothes. Joking aside, 78% of key decision-makers in tech are over the age of 40. There is little that appeals more to this demographic than an informative session that comes with a curated gift. This doesn't mean we ditch our in-person engagements. They too are wildly important, but strategically peppering in virtual events throughout the year keeps engagement high and the conversation going. It is an easy way to deepen connections and further engagement with the people that matter most to your business.
Virtual events are a radical act of hospitality. Hospitality, pure and simple, is doing for others what you want done for yourself. It's going out of your way to make someone's day better, to make their life better. It's giving people what they want without them having to ask for it. I would love to hear about your strategy for 2025 and how you see virtual events fitting into the picture. Let's chat! Simply send me a message on LinkedIn or book a call on our website.
We will be taking a break from your inbox for the next couple of weeks. Happiest of Holidays to all of you. We are so thankful you are here.
CRO at SpatialChat
3wthis is an amazing article Haley! I may be a bit biased, but i've been a big proponent of Virtual Events because of some of the very reasons you mentioned in this article!