Managing an event is no simple task. It takes a lot of effort, dedication, and preparation to succeed. On that journey there are plenty of holes you can fall into. Mistakes are natural and they happen, but some are bigger than others. In the worst case, your virtual conference could fall to the ground. 

So, in this article, we will walk you through some of the common virtual conference planning mistakes. We will do our best to make sure you are prepared for them, and that you can solve them easily. Let’s go!

Lack of Coherent Marketing Strategy

Many event organizers quickly get lost in the massive project a virtual conference can be. With so many things to juggle at once it is easy to miss a thing here and there. Surprisingly, one of the most common event management mistakes is their lack of a marketing strategy. 

If your event does not line up with your marketing strategy, trouble is ahead. This will leave you disappointed with your brand impact. Your event is also not likely to be connected well with your company. 

This will also leave attendees disillusioned. This turns what could have been a successful event into a letdown. 

So make sure that before you set your event in motion that it fits your marketing strategy.

Track and Measure Your Virtual Conference Objectives

Measurement of your virtual conference is an incredibly important aspect and is part of the most common event management mistakes. Plenty of event organizers fail to measure their events, and that’s bad. Why? It’s simple: if you don’t measure your event, you can’t optimize it the next time. 

Almost every process in the event planning process can be measured. However, you should only measure the things relating to your goals. Are you running a social media campaign for your online event? Then you should measure the traffic it generates, for example. 

Seeing as the main goals of virtual conferences is to promote a great attendee experience, it is important to have this data for future improvements. 

Data like this is also necessary to even justify the event. How can you calculate your ROI if you haven’t measured anything? So make sure you set some goals, and measure the correct aspects.

Forgetting Virtual Conference Feedback

One of the best ways to figure out how you can improve your live event’s guest experience with your event team is to receive feedback from your attendees.

However, another of the common event management mistakes for many event planners is that they forget the power of feedback. 

Without getting feedback from the attendees, you can’t accurately pinpoint which areas of your event could do with some improvement for next time.

Therefore, you should always do a post-event survey for the attendees. Make sure it is anonymous, as that incentivizes honesty. 

Make sure that the questions in the survey focus on the aspects of the virtual conference that you want to improve. This will help you create the best event experience for your attendees in the future.

Lack of a Coherent Ticket Sales Policy

Selling tickets to your event is going to be your main source of immediate income. That is why it is very important that you don’t set the prices of your tickets too high or low. 

But another of the great event management mistakes that many event organizers make, is that they lack a coherent ticket sales policy. You need to diversify the types of tickets you sell. 

For example, early bird tickets are an excellent way to get attendees on board, who are looking for deals. It will also create hype around your event, as it promotes a sense of urgency. 

Returning to the general point of ticket prices, you have to strike a balance between low and high prices. Providing a great experience is costly, but don’t overcharge. And setting the price too low might suggest that there is nothing to look forward to. 

No Incentives Given to Attend Your Virtual Conference

How you present your event to potential attendees is a very important aspect of event marketing. And something many event organizers fail to do, is show something of value that will incentivize the attendees to buy a ticket. 

Make sure that you present the strengths of your event clearly as early as possible. Do you have an influential speaker? Put it out there, and make sure to present them well. 

Are you offering any goodies or special offers? Make sure that’s clear as well. 

The more your attendees know about the strengths of your event beforehand, the more they will engage with it. Interest is not generated by itself. You have to light the spark. 

Lack of Communication During the Web Event

To host a successful event, you need to bring your A game when it comes to communication. Being able to guide guests, and making sure they know exactly what is going on and when is key. 

That is also why you need to make sure that you present them with a properly designed schedule with descriptions. Don’t just write “Lunch break” or “Talk by Harrison Ford”. It doesn’t sound exciting, and it doesn’t give much information. 

Elaborate on what’s going to happen. Really do your best to sell it for the guests, and they will in return engage much more with your event.

Hosting “Template Events”

Managing and hosting an event can be a massive undertaking. For that reason, it is very easy and tempting to just design the event on a neutral template with no customization. This is not ideal. 

Your event should always be customized to your target group. If you’re hosting trade shows for computers, make sure that the attendees feel like they are where they should be. 

Make sure that communication follows this pattern too. Every type of business has its own lingo, and it’s important you use it during the event. 

This will make the attendees feel at home, and overall improve the virtual experience for them. 

Preparation Pays Off

When it comes to all types of virtual events, being properly prepared simply pays off. In this post, we’ve highlighted some of the main areas that many event organizers neglect or forget about. 

Make sure to keep them in mind when you prepare your next event. These tips will not only make it easier for you to host a successful event, but it will also make it a lot more fun for you.

Hosting an event is an art in itself, and therefore it takes many tweaks and a good deal of polishing to pull it off successfully. 

There are plenty of other smaller mistakes we could have mentioned here, but these are the more significant ones, and they will make the biggest differences for your final product. Good luck!