As we head into 2022, many event planners are understandably eager to return to in-person events. According to several studies, most surveyed marketers within the events industry agree that live events tend to be more engaging than virtual ones. But this doesn’t mean the latter has no place in the world of event planning. More than two-thirds of event planners agree that virtual events help bolster their marketing and communication with customers.
Adding virtual challenges to your live event is a great way to get the best of both worlds. It helps you not only improve your marketing and profitability but reach people who would be wary of attending a live event in 2022. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the importance of having virtual challenges for events, and we’ll show you how to set up the ones that will engage your audience.
Why Should You Add a Virtual Component to Your Events?
There has been a rumor the virtual part of events will go away as soon as the pandemic ceases. Still, there’s also been a word about the online experience staying with us for the years to come. We list some reasons why you may want to include virtual components in your live events in 2022.
Meeting Customers’ Needs
Although many people want to get back to the in-person events, Covid-19 is still very much in swing. Its effect on the world has been growing exponentially since 2020, and we should keep that in mind when organizing events. Many will still be indecisive about going out in the world and staying at home. Going solely for an online or an in-person event can make you neglect the need of half of the potential attendees.
In 2022, marketers have two solid options for meeting the need of both people who desire in-person events and those staying at home for safety reasons. They can either add online components to the live events or host hybrid events.
Adding online components to events can include everything from hosting webinars and donations to fitness challenges. Meanwhile, hybrid events allow people to attend both online and in person. For instance, you can have a live concert and also offer a live recording for people to access it online with the pre-purchased ticket.
Generating Additional Revenue
Hybrid events allow your brand to recoup costs on the in-person components of events and generate more revenue. They can also help you gain sponsorship from prominent brands. When potential sponsors see the range and reach of your event, they may want to invest straight away, giving you the much-needed boost.
Online event components also inspire engagement and purchase among attendees. Pairing them with the right swag can significantly increase your total event profits. For example, a person proud of being part of your athletic event may be willing to buy a commemorative t-shirt.
Increasing Total Participation
Having a virtual component to your event can also increase total participation. Regardless of whether people prefer live or online gatherings, they’ll feel grateful that you have given them a choice. A hybrid event will support all interested parties and attendees, allowing them to choose their preference however and whenever they want. It will ensure exceptional customer experience and significantly raise satisfaction and word of mouth.
Virtual Challenge: A New Trend Worth Considering
If you never heard about a virtual challenge, you’re missing out a lot. Virtual challenges have become highly popular in the last couple of years, adding fun and excitement to all kinds of events. They represent a fitness goal an individual or a group has to meet through the run, walk, swim, bike ride, and more. In essence, virtual challenges motivate people to stay active and reach fitness goals of all kinds.
Why would someone include virtual challenges for events? The main reason is rising engagement among attendees. People attending your event can indulge in exciting and healthy activities, track results, compete with others and socialize, and above everything, have fun. Regardless of the event type you’re organizing, a virtual challenge can be your asset to raising anticipation and hype.
Take Your Events to the Next Level with Events.com EveryChallenge
Events.com EveryChallenge is a tool offered by Events.com to help you incorporate fitness-related virtual challenges into your live events. Whether you’re hosting a fundraiser, business event, or community engagement event, Events.com EveryChallenge will aid you in engaging attendees and reaching success. Read on to find out how else this tool can support you.
Grow Your Relevance and Relationships
The Covid-19 pandemic has left a mark on the entire world. The increase in depression, anxiety, and eating disorders were only some of the effects we noticed so far. Fitness challenges can help people cope with the pandemic outcomes and inspire a positive atmosphere among participants, all of which is the main goal of Events.com EveryChallenge.
By adding fitness challenges to your events, you can also show you care about the health of your community. For example, a fitness challenge associated with a business event could improve workplace productivity and may inspire people to keep up with their new fitness routine heading into the future.
Fitness challenges can be linked to a greater cause too. For example, you could host a virtual race and have people collect donations based on the distance they run, the calories they burn, or their overall results during the event.
When it comes to community events, like concerts or festivals, fitness competitions can raise engagement among members before the day of the event. The anticipation can help people open up to others, socialize, and have more fun at the time of global crisis.
Events.com EveryChallenge will support you on your way to making this happen. Events.com designed the platform to help you create virtual challenges for your events, regardless of the type and industry. You can set it up easily, connect with your audience, and stay relevant in today’s world.
Set Up Your Virtual Components in Minutes
Events.com makes it easy for you to get your fitness challenge up and running without a lot of effort. The Events.com EveryChallenge platform integrates with some of the top fitness apps around, including:
- Strava
- Fitbit
- Suunto
- Garmin
- Polar
- Map My Ride and Map My Run (Coming Soon)
These partnerships make it easy for you to run a fitness challenge without investing in new technology. Events.com EveryChallenge will walk you through setting up your fitness challenge and integrating it with your chosen technology. After that, all you’ll have to do is direct your participants to download the right app, and you’re off and running.
Give Your Event an Edge on the Competition With Various Fitness Challenges
Using Events.com EveryChallenge, there are many different fitness challenges you can offer your participants. The technology can count calories, steps, speed, height, and more. As a result, here are just a few of the types of challenges you can run:
- Best results challenges: Perfect for running a virtual race, these allow people to take different tracks or paths. The winner of the challenge is the one with the best results based on distance and speed.
- Track challenges: These require participants to run a pre-determined path, making it perfect for a virtual 5K event.
- Total distance challenges: This particular feature looks at the distance participants go during the challenge.
- Total elevation challenges: As the name suggests, the challenge calculates how much people travel uphill during the event.
- Total stairs challenges: The stairs challenge counts how many stairs—or flights of stairs—people scale during an event.
- Badge challenges: You can set up badges for all sorts of things, from calories lost to steps taken, and reward the person who collects the most badges.
Tips for Marketing Your Hybrid Event
As with any event, the success of your hybrid gathering largely depends on your marketing efforts. Do you have a solid strategy already? If not, we have a few suggestions to support you.
Start by identifying your target audience for the event. Is the event aimed at people of a certain age or location? Be specific about your target group, as this information can make your online marketing efforts more successful.
Once you know to whom you want to market the event, you can create a landing page with all the information about your hybrid event. The page should showcase:
- The date and time of the in-person event
- How to purchase tickets for the in-person event (if necessary)
- The date(s) of the virtual challenge
- How to sign up for & participate in the virtual challenge
- Contact information if people have questions about either event
After designing the landing page, you can begin marketing the hybrid event both in-person and online. It’s best to start early on, as the most successful events begin the promotion at least 15 days in advance.
Make sure to use a mixture of marketing channels for the promotion. According to Vimeo, 76% of marketers say that emails are among the most important channels for promoting virtual events, although you shouldn’t neglect other media.
As people begin signing up for your event, make sure to send out regular follow-up emails talking the event up and generating hype. You can also leverage your social media accounts to talk about the event.
Begin Planning Your 2022 Event Today
Are you ready to plan your event and ensure success for 2022 with virtual challenges? We are here to help you manage, market, and monetize your event. Whether you’re organizing a festival, race, or fundraiser, Event.com has you covered. Check out our Events.com EveryChallenge platform for adding entertainment to your hybrid events, and start planning your next event with us today.
