Explore the brilliant gamification ideas to drive virtual event attendee engagements at your next virtual or hybrid events!

Virtual events were in existence for a long time and aren’t anything new. But many event planners are unaware of their significance until COVID-19 hit our lives. A large percentage of marketers admitted that they never thought about pivoting to virtual events earlier.

As a consequence of the global pandemic,

87% of event professionals canceled the upcoming physical events whereas 66% have postponed them.

Ref: EventMarketer

Despite being oblivious about virtual events for long, many event planners have quickly adapted to new trends of hosting events. Within a blink of an eye, the face-to-face events have been fully transformed into a virtual landscape. The catch here is, virtual hybrid events aren’t here for a short-term fix.

Today, more than 50.7% of marketers and advertisers think that all live events will have a virtual dimension in the near future. Whereas 93% are willing to invest in virtual hybrid events and make it part of their event marketing strategy.

Ref: MarketingCharts

Undeniably, virtual hybrid events are here to stay. 

The global virtual event market size is expected to take a boost. It is anticipated that digital events will fuel market growth at a rate of 23.2% from 2020 to 2027. Event planners worldwide are adapting to the new change in the dynamics by leveraging advanced technologies by tech enthusiasts. The major challenge that lies herein is virtual event audience engagement. The goal of course is to boost virtual event engagement & keep attendees hooked from the comfort of their homes. Integrating gamification into your online events is brilliant virtual event engagement ideas to overcome the barrier of attendees’ drop-off rates.

The Major Challenge During Virtual Events

Unlike face-to-face events, during virtual events attendees are not surrounded by other participants. Thus, attending a virtual event is not as stimulating as live physical events.  Herein, virtual event attendee engagements remain the major challenge. Virtual events stand a risk of ghosting attendees who register but don’t attend the event or attendees who drop-off amid sessions. Attendees partaking in online sessions at their convenience from their space are often distracted by other activities on-hand. It results in hampering virtual event audience engagement as attendees get entangled in other tasks. 

Attendee engagement is the major challenge faced by event marketers during virtual events. An attendee attending an event sitting ideally is even not a good engagement. Incentivizing attendees with virtual event giveaways or incorporating gamification is a great way to boost your virtual event engagement statistics.

To amplify engagements within your virtual hybrid event leveraging the right virtual event engagement tools is the key. To elicit meaningful engagements, we have got you covered with the best virtual engagement ideas to drive engagements with gamification.

Integrate Gamification in your Virtual Hybrid Events

How to make a virtual event engaging?
This is the major question that lingers in the mind of the majority of event planners who are new to virtual venues. 

Gamify the various areas of your virtual hybrid events to accelerate the virtual event engagement statistics. Incentivizing attendees with digital rewards is one of the smartest virtual event engagement ideas. It helps in captivating the attention of the mass attendees globally thus keeping them interested in the event throughout. Allow your attendees to earn points on the leaderboard for every action they take. The person having the highest points on the leaderboard will be rewarded at the end of the event. Attendees can redeem their earned points for most likely virtual gifts. Additionally, offering virtual event giveaways to attendees who participate in the games and online sessions is a clever engagement tactic. Motivate your attendees to partake in games and online sessions at the virtual hybrid event to expedite engagement levels. Encouraging people to enter a competition and win the race. It helps in keeping them hooked throughout the event thus upscaling virtual event engagement statistics of the event. Incorporate a points-reward-program at your virtual hybrid event to drive engagements and interactions like never before.

Strategies To Get The Most Out Of Points-Reward-Program

Amalgamating these strategies in your virtual hybrid event is sure to amplify your virtual event attendee engagement rates.

1. Give points on early registrations

Offering points on early registration accelerates the rate of event registrations at a fast pace. It helps in creating all the hype for the upcoming event thus attracting quantum attendees to the event. With early registrations, the event is saved from the risk of falling flat on the face with only a handful of attendees. Early registrations are sure to enhance attendance at virtual events. Additionally, you can market registrations and utilise the number of registrations to attract prospective sponsors.

2. Reward points for attending sessions or visiting exhibitor booths

Award attendees with the points for attending online sessions, visiting exhibitor booths, or participating in breakout sessions. It is sure to boost virtual event engagements. It will motivate attendees to get fully submerged into the well-curated content. However, it ensures enhanced attendance at the event and speaker sessions. You can twist it at your convenience and can offer more points for visiting high stake sponsors and exhibitor booths. It results in attracting more attendees to high-value booths and sessions, thus resulting in generating more qualified leads. 

3. Offer points for engaging with sponsors & exhibitors

Allocating points for engaging with sponsors and exhibitors boosts conversation rates thus  resulting in generating more leads. Generating meaningful leads at the event is the major goal of sponsors and exhibitors. Continual participation of exhibitors and sponsors depends on the ROI of the event. Offering virtual event giveaways or incentivizing attendees with points makes them excited about the latest product offerings & have meaningful conversations. However, it results in luring more attendees and engaging them with sponsors & exhibitors in lieu of earning bonus points. 

4. Award first 100 attendees with bonus points

Awarding the first 100 attendees with points boosts excitement at the event. It encourages attendees to earn more and tune in as soon as possible. This strategy works well in motivating attendees to tune-in to the event as soon as the clock ticks the assigned time for the event. 

5. Send earned point notifications to attendees via email

Sending notifications of the earned points to attendees helps in creating excitement and encourages them to earn more. It is one of the best virtual engagement ideas that motivate attendees to navigate throughout the event to earn points to redeem digital rewards. Sending point notifications to attendees via email is an effective way to keep attendees reminded of the event all the time.

6. Grant points for chat sessions or for having open discussions at the event 

Encouraging networking is a must when it comes to virtual events as attendees are partaking in sessions via a screen. Breaking the ice between virtual attendees is vital to have meaningful conversations. Award attendees with points who are joining chat sessions with other participants or having open discussions at the event. By offering virtual event giveaways or rewarding attendees with points for networking allows your attendees to get the best out of your virtual hybrid event.

7. Offer relevant digital rewards as per the time

Rewards are the thing that motivates attendees to earn points and reach the final goal. The rewards offered should be compelling and the process of redeeming points should be easy. Offer rewards that suit the current times such as coupons, gift cards that are more likely to be appreciated by attendees.

Some Games to Incorporate in Virtual Hybrid Events

Gamification offers endless possibilities. Integrating various games at different areas of your virtual hybrid event suiting your event is sure to boost virtual event attendee engagements. We have curated a list of some games to gamify your virtual event:

1. Spin The Wheel

Spin the wheel is an engaging virtual event game that can be integrated into any area of your event. It offers a chance for virtual attendees to win virtual freebies by spinning the wheel at their convenience. The game can consist of goodies or coupons sponsored by the brand. It helps in enhancing brand reach & visibility thus keeping attendees excited and engaged with the event at the same time.

2. Crossword

Curating a crossword suiting the theme of your virtual hybrid event is an effective way to boost virtual event engagements. Create a crossword to motivate attendees to participate in it. Thus resulting in driving engagements at Virtual Hybrid Events with Gamification.

3. Quiz 

Organising a quiz surrounding your event topic is a sure shot way to accelerate virtual event audience engagement. It helps in creating awareness about your brand to an extended audience. Offer virtual event giveaways to the top 5 winners of the quiz to keep attendees excited and engaged. 

4. Poll

Organising live polls is an effective way to boost engagements within online sessions. It allows organisers to gain insights into the attendee’s opinions and perspectives.

5. Football Game

Football is loved by one and all. Integrating Football games in your virtual hybrid event will be loved by your attendees thus keeping the excitement level high. It is one of the brilliant virtual event engagement ideas that help in keeping attendees excited throughout the event. 

6. Dart Game

The Dart game is played by everyone in childhood and is loved immensely. Organise a dart game at a virtual exhibitor booth to attract maximum attendees. Allow your attendees to aim for the most desired goodies.

There are ample virtual event gamification ideas that you can incorporate into your virtual hybrid events to accelerate virtual audience engagements in no time.

Key Takeaways

• Adding an element of gamification in your virtual hybrid events is an effective way to boost virtual attendee engagements.
• Integrating a points reward program motivates attendees to navigate throughout the event in lieu of earning points.
• It helps in elevating your sponsor and exhibitor partnerships.