The use of virtual event technology is one of our key demand gen tactics for 2014. The reasons are plentiful – they save you time and money (no travel required), they’re more measurable, and they are the ultimate content marketing tool. A place to host literature, videos, webinars, one-on-one and group chats, social networking, etc. Aside from using it as strictly an event tool, companies are beginning to leverage the full capabilities of virtual technology for many other purposes – employee, customer and partner training, sales meetings, HR and benefits resource centers. The possibilities are endless.
The bottom line is in today’s economy, where budgets are string bean thin, there’s a growing sentiment among B2B marketers that the use of virtual technology is a more sensible decision and many people feel more comfortable in a virtual environment compared to a ‘live’ one. But that’s not to say that virtual and ‘live’ environments can’t co-exist to achieve a common good…
With that said, here is a link to a brief article from Exhibitor Magazine – http://www.exhibitoronline.com/topics/article.asp?ID=920&catID=56#.UrCBKnLnaUk. As you can probably tell from the name, Exhibitor is often more bullish on the idea of ‘live’ events and has often been criticized for its commentary around virtual technology. Fair or unfair, this article is written by an executive at SmithBucklin, one of the largest association management companies on the planet. He speaks to the benefits of virtual event technology as a whole – he hits on many of the same points I did in my Sept 25th blog – and how they can co-exist with ‘live’ events and enhance their appeal.
I’ll reach out to you folks again after Christmas. Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Jason Stegent is the Founder & President of Elastic Solutions. Email him @ jstegent@elasticroi.com