Hybrid could be very a lot in vogue as advertising and marketing leaders look to develop an occasion combine which delivers viewers flexibility, digital perception and improved engagement. Certainly, in a survey we ran late final 12 months, 58% of respondents agreed that every one flagship occasions could be hybrid inside 24 months. However whereas there are a lot of compelling causes to run a b2b hybrid occasion this 12 months, it additionally comes with extra value and complexity.

There are seven crucial areas for b2b advertising and marketing and occasion leaders to think about as they plan their first hybrid occasions:

1. Viewers evaluation Have you learnt what sort of an occasion your goal attendees would like to attend? And what their expectations are from each an in-person and digital expertise perspective? For those who haven’t already accomplished so, survey them usually to grasp their predilections . Are you able to determine any clear preferences amongst goal personas? In that case, you need to use these to tell occasion expertise design. Additionally, you will must construct in some flexibility as attendees could change their minds because the occasion date nears.
2. Hybrid occasion kind. There are numerous completely different flavors of hybrid. For instance, you possibly can determine to have a small in-person occasion with a a lot bigger digital occasion to increase occasion attain. Or conversely, you possibly can make your main occasion digital, with a number of native in-person viewing half(ies) permitting attendees to expertise the content material collectively and drive better interplay. Use the sentiment evaluation to assist determine the precise kind to your target market.
3. Viewers segmentation You’ll want to think about the way you’re going to phase your viewers for invitation functions. For instance, if you happen to’re operating a small in-person occasion how will you choose who to ask? You possibly can take into account inviting named contacts, particular personas, goal accounts, utilizing geographic proximity, or leaving attendees free to decide on till occasion capability is reached. All are legitimate choices however bear in mind the registration course of and post-registration communications additionally must assist your segmentation technique.
4. Pricing technique Do you cost to your occasions? In that case, you’ll want to find out your pricing technique. The best choice is to take care of a single worth for all attendees, nonetheless you may need to take into account tiered pricing for in-person and digital attendees. However watch out earlier than providing digital attendance without cost as not solely do you threat devaluing the content material however you’re additionally setting a harmful precedent for all future digital occasions.
5. Attendee expertise design That you must take equal care with regards to designing each the in-person and digital attendee expertise. Each codecs ought to ship attendees a beneficial and memorable (albeit completely different) expertise. For digital attendees your focus ought to be on ‘humanizing’ their expertise and driving better interactivity. Are you designing alternatives for dwell interplay? For instance, submitting inquiries to presenters or responding to polls. Are there bodily gadgets like an occasion ‘e-book’ you possibly can mail out to them pre-event which is able to improve their expertise? For in-person attendees, the main focus ought to be on inserting extra digital touchpoints to enhance their expertise and seize extra information. Are you providing a contactless digital check-in? Are they capable of entry and look at on-demand content material? You additionally want to find out to what diploma you need in-person and digital attendees to work together with one another. For instance, are you going to permit each in-person and digital attendees to community 121 or simply by way of session chat?
6. Occasion administration expertise Expertise is a key part of delivering a profitable hybrid occasion and one of many trickiest areas to execute efficiently. Entrepreneurs ought to use the expertise design and information seize necessities to assist determine a shortlist of potential companions. Relying on the occasion kind this might embody parts as numerous as registration and ticketing {hardware}, video manufacturing and streaming and a digital occasion platform. There are few suppliers who can supply all of this, though many could have companions they’re capable of work with. As a part of this train, you also needs to determine what occasion information you want to seize and ideally work with a vendor(s) who is ready to seize unified in-person and digital attendee information and analytics.
7. Occasion group expertise and capabilities Delivering efficient hybrid occasions requires a variety of expertise and capabilities, from conventional in-person occasion administration by way of to digital expertise design and video manufacturing/ streaming. Leaders ought to audit their present occasion group capabilities to find out if they’ve the mandatory expertise in-house or whether or not you’re going to have look outdoors.

Be part of Erin Rampey, Daryl Wright and myself on 2 Could in-person in Austin (or nearly) on the B2B Summit North America once we’ll be presenting on the brand new b2b occasion combine and tips on how to choose occasions which is able to drive engagement and interplay!