Online events can be a great way to break out of your warm market and meet new people. By expanding your online network, you have access to hundreds and thousands of people that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to connect with. But meeting people online and building those relationships requires a completely different skill set than you would use for in-person events. When you are at a physical booth showcasing your business, you can clearly see how many people are at the event, and it is easy to keep track of how many people are interested in your products. When people approach you, you know you have to greet and interact with them. Gaging interaction, interest and who to interact with within an online event is not so cut and dry. People might be seeing your content, and you may have piqued their interest, but unless they engage with you, you have no idea who these people are. How many times have you scheduled out posts in an online event, only to be frustrated and discouraged when you are met with silence? It’s hard to know where to go next. This is why increasing engagement is so important. You have to get the guest to make the first move; it is one of the only ways you will know that they are watching you. Let’s explore seven different strategies that you can use to increase engagement and make guests want to interact in your online event.  

#1: Create an engaging pre-event experience

Promoting engagement begins from the moment you send your invites. When your guest accepts your invitation, it’s essential to acknowledge their response and make them feel valued. Personalized communication sets the stage for a positive and engaging relationship with your guests right from the start. Share the event details with your guests to ensure they clearly understand what to expect. Encourage your guests to ask questions or suggest what they want to see. By asking for input, you show your guest that their opinions matter and their engagement is valued. Make sure that your guests are aware of any pre-event content and ask them to interact with it. Investing effort in the pre-event stage sets the tone for engagement during the rest of the event. 

#2: Make your Content Easy to Engage with 

Even when guests are scrolling online and reading your posts, interacting with your content is not going to be a natural response. Interaction and responding is something that needs to be encouraged. Some content will be easier to engage with than others, but you can increase the chances of interaction by ensuring that everything you share is concise and focused. In the online space, where attention spans are limited, you need to keep information simplified and narrowed down to a few key points. Break down complex information into digestible chunks, use bullet points, or highlight key takeaways to make it easier for guests to consume and engage with your content. Include a clear call to action in your posts. A call to action prompts guests to take a specific action to engage with the material. Often guests may have found what you shared interesting, but they are not sure how to express that, so you need to provide the framework for them to engage. Ask guests to share their thoughts, provide feedback or participate in a discussion. By explicitly stating what you want your guests to do, you make it easier for them to respond. The best way to encourage interaction is to simply ask for it. End your post with a question, and guests are more likely to respond back simply because you have asked them to. Questions can encourage guests to reflect on the content and share their experiences and opinions. The best questions are ones that are relevant to the content and encourage meaningful back-and-forth dialogue.

 #3: Leverage Interactive Tools 

Incorporating interactive tools such as polls and quizzes into your online content is a great way to actively involve attendees. Polls allow you to gather instant participant feedback, opinions or preferences. You can use them to gauge audience understanding, gather insight or spark discussion. Quizzes, on the other hand, can be used to test participants’ knowledge and reinforce key concepts. Both these tools can make engagement fun, provide you with valuable data, and encourage participants to actively participate. 

#4: Incorporate Video into your Content

Adding video to your content is a great way to change things up and generate engagement. One of the ways you can do this is to go live during the event. Hosting a live is a great way to create an interactive experience. Lives allow for real-time interaction, demonstrations and immediate feedback. It adds to a sense of authenticity and personal connection, making guests feel more involved and creating the closest experience to an in-person event. If you are uncomfortable going live or simply can’t make it work with your schedule, incorporating short videos in your content can be a great way to share information more dynamically and visually appealingly. Consider creating short videos highlighting key points, providing personal insights, or sharing stories relevant to your business. Make sure to keep videos concise and compelling to hold guest attention. 

#5: Gamify the Experience

Gamification elements can inject excitement and competition into your event. Consider activities like quizzes, puzzles or riddles. This will help engage with guests and is a great way to test their knowledge and encourage them to actively participate. Make sure to make the games interactive and provide immediate feedback to keep participants motivated. Virtual challenges or collaborative games are also a great way to enhance an online event experience. Virtual challenges require guests to complete a specific task, find hidden clues or solve a puzzle related to your content. A lot of the time it will require them to explore or interact with an online platform such as your website. In contrast, collaborative games can be anything that encourages guests to work together to achieve a goal. These types of games can foster collaboration, problem-solving, add an element of excitement and incentivize active participation.  In addition, you could also have some sort of leadership board or point system to track guest participation throughout the event. Assign points for various actions such as commenting, answering a question correctly, watching a live or sharing a personal experience. Display the leaderboard or points tally periodically to foster healthy competition and encourage guests to strive for higher rankings.  

#6: Encourage User-Generated Content

Empower guests to contribute to the event by sharing their own content. Empowering guests to contribute creates a sense of ownership, involvement and community. This can be in the form of sharing their experiences, ideas, or success stories related to your business. Tap into your guests’ knowledge and creativity to customize the experience. Make sure to promote and highlight these contributions during the event. This will motivate others to participate, foster a sense of community, and act as social proof, making your content more authentic.

 #7: Provide Post-Engagement Opportunities

Your event has a set beginning and end date, but you really want a way to continue to interact with interested guests once the event is over. Offer post-event resources such as online presentations, additional content, or a VIP group. An online event allows you the opportunity to introduce your business to someone, but you want to have a way for interested participants to continue their learning journey and explore more in-depth content. Promote these tools and resources throughout your event so that guests are aware of them and make sure that you are encouraging guests to join. Providing additional content after the event is over and sharing ways to gain further information demonstrates to guests that you are interested in building a long-term connection.

 Final Thoughts

By participating as a vendor in an online event, you are agreeing to be an event host. Hosting a successful online event requires intentional efforts to engage attendees throughout the experience. By implementing these seven strategies, you can significantly increase engagement levels, create meaningful interactions and ensure a memorable event for all participants. Try out some of these strategies in your next online event to create a dynamic and engaging experience that will leave a lasting impression on your guests.

Written By: 

Jennifer Gillap