Bizzabo Benchmarks: 80% of Virtual Event Registrations are Free

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Bizzabo Benchmarks: 80% of Virtual Event Registrations are Free

1/25/2021
Bizzabo, the world's leading event success platform, today released its 2021 Virtual Event Benchmarks, analyzing 1,850 virtual events that took place between July 1, 2020, and October 31, 2020. This explosion of virtual events shows these industry stats will be invaluable to organizers as they plan virtual events in 2021.

“Virtual events are helping forward-thinking business leaders and marketers break down the barriers of place, cost and time, and navigate the coronavirus pandemic,” said Alon Alroy, Co-Founder, CMO & CCO of Bizzabo. “We’re releasing these benchmarks to help leaders and organizations better understand how their peers are approaching virtual events and ultimately deliver more impactful experiences.”

80% of Virtual Event Registrations are Free

As Bizzabo discovered in their Evolution of Events Report, greater audience reach was the top benefit that organizers have seen from the shift to virtual events. One reason might be a lower cost barrier of entry. Between March and June, 80% of virtual event registrations were free, and remarkably, that number has stayed consistent throughout the year.

While many events have been free, that doesn’t necessarily mean that paid virtual events are getting any cheaper. In fact, paid virtual registrations create ample opportunities for event planners to create innovative pricing models for their virtual experiences.

The average price for a paid virtual event in the last 6 months of 2020 was $443, compared to $378 in Q2 2020. 50% of Registrants Convert to Virtual Event Attendees and Attendees are Engaged for 53% of Virtual Sessions

In their analysis, Bizzabo saw a high average event conversion rate (50%) from those who registered to those who actually attended virtual events in Q3 2020 and Q4 2020. Overall, this is a positive show-up rate given that 80% of registrations are free. Attendees engaged 53% of the time in virtual experiences is a positive stat that suggests remote audiences are eager to engage in virtual experience. As Bizzabo saw in their Evolution of Events Report, engagement and networking are still the top challenges that organizers face in the virtual world.

“Virtual events have been incredibly helpful to organizers during the pandemic and will continue to be an important channel for engaging audiences further down the line,” added Alroy. “However, there are inherent limitations around meeting virtually. While virtual networking experiences will be meaningfully innovated in 2021, we have heard from organizers and attendees alike that in-person is irreplaceable. This is why we believe hybrid events, which combine the best of virtual and in-person events, are how organizers can best future-proof their event programs.”

58% of Virtual Sessions are Smaller and More Interactive

From July to December, over half (58%) of virtual sessions still relied heavily on an interactive environment allowing attendees to go “on stage” and participate. These sessions tend to be smaller and more intimate, capping at 300 live attendees.

Larger sessions that broadcast in a keynote format make up a smaller percentage (16%) of event sessions. Event marketers leverage large keynote sessions because they can stream live to tens of thousands of attendees. These broadcast level virtual sessions limit interaction between the stage and attendees to text-based activities like a live Q&A or polling.

Conferences are the Most Popular Virtual Event Type

Virtual Conferences account for 43% of all digital events covered in the research. The second most popular event type is Meeting & Networking, making up 23% of virtual events. Networking is one of the main things attendees ask for in events and going virtual hasn’t changed that. Event organizers are looking for ways to create networking opportunities for their audience in the virtual world.

There are multiple ways to facilitate connection at your virtual event, like setting up roundtable discussions based on similar interests or creating slack groups where attendees can network with their industry peers.

Internal events are also being held online, accounting for 13% of virtual event types. Internal events are a great format to hold online because they are likely more intimate, so you can take advantage of interactive features such as Q&A or live polls.

80% of Organizers Enable On-Demand for Virtual Sessions

An overwhelming majority of event planners (80%) who hosted virtual events also enabled on-demand access for at least one of their sessions. On-demand is a great way to reach a larger audience. It allows attendees in different locations and time zones to engage with your content on their own time. On-demand sessions also make your content evergreen, so folks can revisit the session anytime, whether they just want to listen again or are looking for something specific they may have heard during the live session.

For more information about Bizzabo, visit www.bizzabo.com.

About Bizzabo
Bizzabo is the only Event Success Platform. Bizzabo’s all-in-one event software enables in-person, virtual, and hybrid events to deliver unique attendee experiences through intelligent and intent-based personalized engagement. We help companies measure, manage, and scale events towards key business outcomes. Our platform empowers every organizer, marketer, exhibitor, and attendee to unleash the power of events. We power events for world-leading brands from Fortune 100 enterprise organizations and financial institutions to creative agencies and scaling tech companies. The company was founded by Boaz Katz, Alon Alroy, and Eran Ben-Shushan, and has more than 190 employees in its New York, Tel-Aviv and Kyiv offices.

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