Posted by MDI on June 4, 2020
Monetizing your online or virtual event is easier than you think - there are many ways you can help your sponsors, partners, and exhibitors extend their reach and create valuable connections with your attendees in an online event format.
eventmobi has put together this handy guide so you can easily understand how to offer great value to your partners using your event tech, create tiered sponsorship levels, and effectively monetize your next online or hybrid event!
Monetization Basics
Some features of your event technology that you may already be familiar with can actually be leveraged to showcase your sponsors and exhibitors, and add value to the sponsorship packages you are creating.
Whether your event is going to be fully online or taking place in a hybrid format, there are an endless number of exciting ways for you to showcase all of the companies that are involved, and highlight the level of their contribution.
Sponsor Profiles & Groups
Company Profiles are a classic way to display all of your sponsors, exhibitors, or partners in an organized listing. These profiles give attendees access to information that will help them to get to know each company in more detail, along with the products and services they offer. Be sure to include additional information – such as contact details for specific representatives – so your attendees can easily connect with during or after your event.
Company Groups takes company profiles to the next level by allowing you to organize them into sections or categories so you can highlight the level of their involvement in your event.
Use Groups to establish separate sponsor and exhibitor listings, display sponsorship tiers, or to offer easier navigation in company sections – such as organizing them into categories based on industry or product.
Sponsor Banner Ads
Banners offer your top sponsors or exhibitors incredible visibility as they capture attendee attention from within the event menu and other sections that typically get the most traffic in your virtual space.
These ads offer your sponsors a visually compelling opportunity to promote their brand, and can also help direct people to additional content they would like to share. Additionally, sponsors will be able to easily measure their ROI using metrics collected on the number of ad views and clicks.
Sponsor Widgets
Home Screen Widgets will catch your attendees’ attention as soon as they access your event information, and enable them to easily navigate to company profiles or virtual exhibitor booths (more on these below!) to learn more.
You could also reserve your prime home screen real estate for your main sponsor. Not only will you be able to display their logo front and center, but you can also use this widget to direct attendees to the company’s profile, virtual exhibitor booth or website.
Interested in learning more about EventMobi’s Virtual Event Platform? Sign up for our next webinar!
Help Create Connections
Selling booth space is often a primary way for organizers to monetize in-person events – and this is also possible at your virtual or hybrid event! However, companies may have concerns about how they will be able to connect with your attendees in an online event format.
While they may not be able to meet in person, exhibitors can still achieve the same kind of exposure at your virtual or hybrid event. In fact, most online events see a far greater number of attendees than their in-person events as the limitations of travel and time away from the office aren’t a consideration for remote attendees. It may actually be possible that your exhibitors will benefit from an even greater reach in your new event format!
Virtual Exhibitor Booths
Virtual Exhibitor Booths can support all of the same objectives that exhibitors and sponsors seek to achieve at in-person events. Creating a robust profile that offers all of the necessary information attendees need to learn more about the company will help spark the conversation.
Exhibitors will be able to showcase product demonstrations or presentations via livestreams or pre-recorded videos inside their virtual booth. Using direct links, they can guide attendees to their sponsored sessions, demos, and 1:1 meetings.
Gamification
Gamification encourages attendees to meet with specific sponsors and exhibitors at your event. Including challenges that reward players for visiting profiles, attending a demo or meeting with a company rep will help drive traffic to exhibitors.
Working with sponsors to create prize packages is a great way to help increase participation and to keep players motivated and excited throughout the event.
To find out about Sponsored Content, Swag and Prices, Monetizing your Video Production and Creating Sponsorship Tiers, visit Eventmobi's blog here.
