Social media has become the new face of the digital world. With the maximum online audience gathering on social networking platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc., companies are now focusing on innovative ways to foster customer engagement.

What Do You Mean by “Social Media Marketing”?

Definition

Social media marketing is the new way of dealing with the online audience. It is the service through which businesses can promote their products or services to a global audience. The most popular digital media channels include different types of websites and applications where you can share your precious moments, videos, views, opinions, and much more with a global audience. However, in comparison with traditional media platforms such as newspapers and radio stations, these social media platforms are effective with certain limitations on the sharing of content.

Everything in today’s world revolves around marketing. If you choose the best marketing strategy for your needs, you will most likely achieve greater success. Similarly, these social media marketing channels allow you to connect with present and future customers. Active interaction with your audience increases the likelihood of brand exposure and awareness.

Social networking has many advantages to offer for the growth and development of businesses. With the right type of marketing strategy, you can attract a global audience and add value to your content. However, you’ll need a perfect content strategy before you plan to globalize your product or service.

Importance From a Business Point Of View

There are many changes that are currently happening in social media. With the rise in global audiences on social media platforms, you can easily rely on these services. With the maximum audience showing their presence on these social media platforms on a daily basis, it is very easy to target a specific audience. In addition to this, this has also become a method of revenue generation and the creation of a sales funnel for small and medium businesses. The need of the hour is saving time for everyone. Businesses adopting these services are actually getting exposure in less time in comparison to going with traditional techniques.

Working Procedure Of Social Media Marketing

Social media is all about connecting with users at any point in time. Most of the services tend to capture the user’s data and save it for use. This data includes personal information like – name, email address, geographic location, and other aspects.

Most social media marketing tools allow businesses to target a specific segment of the audience according to their interests and demand for the content. The basic functioning of social media marketing revolves around customer engagement and the generation of potential leads for businesses. Below are a few points which will clear your understanding of its working – 

• For making anything successful, you need a perfect strategy to execute. Social media works on strategies. Start with thorough research on customer understanding and how to make strong connections with them.
• After the adoption and implementation of any marketing strategy, you have to review the failure or success of the strategy and modify it according to the demands of the audience.
• You have to segment your customers for better targeting of the audience according to your product or service requirements. In addition to this, social media posts can do a lot of favors in this regard. You have to keep in mind that your content is shareable in order to gain wide popularity among the global audience. Furthermore, there are certain tools which are available in the market which lets you track your service or event performance. These tools are known as CRM tools.

Build Key Pillars To Run Your Social Media Marketing Campaign

There should be something that is the center of all of your other activities. In this regard, to effectively run your social networking campaign, you need a perfect strategy to execute and run your campaign smoothly. Here are a few points which will help you in getting a better understanding-

• Research Work: the type of buyers you are looking for along with their demographics is very crucial for running your events. In addition to this, what are your audience’s expectations from your event is also important to identify. By the end of this, you’ll be able to identify the audience’s interests and produce your content accordingly.
• Social Media Apps: it is very important to select the right type of platform for better functioning of your social media marketing strategy. In addition to this, try to focus more on free and popular channels like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for better results.
• Track Data: data is the hub of information for marketers to reach a wide range of audiences. In addition to this, it is also important to track your event data in the form of clicks and KPIs to have a better understanding of customer engagement. Additional data is available on marketing tools in the form of hashtag performance, clicks, organic likes, reach, and engagement.
• Competitive Analysis: it is very important for further development and modifications in your product or service. By doing this, you’ll get to know the current status of your product or service in the global market. In addition to this, with social media marketing analytics, you can also explore different platforms on which competition is quite low and chances of potential leads are quite high.
• Content is the king: content is of prime importance for businesses. With the creation of unique content, the chances of getting greater attention from the audience increase marginally. A thorough research is essential to understand the current trends in the market along with audience requirements. In addition, you can also take advantage of platform features such as live polling, customizable landing pages, real-time interaction, and much more.

Bonus Tips

• Scheduling Your event campaign: it is very important to schedule your event to make your audience aware of the date of the event. After scheduling, you can post event teasers for acknowledgment. In addition to this, you can also post regular social media updates to keep your audience aware of the upcoming event.  
• Exploring options: there are a variety of different ways by which you can promote your product or service. These include journals, website blogs, third-party platforms, and others.

Social Media Marketing: Let’s Talk About Facts and Trends

Here are the latest trends and figures in the global market showing the growth of social media.

• According to a recent report, it has been found that most global internet users spend around 2h hours and 20 minutes every day on leading social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and others.
• Recently, Meta has acquired leading social media platforms such as Whatsapp and Instagram along with its parent company Facebook.
• LinkedIn has become the favorite choice for multinational companies to hire employees through this platform. It has a fanbase of more than 800 million active users and around 58 million companies actively recruiting around the world.
• More than 50 % of global digital marketers are using Youtube for running their product or service promotional campaigns in 2022.
• India has become the hotspot for Snapchat users with the maximum number of users in the world this year.

Exploring Social Media Platforms

There are a variety of different platforms that let you connect with a global audience very easily. Let’s explore them in detail to get in-depth insights into using these platforms for event promotion. However, it should be planned earlier to select the best forum for targeting the audience by keeping in mind the type of content to be shared.

Instagram

Instagram is one of the most influential social media platforms in the current scenario. With short-form video formats growing rapidly, brands often use an Instagram reels maker to create engaging and shareable content. In addition to this, it is also providing advertising opportunities for various brands and services. With the help of features such as Instagram Live and Stories, Instagram Direct sponsors can easily create new and strong connections.

Twitter

Tweets are very popular among the global audience for sharing content in a few words. Usually, the length of tweets varies between 140-280 characters for Twitter users. Recently, with the help of live stream feeds on Twitter, it has gained much popularity, with more than 330 million users worldwide.

What To Do

• You can focus on content rather than selling on this platform. With the help of amazing tweets, you can gain popularity for your valuable content.
• In addition to this, you can also find the likes of your followers and produce the content by keeping in mind your follower’s requirements.

LinkedIn

It is the most popular tool for doing B2B marketing for small and medium businesses. In fact, it has now become one of the top lead-generation platforms around the world. With the help of its filters, you can select the audience you want to target, demographics, and much more. The chances of finding a potential lead on this platform are more than 80 percent as of now.

What To Do

• Use this platform as a brand-building tool for your business
• You can also invent antique sales techniques for the creation of the sales funnel and revenue opportunities
• Digital relationships are fostered on this professional platform. In addition to this, you can also connect with leading brands and follow their ideas for your growth and development.

Snapchat

This platform is very simple to use for the audience and holds one of the largest audience bases in the world. It is extremely popular because of its brand exposure techniques and because it hosts over 10 billion videos on a daily basis.

What To Do

• You can increase your eCommerce sale on this platform and earn a maximum profit on it. In addition to this, on this social media app, you can also give discounts and coupons to attract a huge audience to your product and service.
• This platform is the hub for social media influencers. This is done by taking sponsorship of the influencer’s post or by collaborating with different products and brands.

Handy Tips For Effective Audience Engagement In Social Media Marketing Campaigns (WSI)

From the above steps, you have gained a brief knowledge of the functioning of social media marketing channels and their different types. In addition to this, understanding the user’s point of view is also very important. Just like, are they liking your content or not? What are their views, comments, and much more?

Questioning Your Users

It is very crucial to ask questions during the live conversation. This helps build the credibility of your brand in front of your target audience. In addition to this, solving their queries and doubts thus increases the chances of becoming your potential customers.

Content Repurposing

It is one of the best ways to extend the life of your content. With the help of content repurposing, you can cut down the content into short video clips of a shorter length. Most of the audience loves to watch short, descriptive teaser videos before the actual session.

Visuals Are Important

Visuals are more effective than the written and audible content being shared with the audience. With the latest technologies, you can create amazing visuals in the form of graphs, infographics, animations, and others to increase the audience count for your session or event. In addition to this, with the help of these visuals, you can run surveys to find mistakes and sort them out as soon as possible.

Creation Of Awareness

In order to build brand awareness, you have to provide lots of information to your target audience. In this information-driven world, it is very important to share valuable content in the form of texts, audio, or video files to keep your audience up to date.

Incorporate User-Generated Content (UGC)

Encourage users to share their experiences, reviews, or photos related to your brand. Share UGC on your profile, showing appreciation for your community and building trust with potential customers.

Monitor Mentions and Tags

Keep an eye on mentions and tags related to your brand or campaign. Respond to positive mentions and address any issues promptly to show that you value your audience’s feedback.

Prominent Benefits Of Marketing Through Social Media

Here are some of the most popular benefits of social media marketing. This will make you understand the need for these services in the current scenario –

• Social media marketing is very important for the purpose of brand awareness. It makes your brand directly connect with the global audience out there and makes them consume your content.
• For the purpose of creating a sales funnel and lead generation, social media plays a very crucial role. In addition to this, you can directly drive traffic to your website by sharing the session link on leading social media platforms.
• With the help of social media, you are making new and strong connections across the globe in real time. Utilizing this opportunity you can develop your brand identity in front of a target audience.
• You can create your event and schedule it for an online audience. In addition to this, with the help of emails, you can send event links and reminder emails on the day of the event.

Measure Your Promotional Activities: Marketing Analytics Tool

Event promotional activities are very important for the business. But, what if there’s no way to manage or track the progress of these activities? Yes, it is very crucial to measure and have track of these campaigns effectively –

• With the help of engagement activities like clicks, likes, shares, replies, and audience reach you can track the progress of your session.
• With the help of powerful analytics tools of these social media apps such as Instagram, Twitter, and others you can see the audience reach and which country people have viewed your content the most.
• With the number of social media mentions, shares, and hashtags, you can easily measure your event or session’s performance in front of a global audience.

Social Media Marketing: Opportunity With Lots Of Challenges

With the help of the Internet, social media has a lot of promise. However, it is understandable that the rivalry has grown fiercer as more people enter this profitable arena. Additionally, consumers are becoming less tolerant of the advertising substance of firms. To gain or maintain attention and a competitive edge, marketers must constantly use various social media marketing strategies. Otherwise, it will just be money thrown out the window.

Mixhub, one of the most efficient online event platforms, known for hosting classy and immersive events. Read more to know how it has delivered exceptional experiences for some popular brands.

Closing Lines

Social media posts, mentions, etc., are booming with huge demand among the audience. With the biggest advantage of doing promotions with just a single click, social media marketing is the perfect choice for small and medium enterprises. In addition to this, there are many professional platforms like Mixhub, Zoom, and others that support integration with these social media platforms and let you reach out to your target audience effectively.

The post Social Media Marketing : Exploring The Digital World appeared first on Dreamcast Blog.

Definition : with virtual meetings, remote participants can easily communicate with each other while sitting in a virtual room. in fact, it is the best way to host a productivity session.

Online meeting platforms are one of the best options when it comes to hosting virtual meetings. With the shift in the digital trend, most employees are working remotely. For carrying out daily routine discussions and conclusions meetings are important.

Virtual Meetings- Meaning And Importance 

Meaning

In the current scenario, it is very important to hold regular meetings and discussions for the productivity of businesses. Herein lies the role of virtual meetings. It is basically a gathering of people for a healthy discussion on different topics, sharing ideas, key takeaways, etc. The meetings can take different forms in different formats, including audio, video, or textual formats. In addition to this, these meetings take place over the internet, which makes it feasible for each of the participants to easily join and become a  part of the discussion.

Importance

Online meetings are an essential component of professional life. Most of these meetings result in deciding the future course of action for the companies and businesses. In addition to this, they tend to focus on keeping everyone on the same page and being part of any decision-making activity.

With the shift in the trend of going hybrid, most companies have remote employees for the purpose of allowing work from anywhere. Virtual Meeting Platforms make this task easier for firms to gather each and every employee under a single roof through the internet. .

How Virtual Meetings Separate Themselves From Virtual Events

As we know, a “virtual event” is the bigger umbrella, which consists of meetings, online webinar sessions, online video conferences, and much more. But, what are the differences between virtual events and virtual meetings  let’s have a look –  

• It is very easy to host Virtual Meetings but it takes a lot of time in planning and execution of a successful Virtual Event. In addition to this, there is a simple interface if you are planning to attend a Virtual Meeting. On the other hand, the process is more complex in the case of joining a Virtual Event.
• In the case of hosting meetings, interactions with each other are possible in the best possible way, while for Virtual Events interacting with each individual is not possible at all. It is a one-sided conversation for Virtual Events and just the opposite in the other scenario.
• If we have to consider the budget requirements, both of them are very different from each other . Virtual Meetings are the first choice for a small group of people, private gatherings, daily discussions, etc. Similarly, Virtual Events like Online Webinar Sessions, Trade Shows etc. are held to maximize audience reach at the global level.

Prominent Benefits Of Virtual Meetings 

Virtual meetings are the best way to boost productivity and increase engagement with employees. Virtual meetings are cost effective and easy solutions to manage and execute.. Here are some of the popular use cases of these meetings – 

Ease Of Convenience

These meetings are the best alternatives to hosting regular discussions. In addition to this, with no physical venue requirements, no hustle for travel and accommodation, etc.  

Easy To Meet External Customers

Online meetings are a good option to meet your client or customer who lives in another part of the world. It eliminates the cost of traveling and other expenses and enhances quality communication between individuals.

Flexible Option

Virtual Meeting Platforms are a great replacement for traditional physical meetings. With the inclusion of features like accurate insights, ease of sharing information in any format,  polling, etc., these platforms are gradually becoming the new normal for businesses.

Everready Option

This is one of the classic advantages of hosting these meetings. You are prepared for any type of happenings or circumstances that can hinder your regular in-person discussions. With the help of an active internet connection, you can connect with your employee at any time.

Cost Savings

The costs of holding traditional in-person meetings are greatly reduced by using virtual meetings. There are no costs associated with travel, lodging, venue rentals, or catering. When holding regular or large-scale meetings, these cost reductions might be significant for corporations.

Wider Reach and Inclusivity

Virtual meetings are more accessible and allow people to participate who would not otherwise be able to do so. Geographical limitations are removed, enabling participation from individuals in various cities, time zones, and even nations. Its inclusiveness encourages different viewpoints and makes it easier for a wider spectrum of people to work together.

Data and Analytics

Platforms for virtual meetings frequently provide data and analytics tools that provide information on participant engagement, attendance rates, and other important metrics. These data may be used to assess a meeting’s performance, pinpoint areas for development, and make data-driven decisions for subsequent gatherings.

Scalability

Virtual meetings can accommodate a large number of participants from diverse locations, making them ideal for webinars, training sessions, seminars, and virtual conferences.

Time Savings

Participants can join virtual meetings from anywhere with an internet connection, saving time that would have been spent commuting to a physical location. This allows for more efficient use of working hours and can lead to increased productivity.

What Are Different Types Of Online Meetings 

There are a variety of ways in which you can easily host your virtual meeting. However, the most popular way is by “teleconferencing.” This is the easiest way of having a meeting with the employees or participants by having direct conversations over the telephone.

The second option of hosting these meetings is by “Video Conferencing”. This type of meeting involves both audio and video outputs. In addition to this, presentations can also be held online which is also termed as webinar session.

Things To Remember While Choosing Your Online Meeting Platform

It is very important to take care of a few points before making the final choice of selecting a platform for your event. These handy tips are – 

• The platform should facilitate the live session to be recorded for viewing afterward. This is very helpful for those attendees who are not able to attend your meeting due to any circumstances.

• If we talk about popular Online Meeting Examples, consist of chat features for solving queries of the participants in real-time. This builds the credibility of the company in front of its employees.

• The platform should also enhance proper engagement with the participants of the meeting. This ensures their active participation in the discussion. However, this can be done by including some features like quizzes, games, etc.

• The conversation can be held in multiple formats. Additionally, the platform should also support the sharing of important documents and information in different formats including pdfs, notes, audio, etc.

Meeting Agenda – Create An Objective For Your Meeting

Hosting pointless meetings is just like wasting your precious time on useless stuff. Therefore, by setting the objectives for your meeting, you are actually creating a pathway for new ideas to be implemented and executed.

The participants of the meeting should not attend the meeting with a blank mind. In addition to this, they should know what you are expecting from them as homework before joining the meeting. Try to create an outline of the whole session by deciding who’ll introduce the session and individuals for different topics.

Similarly, you have to send the agenda along with the meeting invitation for making your participants aware of possible outcomes. Just by following this quick Virtual Meeting Guide.

Activities For An Effective Virtual Meeting 

You can make the best use of these sessions by creating the right kind of atmosphere for your attendees. This can be done by – 

• Virtual Ice Breakers: Ice breakers are the best tool for making your attendees feel calm and complex. This is best in the case when your participants don’t speak much in front of others. In addition to this, when they realize they are on the same page as others, they become much more confident.
• Scavenger Hunt:  This activity best suits the virtual environment. On Virtual Meeting Platforms, you can host this for getting participants moving between rooms in the virtual lobby or exhibition halls, etc.
• Hosting Happy Hour:  At the end of the day, hosting a virtual happy hour can make your audience surprised and happy. This session is all about sending gift boxes to your employees or participants. Additionally, this will remove all sorts of stress and fatigue for your employees. 
• Social Media Interactions: With a creative mindset, Online Meeting Platforms can be used for interacting and promoting your meeting on social media channels. With the right type of hashtags, you can gain worldwide attention for your activity. Additionally, this will boost the public reach of the company as well.

Host Successful Virtual Meetings on the Best Virtual Meeting Platform- Mixhub

There are many Virtual Meeting Platforms available in the market including Mixhub which commits permissible service with classic interactive features to host your virtual meetings. However, Mixhub is different from its counterparts due to the following reasons – 

• Mixhub comes up with a free trial option which is very helpful for those who are new in the industry.
• With its customizable personal spaces, virtual meetings are turning into productive sessions for the companies as well as the employees.
• When it comes to enhancing engagement with the participants, Mixhub involves features like – live polling, chatting options, HD video streaming, real-time feedback, and much more.

Final Words,

After all, going with the trend is the key to success. Virtual meetings are the best way to encourage a healthy level of engagement with your participants and employees. By selecting the right strategy for your meeting and working towards the main goal, you will get one step closer to success.

FAQs

The post Virtual Meetings: Exploring Different Components appeared first on Dreamcast Blog.

Sponsorship has always been a crucial part of any event. With offline events, it has always been easier to attract sponsors; however, as the world has switched to online events, reaching out to brands for sponsorship, and virtual sponsorship has become a bit challenging. Brands that organizers are reaching out to don’t find online events worth investing in. They feel online events won’t be able to give them enough ROI. Not only this, there are several other reasons organizers find it difficult to find suitable sponsors for their events.

However, every problem comes with a solution, and this one too. Like every time, we are here to help you. In this blog, we will help you with steps and techniques you can use to reach out to your potential sponsors for events and close the deal, for sure. 

So, without any ado, let’s jump into the blog and explore everything related to virtual sponsorships. 

What is Virtual and Online Event Sponsorship?

We can define sponsorship as a mutual agreement between the online event organizers and an external brand known as a sponsor. In sponsorship, the brand usually invests in the event in the form of donations or funding in exchange for something from the organizers, which is mostly exposure during the event. The value of sponsorship for an online event can be understood by the fact that it is the primary source of revenue for 23% event planners. 

There are several types of sponsorship such as: 

• Financial Sponsorship
• In-Kind Sponsorship
• Media Event Sponsorship
• Promotional Partners

What are the Advantages of Getting Sponsorship for an Event?

The most common advantages of getting sponsorship for your event are: 

1.Better Revenues: Partnering with a brand for event sponsorship would allow you to generate more revenue. You can keep your ticket prices competitive, and lower the barriers for people to attend your event. 

2.More Brand Exposure: When you partner with a high-end brand, it increases your brand reach, and more people register for your event. It will help you reach more people, and generate more leads for your brand and business. 

3.More Credibility: When you are new to the industry, partnering up with a well-established name will help you set authority to the event. 

4.Better Experience: Having a sponsor for your event would allow you to have support on your bills, and you would be able to deliver a better experience for your audience.

How To Find the Right Sponsors For Your Event?

The real challenge is finding the right sponsor – the one that best fits a particular event. Here are some qualities to look for when choosing your ideal sponsor. 

Sponsors that align with your values, goals, and audience

A good way to narrow down your search is to look for corporate sponsors who fit your mission and values. Make sure your partnership is aligned with some basic considerations. Prioritize the quality of sponsors over the number of sponsors.

First, consider the specifics of the event. what is his job What do you hope to achieve by partnering with potential sponsors? Planning an in-person, hybrid, or virtual event?

Then your search is exactly right. Which companies tend to sponsor events? Have they sponsored events similar to yours? If so, chances are your audience is a good fit and willing to offer sponsorship. Make sure your company’s brand message matches the sponsor’s brand message.

Sponsors who are driven by ROI

Look for organizations who value being partners in “Partnership”. In other words, reach out to brands that are willing to work with you to ensure a positive outcome for both parties. If a potential event sponsor cares about ROI, they’re more likely to do their best to ensure a return on investment.

What are the Strategies to Get Sponsors For an Event?

If you are constantly trying to reach out to new brands and not getting any success, maybe it’s time you should modify your strategy a bit. Here are some tactics you should use to ensure you land on the right sponsoring brands. 

1. Reach Out to Brands with the Same Company Values as Yours:

While you’re reaching out to a brand for sponsorship, the first thing you need to do is narrow down your options to those who share the same company values as yours. It won’t only help you save time and effort but also boost the chances of closing the deal and having them onboard. Not only this, but it will also increase your chances of having an expanded customer base, as the same values might lead to the same customers, even if it means that you are dealing with different products and services.

2. Tap Onto Brands in the Same Field:

Yes, find sponsors who work in the same field as yours; there are several benefits of this. Having brands on board with a similar field helps you target the same audience group. It won’t distract your audience, and neither will it convey a different message than yours. 

3. Provide Valuable Opportunities to Your Sponsors:

A brand will only be interested in funding your event if they feel you are providing them something valuable in return. While you are thinking about your profits, it is ethically your duty to think of their benefits also. Hence, provide enough valuable exposure opportunities to the brands you are reaching out to for branding. There are several things and opportunities you can offer them; for example, you can provide collaboration opportunities, social media exposure, branded online event elements, and so much more. 

4. Make Use of Paid Tools:

Moving onto the next strategy, you should go with paid tools; it will help you reach out to many potential sponsors in less time. What you can do is conduct keyword research, which will help you make your ads hyper-targeted. You can also use a keyword research tool for the same. The key benefit of using this technique is it will help you target both sponsors as well as attendees for your online event. 

5. Leverage Social Media:

The world is well acquainted with the power of social media in today’s times; what if we tell you you can also use social media tools to reach out to your potential sponsors? There are several ways to do so; you can create a page dedicated to your event, create public posts, post in various public groups, and many more. In addition to them, you can also reach out to various brands over messages. 

6. An Advertisement Goes a Long Way:

In the next tactic, you can use advertisements to find potential sponsors for your upcoming event. Advertise what you are looking for; make it easier for brands by advertising the event agenda. Make all the details clear in the advertisement, for example, the objective, date, time, etc. Circulate the agenda on several platforms. 

7. Make Use of Case Studies and Testimonials From Previous Sponsors:

It’s time you make use of your previous sponsors’ testimonials and case studies; they will act as proof for the brands you are targeting and help you win their trust. Ask your previous sponsors for testimonials, and ensure they contain what benefit they got by sponsoring your event. While you are asking for testimonials, try if you can get video testimonials; videos are the most effective and preferred format. 

8. Offer Different Tiers of Sponsorship:

Creating different types and tiers of sponsorship packages will make it easier for you to reach out to more brands with ease. You can offer various opportunities and benefits to the sponsoring brands depending on the tier or package they choose. Not only this but having different packages will enable them to fund your event, even while staying in their comfort zone. 

9. Reach Out to Sponsors From Similar Events:

The best and probably the most effective technique to attract sponsors to your event is reaching out to sponsors of similar events. Since the format and type of the event will be similar, targeting the sponsors will boost the chances of them sponsoring your event. According to a study by the Harvard Business Review, the most popular events that are sponsored are trade shows, one-day conferences, business partner events, and multiple-day conferences. 

What are the Branding Opportunities You Can Offer to Your Sponsors?

As we mentioned before, a brand will only fund your event if they feel they are getting enough benefits from it. After all, it is business at the end of the day. Hence, to ensure many brands fund your event, create and provide them enough opportunities to promote their brand. 

If you have no clue what you should offer them, refer to these points: 

1. 1:1 Meeting Scheduler:

To ensure your sponsors find and connect with potential leads, offer them networking opportunities. For that, you’d need to choose a suitable online event platform such as Mixhub , which comes with plenty of networking tools and opportunities. These 1:1 networking tools will enable attendees to directly contact the sponsors and schedule a meeting with them, enabling sponsors to expand their reach. 

2. Virtual Booths:

Virtual Booths are one of the best ways to boost brand awareness. Not only this, online booths come with many networking and interacting opportunities between the attendees and the exhibitors. Moreover, to ensure that the attendees know enough about their brand, they can use audience engagement tools such as live polls, surveys, Q&A sessions, and more. Moreover, with such tools sponsors will be able to get leads, which they can further convert into their clients. 

3. Interacting Opportunities:

Another opportunity you can offer your sponsors is direct interaction with the attendees. They can speak directly with the attendees through an interactive session. You can host a presentation session or a webinar, especially for the sponsors to interact with the attendees and promote their brand. 

4. Landing Page Feature:

You can feature your organizers on the landing page of your online event. Since the landing page is frequently visited by the attendees as well as the registrants, featuring the sponsor brands on the landing page will give them ample exposure. 

In Conclusion:

Reaching out to brands for sponsorship is not that challenging; however, you need to have the proper skills to approach them. Moreover, you should know that it is business and everybody would be expecting their profits, including your potential sponsors. Hence, while asking for something, be ready to give something too. Maximize sponsors’ exposure with Mixhub limitless branding opportunities. How? Book your demo session today. 

The post How to Get Sponsors For the Next Event appeared first on Dreamcast Blog.

Event Marketing is one of the most beneficial tools for businesses to bring audiences together under one roof. Whether it’s for the purpose of education, entertainment, or the creation of engagement, event marketing is crucial at every point.

With the increase in the adoption of social networks, the competition is getting tougher. In this regard, this blog is all about detailed insights into effective Event Marketing. In addition to this, we’ll explore every aspect, which will promote innovative ways of running marketing campaigns and much more.

A Quick Intro to Event Marketing

In simple terms, event marketing refers to making a strategy for effective engagement with the audience or customers during the event. The event varies, as does the audience. For example, hosting trade shows, exhibitions, webinars, etc. requires a lot of effort to create the best environment. However, hosting different audiences for these events might be puzzling for the creation of an effective marketing campaign.

Herein lies the role of event marketing tips and ideas. With the selection of the right strategy by the event planners, making connections with the audience becomes easy. 

“Overall, Event Marketing is all about the creation of an effective marketing plan for gaining the audience’s attention and generating traffic as well as revenue through it.”

Event Marketing: What Makes It Unique

Most of the time we see ads running on televisions or just before playing any Youtube video, and we just skip it when possible. This can be defined as one-way communication with the audience, in which they are just spectators to what has been shown to them.

Most of the time, your audience forgets the purpose of those ads or reactions. In this regard, Event Marketing comes into play. It allows two-way communication with the audience, which is crucial for helping them remember your brand or services for a longer duration. With the advantage of building in-personal relationships, making authentic connections, creating networking opportunities, etc. Event Marketing Campaigns are very effective. In addition to this, below are some of the quick points that make them a feasible option for businesses – 

• Brand Awareness is very important for the audiences to make them aware of your product or services. The more credible your brand is, the more the chances of revenue generation.

• Brand Engagement is also very crucial for interacting with your service by the audience. This boosts the chances of familiarity with your services for the audiences. Ultimately, everything leads to making your brand or service popular.

• Top-quality leads are the best revenue opportunities for any business. In addition to this, it can only come from the audience which turns out to be your potential customers.

• For achieving multiple growth goals, effective planning along with the right platform is very important for the business.

Some Prominent Benefits of Event Marketing

Here are some of the benefits of Event Marketing which will broaden your knowledge about the diverse nature of these strategies – 

Lead Generation

By hosting events according to the right marketing strategy, you can reach out to the target group of audiences in the easiest possible way. However, content delivery and quality are equally important for making them your potential buyers. An effective marketing plan involves one on one interaction with the audience for the best outcomes.

Increase in ROI

Marketing ROI is very important to analyze the performance of your brand or service among the global audience. In addition to this, the ROI can be effectively increased by cross-selling your products to your potential customers. 

An increase in the audience count for your event along with more people clicking on the registration pages are also important parameters that can affect the overall ROI of the event.

Getting Feedback

With the help of some professional event platforms, you can get real-time feedback from the audience. After all, feedback is important for the growth and development of the business or service. An effective marketing plan will let you analyze the areas of concern and provide handy tips for effectively managing your mistakes.

Increase In Brand Awareness

By using event marketing, you can increase the credibility of your brand. After all, with the trust of many sponsors, you can widen your customer base. In addition to this, with event platforms, you can share the link of your event on leading social media platforms like – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.

Additionally, event marketing also allows you to make yourself visible to the audience by hosting a wide variety of sessions that can be fruitful for your brand.

Working Procedure Of Event Marketing

Before proceeding further, it is very important to know how this works exactly. This section will give you an idea of the workings of an effective marketing strategy. The process has been explained in easy steps below – 

• Selection of the Target audience for your event 
• Framing the Event Agenda is crucial 
• Selection of Keynote speakers or presenters for your event
• Audience interaction is very beneficial 
• Networking Possibilities

It’s time to discuss the above points in detail for better understanding – 

Selection of the Target Audience for Your Event

Identifying the right audience for your event will definitely make your job easier and smoother. Similarly, if your target audience has been chosen randomly, then there are chances that you might not be able to deliver what you think and what they might be expecting from the session.

In addition to this, an effective event marketing plan also ensures sending personalized emails or invitation messages to your target audience. This will help in building strong connections and global audience reach.

Framing the Event Agenda is Crucial

Structuring your event can increase the audience count for your event. By creating a space for the audience to pick up the format they want, you are making them reliable in your way of content delivery.

With the inclusion of keynote speeches, leadership panels, expert battles,and chat rooms your attendees will witness something unique and different from your event. In addition to this, by knowing what’s next, your audience will get excited to watch their favorite sections.

Selection of Keynote Speakers or Presenters For Your Event

It should be kept in mind that, without the selection of any event marketing ideas, your session can turn into a boring lecture for your target audience. By inviting their favorite speakers to the session, you are providing what they need the most.

This will turn out in creating the best interactive atmosphere between your target audience and key speakers. In addition to this, it is very crucial for expressing thoughts, putting forth opinions, and consuming the best content from the audience’s point of view.

Audience Interaction is Very Beneficial

After all, it’s the engagement that pays you off. Audience engagement is beneficial for multiple reasons. These can be the smooth delivery of valuable content and information, popularizing your content at a global level, attracting more viewers with similar tastes or interests, etc.

In addition to this, engagement can be enhanced with the use of some professional event platforms such as Mixhub, Zoom, Google Meet, etc. These platforms are loaded with immersive features such as live polling, real-time interaction and feedback, post-event analytics, Q&A sessions, and much more.

Networking Possibilities

Strong networking creates a roadmap for your future events. The person who’s in love with your content or service will come again to watch your future events. Strong networking also dives deeper to unlock a higher level of understanding between individuals.

Try to allow your attendees to organize 1:1 meetings, where the offer meets the demand. Even the landing pages for registration can do the same for you. These forms consist of interest areas, likes and dislikes, etc., for getting perfect knowledge about the taste of the attendee. In addition to this, with the AI Matchmaking feature, they become very easy to sort out and match.

Listing Down Different Types of Event Categories

In the current scenario, most businesses are switching to a digital way of catching the attention of their audience. The response of the audience for these online events has been heartwarming for most businesses. Moving forward, here is the list of some of the most popular types of event categories – 

• Online Training Sessions 
• Workshops
• Online Trade Shows
• Online Video Conferences 
• Webinar Sessions

Let’s live deeper and explore these popular event categories – 

Online Training Sessions

These sessions are very important for the employees or new hires to get marketing exposure. With an understanding of the technicalities of the product or service, employees can work in a productive atmosphere for the brand or service. These sessions are composed of webinars, boot camps, and much more.

Workshops

These are best practices for understanding any specific topic or concept. These sessions are industry oriented and simply made for specific audiences. However, as per recent reports, these sessions are turning out to be brainstorming sessions for the audiences.

Online Trade Shows

Online trade shows are often referred to as “exhibitions” or “expos.” The best way to showcase everything your brand or service has to offer is by hosting online trade shows. In addition to this,  your audience gets to make new connections with the exhibitors, these sessions promote direct interactions in chat rooms, new lead generation, etc.

Online Video Conferences

These conferences are face-to-face real-time interactions between two individuals sitting in remote locations. With the help of professional platforms, you can easily get in touch with your target audience or participants. However, this feature of events is extremely useful for businesses in carrying out routine discussions and plans.

Webinar Sessions

Webinars are online video sessions that facilitate promotional activities and real-time interaction with the audience. These sessions are important from an event marketing point of view as they involve a large volume of the global audience.

Creation Of An Event Marketing Plan

For the creation of an effective marketing plan or campaign, firstly you need to know different types of event marketing. However, we have mentioned some of the popular types below – 

• Search Engine Optimization
• Running Advertisement
• Social Media Marketing (Facebook, Instagram, etc.)
• Event Websites

Without going into much detail, let’s have a quick look at these types 

Keeping this in mind, let’s create an effective marketing plan. An effective marketing plan consists of two components – activities and deciding the objectives of your event.

Promotional Activities

Running promotional campaigns more than a month before the actual date of the event can eventually lead to success. It is very important to inform the audience about your event. Firstly, it should be done by spreading it across leading social media platforms like – Twitter, Instagram, etc. 

In addition to this, the creation of the landing pages for registration is the next step in this process for the successful gathering of user data before the event. This will help you find out the demographics, and interests of the audience. In fact, what they are expecting from you can also be figured out with this information. Event Promotions can also be done by sending reminder emails just on the day of the event.

Figure Out Event Objectives

Event objectives are the heart of event planning and marketing. This will help you in the selection of your target audience, the features you want from an event platform, the expected outcomes of the session, and much more. For the running of promotional campaigns, your objectives let you decide the theme of the event, ways to catch the attention of the viewers, and how to generate leads from them.

Registration Website

It is very critical for making the best first impression on the audience. The registration pages or websites are the faces of the event before its beginning. Always ensure to add a little description about the event so that your viewers know exactly what you are going to show them.

Miscellaneous Tasks

These tasks include collaborations with different brands to make your event reach a global audience. In addition to this, you can also use the concept of paid promotions. By this, you can guarantee your audience’s exposure by paying a specific amount for it.

Top 4 Event Promotion Channels For Your Event

Here is the list of popular event promotion channels which are the favorite choice of the business – 

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Popular Social Media Platforms 
• Email Marketing 
• Content Marketing

We’ll discuss everything in detail.

Search Engine Optimization(SEO)

It is very important to choose the right type of audience to watch your event. For this reason, filtering is necessary before you start promoting your event. In addition to this, for an effective marketing campaign, audience selection plays a crucial role.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) works purely on Google algorithms for spreading your content to a global audience. In very simple terms, with the right selection of keywords and uniqueness in the promotional content, you can even reach the top of Google search results. This happens when a user searches for a relevant topic that matches your content.

Popular Social Media Platforms

Prepare a list of leading social media platforms like – Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, etc. It is important to keep in mind that the functionality of each platform is different from the others.  While you have to create an event page on Facebook, you have to use hashtags when posting events on Instagram.  

Email Marketing

Email Marketing is a very simple and easiest way of marketing your event. It is so important that we discuss this topic in detail in the coming section. As of now, email marketing is a multifunctional activity that can be used to send reminder emails, invitation mail, promotional content, and much more.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is a meaningful way of spreading your message to your target audience. You can easily start with your potential customers or viewers by detailing important aspects of the event. In addition to this, it can be done by – posting web blogs on the website, writing on different forums, presenting speakers’ interviews as well as clips, etc. However, tweeting on social media channels and podcasting is also a good way of promoting events.

Event Marketing Trends & Stats: All You Need To Know

This section will take you along with the data and statistics that are trending in the market. Every piece of information provided below is with respect to event marketing and its related aspects. This will boost your knowledge and drive you to run your event marketing campaign –

• As per the reports, more than 9.45 % of the budget goes to live events. In fact, more than 10 % of businesses are spending over 50 % of the total amount on running promotional campaigns.
•  More than 75 % of marketers do believe that email marketing is the most effective way of communicating with the target audience.
• The global event industry is expected to generate $2.194 trillion dollars by the end of the year 2028.
• LinkedIn revealed that more than 1800 marketers were included in the survey. These marketers have organized events in more than 13 countries. It was found that 85 % of the marketers had virtual events for the whole year while 13 % have said that their complete events are virtual now.
• More than 50 % of event planners are now switching to digital ways of hosting events in the coming future.

Making Key Strategy Of Event Marketing

Here are some of the pro tips for effective event marketing – 

Take Your Event Budget Into Consideration

Once you’re done with making the budget plan, you have to think about the things on which you’re going to spend your money. You have to do thorough research on historical event trends, budget data, event goals to accomplish, etc.

In addition to this, you can also track the ROI of your event and customize the event template for a better understanding of the budget requirements and one-time investments.

Search For Quality Speakers

This can be further done by making a checklist for the required skills of a speaker. A speaker is one who keeps the target audience engaged for long hours. Apart from the narration part, the speaker should also host activities throughout the event for the active participation of the audience. By doing this, “you are actually promoting something without actually promoting it”.

Sponsors Are The Backbone

Though sponsors are hard to find as well as convert, they are the backbone of any event. Your event marketing campaign largely depends on the selection of sponsors for the event. You can easily craft your sponsorship proposals by demographics, ticket sales, and social media actions.

Using User Data

Consider the data from the past event, if any, and try to find out the relevant people on leading social media platforms. This is more on the technical side, as it requires certain algorithms to find the same type of attendees as they were in the past.

It can also happen that audiences may not be directly interested in attending your   but with an authentic connection, they are attending it. In addition to this, there is a lookalike audience that is a part of the Facebook community.

Promote on a mix of channels

Your target audience is everywhere, so you need to be there too. Don’t stick to popular marketing channels like Instagram, LinkedIn, or email marketing. Reach out to influencers, come up with smart offline initiatives (such as handing out flyers on campus), and leverage your network to develop a word-of-mouth strategy.

Use Facebook and Google Ads to place promotional ads on Instagram and Facebook to promote relevant blogs and Google searches.

Create a sense of urgency

Create different pricing tiers with early bird tickets offered at discounted prices as a registration incentive. When tickets are released in stages, it creates a sense of urgency. Therefore, people will want to buy the cheapest tickets and buy them sooner.

Post-Event Survey

This technique is beneficial for getting event feedback and analyzing the event’s performance. For improvising your performance, event surveys are the best way to discover new ways to resolve any error or problem. In addition to this, you can also use the data from CRMs, ticketing partners, and event platforms.

Key Touch Points

• You have to step into the shoe of attendees and think of the possible outcomes which could benefit you as an attendee
• You have to make your event perspectives and benefits clear to the attendees. In case, you fail to do so your attendee will simply exit from the event.
• You can make a quick summary of your event in 60 seconds and make use of the Event Elevator Pitch. It is beneficial to an audience who has no prior knowledge about the event.
• Apart from publishing generic content on social media platforms, you can also create personalized messages for distribution throughout your network. In addition to this, you can also add different company professionals to attend your event.

Diving Deeper With Event ROI

It is very important to understand the calculation of event ROI. It is the key deciding parameter for tracking the performance of your event. It is a matter of two components: costs and benefits. Here are a few points which will help you a better understanding of the concept – 

• The total cost of the event is the combination of indirect costs and the actual expenditure on the event requirements. The direct costs are well known to the event planners which include the venue or virtual platforms, features, etc.
• Similar to the cost and the budget, the event revenue gives you a better idea of the event’s success. Direct revenue is money made as a result of hosting the event. It includes the specific amount of money to be paid by the audience on the registration pages, ads revenue, etc. 
• Even the more brands sponsor your event, the more are chances of getting popular and generating huge traffic as well as revenue for the event. In addition to this, the exchange of knowledge is also very beneficial for the increase in learning, fine-tuning marketing, and high lead generation.
• Now coming to the last point, ticketing, as well as pricing, are the components that decide the average number count of the audience for your event. The more reliable the charges, the more the audience will be going to buy your tickets.

Top 5 Social Media Tips to Promote Your Next Event

Interaction Is The Key

Though this is the least followed method by most planners, it is still the best way to let your audience know about your event. Try to answer the comments and questions, and give positive responses for your events. This will help your post reach a wider audience.  

Use Of Hashtags

For this, first of all, you have to create an attractive hashtag for the event. In addition to this, you can use this hashtag or a group of hashtags in your upcoming posts related to your event. In fact, you can even tell your company’s employees or fellow participants to perform the same activity. For better results, try to make your hashtag match the event name or the event theme for maximum engagement.

Creation Of Event Contests

These are the best ways to target your audience on different types of social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, etc. In addition to this, you can create a contest and integrate the hashtag into it. You can also reward your audience by giving them discount coupons or vouchers along with some gift hampers.

Regular Updating Your Audience

Keeping your audience daily updated with new event theme photos and video clips is the best way to boost engagement with them. Using social media platforms as a powerful tool to attract your followers is the best trick that can do wonders for your event.

Selection Of Speakers

This is a very crucial step for event marketing. Try to invite those speakers who are very influential and popular among the audience. In addition to this, it will create hype among the audience about your event. This will also add brand value and credibility to the session. The expert speakers actively engage with the audience and answer their questions and queries easily.

Things To Do Before Making Any Marketing Plan

Here are some of the things that need your consideration before making any plan or decisions related to event marketing. plans

• You have to decide the type of audience you want to invite for your event. In addition to this, it should be kept in mind that everything will be revolving around the target audience. Think wisely before making any decision.
• The content of the event, the delegates, the audience, the platform, etc. are essential elements of the event. Make sure to keep everything connected and smooth the transition.
• For giving functionality to your event you need to start involving the audience in it. This can be done by the creation of customizable landing pages with the help of event platforms.

Understanding The Term: Event Email Marketing

As per the reports, more than 70 % of businesses use email marketing as a prime tool for running marketing campaigns. In addition to this, email marketing helps the creation of buzz for the event before the date of happening. In fact, this perfectly works for increasing the number of potential attendees.

Email marketing is done by getting the list of the target audience and driving registrations from it. In addition to this, the audience count can increase through automated emails, automated updates, and confirmation mail. Additionally, with the help of event platforms, you can easily analyze open and click-thru rates for a better estimation of the event’s performance. 

Mixhub – Perfect Tool For Your Marketing Campaign

Event marketing strategies involve a perfect combination of the right strategy and the selection of the right type of platform. Coming straight to the point, this platform is loaded with features like One on One demos, reference event setup at the backend, and pure customization in each and every aspect you want, etc. In addition to this, here are a few top-notch highlights that separate Mixhub from the rest – 

• AI Matchmaking 
• Networking Table 
• Breakout Rooms
• Live Attendee Football

The list is very long and you might want to explore it directly on the website.

“However, we might not be the best in the market, but we are the most likely platform when it comes to customer satisfaction and end-to-end support during the event.”

Let’s Conclude

Event marketing is one of the most promising tools for businesses for the creation of brand awareness as well as reaching out to a global audience. The event marketing plans are setting up the whole branding process of the event, irrespective of whether the event is hosted online or in person.

Event marketing ideas suit well with hosting different types of events such as conferences, exhibitions, etc. with the single objective of attracting the maximum number of viewers.

“The Technology Is Creating New Milestones, Why We Stay Behind”

FAQ

The post Event Marketing: Everything you Need to Know appeared first on Dreamcast Blog.

Online Video Conferences have become an integral part of several organizations across the globe, and it has now become impossible to think of organizations working without them. Gone are the days when online video conferencing was a luxury, and only large corporations could afford it. Given how advanced technology has become and how global communication has become the need of the hour, video conferencing has become more popular than ever, and all kinds of organizations have adapted to it. Also, it goes without saying that video conferencing was the technology that acted as a catalyst during the peak days of remote working. 

What is Video Conferencing And How Does It Work?

One can define video conferencing as the technology that enables two or more people to connect over audio-visual calls. It is a kind of online meeting where people interact with each other, irrespective of their locations across the globe, and it utilizes a strong internet connection. It utilizes a reliable solution and enables one to connect with fellow global professionals. It ensures productivity, connectivity, and engagement among people, irrespective of their location across the globe.

In case of informal uses, it is also known as video calls and video chats.  

In short,

• Video conferencing allows people from different locations to connect with each other in real-time through face-to-face meetings. 

• Video conferencing is widely used in company meetings, training sessions, etc. 

• It was during the time of Covid-19 that its utilization saw a spike. 
• Internet and video conferencing solutions are its major components; the quality of both these factors affects the quality of video conferencing. 

• One can conduct or join a video conference through a laptop, desktop, and even mobile phone. 

The main advantage of hosting video conferences is it enables people to not only talk but also see each other live. This feature makes communication easy, boosts their relationships, and deepens their bonds. 

As we mentioned earlier, online video conferences are hosted on conferencing solutions. Also, since most of the video meeting platforms are multi-device accessible, both organizers and attendees can access them from any device of their choice. 

In addition to it, one important thing you need to know about video conferencing is that the speed and reliability of the internet connection have a direct impact on the quality of the video conference. 

Main Components of a Video Conferencing System

It brings people together, irrespective of where they are located in the world. The main factors that contribute to an online meeting platform are- 

• Stable and reliable internet connection. 
• A device to display the video conference. 
• Video conferencing solution.
• Webcam, microphone, lighting, etc.

Uses of Video Conferencing

Talking of the best uses of online conferencing, there are several points to note. These points are: 

• Video conferencing is widely used by offices functioning in various parts of the world. It helps them connect directly and seamlessly with people on board. 
• One can host video conferences to train employees and students. It comes as a savior if you are functioning in a remote working structure and hosting classes remotely. 

• Another popular use of video conferences is connecting with shareholders and investors and sharing regular progress and updates with them. 

Did You Know?

The Impact of Video Conferencing report by Lifestyle states that as many as 51% of industry analysts have predicted that Video Conferencing will be more popular than Artificial Intelligence. 

What Are the Types of Video Conferencing?

It can be broadly divided into two types, which are point-to-point conferencing and Multipoint conferencing. These two types can be understood by the common types of conferences and formats they cover. Let us understand these two types one by one: 

1. Point-to-Point Conferencing:

Point-to-point conferencing involves communication between two people at a given time located in different locations of the world. 

Some of the most popular examples of point-to-point conferencing are: 

• Job Interviews: 

Online job interviews have become extremely popular with the rise of remote working in the past few months. Conducting job interviews through video conferencing has helped HR professionals in speeding up the hiring process significantly. 

• Customer Support: 

Efficient video conferencing solutions help businesses solve their customers’ queries in one go. The customer support team can connect with the customers and provide solutions to them instantly. 

2. Multipoint Conferencing:

As one can easily understand by the name itself, Multipoint Conferencing allows communication between three and more than three people at one time. It is why multipoint conferencing also goes by the name ‘group video meeting. Given that they enable groups to connect in real-time, they come as a great opportunity for businesses to conduct group meetings. 

Talking about the common examples of multipoint conferencing, here are a few to note: 

• Team Meetings: 

Online or remote meetings have become extremely popular and they allow organizations and teams to connect with each other while they function remotely. 

• Webinar: 

Webinars are also one type of online conference in one way. However, unlike regular meetings and conferences, where everybody is allowed to speak, webinars generally focus on the speaker and the facilitator. Webinars are hosted for educational purposes and are mostly used for product launches, training, and demo sessions. 

Did You Know?

Video meeting or conferencing has become a preferred way of collaboration and communication for more than 80% of employees. 

Source: Lifestyle

How Important Is Video Conferencing Nowadays?

The reliability of video conferencing has increased dramatically over the last few years. And can understand the importance of video conferencing by the following five benefits of video conferencing : 

• Facilitates Digital Workforce: 

Digital work culture, which has become so popular these days, wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for conferencing. Where people are working from different physical locations these days, it is video conferencing that makes it possible for them to maintain efficiency and workflow. With online conferencing, decision-making and collaborating globally have become possible. 

• Streamline Management: 

Talking of digital workspace, one of the most critically required things is an effective online solution that helps in carrying out the work, sharing screens, and helping in instant messaging. Picking up a random online conferencing solution can complicate things instead of simplifying them. However, choosing an effective and trustworthy solution would make it easier for the team members to connect and communicate. 

• Boost Flexibility: 

One thing that has significantly changed in the past few years is the workforce. The days of working rigidly for decided hours and in a particular format are long gone, and the days of flexible timings and mobility are here. Using video conferencing solutions these days eliminates complications and boosts the productivity of everybody involved. Not only this but video conferencing also eliminates the cost and need for traveling. Hence, if you are a globally-dispersed team, video conferencing helps bring the remote workforce together and boost liveliness in it. 

• Boosts Communication: 

Communicating with people couldn’t become any easier, and video conferencing is considered one of the most reliable ways to do so. It makes communication faster and more efficient needless to say, you need a secure and service reliable video conferencing platform for it. 

• Reduces Unnecessary Costs: 

Now that video conferencing has gained significant popularity, organizations have started to upgrade their preferences, and are now investing in an all-in-one video conferencing software like Mixhub. It helps them reduce significant costs and increase productivity and value simultaneously. 

Video Conferencing and Remote Workforce:

Online working or remote working, as we call it, became extensively popular in the past few years. And it goes without saying that video conferencing has been the catalyst that enabled it. 

Though remote working was popular earlier also, it was during the pandemic that it became a common name; hence, the dependency on video conferencing and video conferencing solutions increased significantly. In fact, if figures were to believe, the percentage of those working remotely has grown by 140%. Not only this, several employees are ready to take pay cuts in exchange for flexible working. While several organizations and corporations have resumed working from offices, many others have decided to work from home permanently. 

According to a survey, Future of Workforce Pulse Report, conducted by Upwork, 36.2 million Americans will supposedly work from home by 2025. 

Did You Know?

Flexible and remote working has become a preferred method of working, and the amount of job satisfaction has increased among the 83% of the workforce. 

Source: Hubspot

Talking about those who use video conferencing, the most popular sectors and organizations that rely on video conferencing are B2B, B2C, Healthcare, and Education sectors. 

#As per some statistics from Forbes, Gartner, and Lifesize, 

• As many as 43% of remote teams are using video conferencing platforms. 

• 78% of corporate companies are using video conferencing tools widely. 

• Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the healthcare industry using video conferencing solutions for communication has made the job of medical experts a lot safer and more convenient. 

What Does the Future Hold?

The origin of video conferencing dates back to 1964; hence, it is nowhere close to being called a new technology. Video conferencing was a part of our daily lives in one way or another before the pandemic and if reports are to be believed, the global video conferencing market, worth $5.32 billion in 2019 is expected to grow to $10.92 by 2027. 

While video conferencing became the only way for us to communicate with people during the pandemic, things have started to return to the previous pattern. However, even if offices have started to reopen, things are no longer the same. One can observe that the working patterns are no longer the same, and hybridization is becoming the new normal. It is why video conferencing is still relevant and is going to remain the same in the times to come.

Hop Onto Video Conferencing With the Best Video Conferencing Platform- Mixhub

Talking of video conferencing platforms, there is an abundance of names available in the market that offer you exciting features and offers. However, it all comes down to the name which is trustworthy and reliable, and when we talk of such features, no name comes closer to Mixhub. 

It is a self-managed online conference platform that empowers users to plan and host events all by themselves. It means you get the hold of your events right from the beginning till the end. 

Though there are plenty of features that Mixhub offers, the most important is it comes with a free trial. Hence, the users can try it and then pay for it if they like it. Isn’t it a deal worth stealing?

Know more about it by booking your demo today. 

The post Video Conferencing : Meaning, Uses, Benefits, and Its Future appeared first on Dreamcast Blog.

Content creators and marketers rely completely on social media live streaming to connect with their audience.

Engaging with the audience in real-time is the key, and social streaming ensures you the same. But to stream your content live on social media, you need to find a reliable social media live streaming platform. And you don’t need to worry about platforms; we have gotten you covered. 

Here, we are taking you through some high-rated social media streaming platforms in 2026. 

But, before that, let us understand the meaning of the live streaming platform.

What is a Live Streaming Platform?

One can define a live streaming platform as an online platform, website, or service that enables users to broadcast content in real-time. It means that your viewers will watch the video in real-time as you are uploading it. Live streaming is different from recording the video and uploading it later; Users can use it to stream webinars, gaming sessions, Q&A sessions, etc. 

But how do you know if the platform you are using is a reliable one? It generally depends on the features of the platform, and what makes a platform good one? It should provide the users with basic functionalities and a good management system. Not only this, but the service should also enable users with monetization functionality. 

Top-Rated Free Social Media Live Streaming Platforms For 2026

Here are some of the top-rated social media streaming platforms in 2025; though they are free, some of them come with premium features. 

1. Facebook Live:

With more than 60% of internet users having an account on this platform, Facebook remains one of the most popular social media streaming platforms. With its launch back in 2006, Facebook brought a revolution in the social media industry. With more than 2 billion active users across the world, Facebook became a top choice among publishers and brands in no time. 

With Facebook came Facebook Live, it gained popularity. Now, every 1 in 5 videos on Facebook is a live video. 

This social media live streaming platform provides several features to its users; some of them are: 

• Audience Engagement Tools: Facebook offers several audience engagement features and tools, such as live polls and live comments. 

• Link Feature: Users can add multiple links to their streams to promote their website. 

• Live-In Stories: It enables users to share their live streaming directly on their stories. 

• Live Collaboration: Users can collaborate with other Facebook users and host a live session with multiple users. 

• Multi-Device Accessible: Facebook live is a multi-device accessible platform that allows users to stream live through their desktops, laptops, tablets, and even smartphones. 

Pricing: Facebook is a free social streaming platform, and so is Facebook Live. Hence, one doesn’t need to spend money to stream their content live on this social media streaming platform. 

G2 Rating: 4.2 out of 5.

Moving onto our next choice, 

2. LinkedIn Live:

Gone are the days when LinkedIn was merely a professional networking platform; it has now become one of the top choices of creators for content creation. As per data and statistics, LinkedIn has more than 849.6 million users worldwide as of July 2022. 

It comes as a great opportunity for users to stream their content live on this social streaming platform. Users can present their content live and engage their audience using the set of features it comes with. 

Here are some of the top features this social media streaming platform provides its users with: 

• Advance Scheduling: Users can schedule their streaming in advance. 

• Stream Testing: Users can test their streams to check if everything is fine before going live. 

• Auto-Captions: LinkedIn’s API generates auto-captions for streams with audio in English. 

• Live Comments and Reactions: Viewers can react to your stream in real-time through reactions and live comments. 

• Edit the Video: Users get to trim the beginning and end of the video in its ‘previously live’ state. 

Pricing: 

LinkedIn comes with a free plan and a premium plan, which users can subscribe to based on their requirements.

Basic Plan: It comes with all the regular functionalities which regular LinkedIn users can use, such as connecting with professionals, viewing profiles of other LinkedIn members, etc. This plan is absolutely free of cost. 

Premium Plan: An advanced version, the premium package of LinkedIn helps users to expand their businesses. Some of the plans that the LinkedIn Premium Package includes are: 

LinkedIn Career: It comes at the cost of $29.99/month. 

LinkedIn Business: Comes at the cost of $47.99/month.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator: The cost is $79.99/month.

Recruiter Lite: $140/month. 

#Note: One thing that users need to keep in mind is the above plans are not for LinkedIn Live. To broadcast content on LinkedIn Live, users need to match certain access criteria. However, there aren’t any criteria for viewing social streaming. 

G2 Rating: 4.0 out of 5.

Moving onto the next platform in our list of the best social media streaming platforms, we have

3. Instagram Live:

Instagram, another popular social media platform, came up with its live platform, Instagram Live in 2016. Since the watch time of live videos is 24.41 minutes, which is around 27% more than that of on-demand videos, at 18%, statistics predict it will grow more than 15 times than it is in 2022. If this happens, it would be around 17% of the internet’s traffic. 

It makes Instagram Live an excellent platform for creators to interact and engage with their audience base in real-time and boost their growth. Using a well-prepared and well-thought-out strategy has helped users drive engagement and growth on their brand. 

When it comes to the features of this social streaming platform, here is a list: 

• Advance Scheduling: Users can schedule their broadcast as well as save their social streaming once it gets over. 
• Question and Answer Session: They can host a dedicated question and answer session for their viewers. 

• Collaboration: Users can add other users to their ongoing stream. It provides them with an opportunity to collaborate and boost viewers’ reach. 

• Add Pictures From Gallery: Instagram Live broadcasters show pictures from their gallery while the stream is going on. 

• Test Run: Like LinkedIn, Instagram also enables users to practice without an audience and do last-minute checks. 

Pricing: 

Similar to Facebook Live, Users can stream their content live on Instagram also without paying anything. It is a free social media Live streaming platform. 

G2 Rating: 4.6 out of 5.

Talking of the next social streaming platform, here’s what we have: 

4. Twitter:

Twitter, another renowned social media platform, has more than 450 million active users as of 2022. This extensive reach of this social media platform makes it an excellent platform for users to reach out to a wider audience and expand their growth exponentially. 

Twitter had its former live streaming platform, Periscope, for social streaming; However, it got discontinued in 2021, and now users can go live directly on Twitter, called Twitter Live. 

When we talk about the features of Twitter Live, here are a few things to note: 

• Interactive Options: Twitter Live provides users with several interactive tools and features. These tools are heart reactions, live chat, and comments. 

• Location: You can add your location to the social streaming; it would help your viewers know where you are streaming from. 

• Stream Saving: Users can save their streams once they get over; Not only this, but they can also post it later as a regular video. 

• Inviting Other Users: While broadcasting your stream, users can invite up to three guests to join their social streaming. 

• Time Stamps: Users can add customizable time stamps to their stream to draw their viewers’ attention to a certain part of the stream. 

Pricing: 

Twitter is a free social streaming platform that doesn’t require users to pay any fee; neither for watching or streaming. 

G2 Rating: 4.3 out of 5.

What’s Next? 

5. YouTube Live:

We all know what YouTube is! A globally-renowned platform, YouTube is a ‘go-to’ platform for all kinds of video content. Not only this, YouTube is the world’s second most visited website. Also, for its whooping 1.7 billion unique users per month, YouTube Live makes it to the list of the best social media streaming platforms of several marketers and creators across the globe. 

Broadcasting your stream live on YouTube is as simple as clicking on the ‘Go Live’ button on your smartphone. Not only this, YouTube Live does provide you with monetization offers. 

Here are the features of YouTube Live: 

• Multi-Platform Streaming: Users can broadcast their social streaming through several platforms, a webcam, an encoder, and even a mobile application. 

• Live Analytics: Users can see live analytics of the number of viewers and those engaging. 

• Live Funding: Viewers can send money directly during the live streaming. 

• Snippets: Users can turn their social media streaming snippets into highlights of their channel. 

• Ads: Those streaming live on YouTube live can enable ads to generate revenue. 

Pricing: Talking of the pricing of social media streaming on YouTube Live, one doesn’t need to pay anything for the same. 

G2 Rating: 4.6 out of 5

Jumping onto the next name, we have, 

6. Dailymotion:

The next social media live streaming platform we are going to talk about is Dailymotion, a platform similar to YouTube. This platform enables users to share their videos. Along with sharing videos, it lets users live stream their content. Dailymotion is a primary video-sharing service that allows users to discover content from all parts of the world. This social streaming platform has more than 350 million active users across the globe. 

Features you should know about Dailymotion are: 

• Embedding Video: This platform lets users embed their social media live streaming to their websites and enable them to share on social media. 

• Multi-Device Accessible: Social streaming on Dailymotion can be accessed from all devices. 

• Customization: This platform comes with a customization feature, enabling users to customize their player as per their brand. 

• Revenue Share Program: It allows users to monetize their social media streaming and other videos. 

• Live Events: With this feature, users can keep an eye on their audience and ad revenue. 

Pricing: Dailymotion is a free-of-cost Social Media Live Streaming Platform. All you have to do is register yourself and become a partner. Though it also offers an advanced partner option, you need to contact their team for the same. 

7. YouNow:

Picking up the next name from our list of the best social media streaming platforms, we have YouNow, a streaming platform that lets users share their content from a webcam or phone. YouNow enables people to meet and interact with fellow users from across the globe and watch live streams. This platform offers users several features, including audio-video social streaming, and many more. 

Some of them are: 

• Subscription: This feature allows viewers to subscribe to the users, and they can charge them for that. 

• Download Replays: One can download replays of the streams and watch them multiple times. 

• 25-Second Long Snippets: Users can create 25-second long snippets of their social streaming and share them with their audience. 

• Host Online Competitions: Users can host virtual competitions to boost audience engagement. 
• Screen Sharing: One can share their screens while the streaming is going on. 

Pricing: One doesn’t need to pay anything to host social streaming on this platform or to watch the streaming. However, it offers users some streaming perks, which they can unlock as they level up. 

G2 Rating: 4.2 out of 5.

Next up, we have

8. Tiktok Live:

Tiktok is a common name among those interested in watching viral videos. With a reach and user base of more than 1 billion people, TikTok is considered one of the top names among content creators and influencers. The best part is it offers TikTok Live, a social streaming platform, where one can broadcast their content live, and that too for unlimited timing. 

Since most of its users are under the age of 25, using this platform to broadcast content for this audience group can be highly beneficial for users and their brands. 

Talking about its features, 

• Picture-In-Picture: This feature enables users to not lose their followers so easily. 

• Collaboration: Users can collaborate with fellow users and host joint LIVE social streaming sessions. 

• Q&A Sessions: Users can ask questions. 

• Top LIVEs: It helps users discover some of the top LIVE sessions. 

• Keyword Filters: It helps commenters reconsider if they are posting unkind words. 

Pricing: 

TikTok is a free social media live streaming platform. Also, TikTok allows users to earn money, but only if they are 18 or more than 18. Along with it, one thing they need to know is that TikTok doesn’t allow everyone to go live; only those with more than 1000 followers can do so. 

G2 Rating: (Tik Tok Ads): 4.2 out of 5.

Our next social streaming platform is 

9. Reddit Live:

Reddit is another most popular social platform which is community-centric, and enables people with the same interests to connect with each other. If statistics are to be believed, this platform falls on number six when we talk of most popular social platforms. 

Not only this, according to data, more than 430 million people actively use Reddit every month. As we said, it is a community-based platform, data suggests that there are more than 130,000 active communities on this platform. 

While talking about its Live Streaming, it offers some of the most interesting features to its users. Those features include: 

• Save Live: One can save their live sessions so that anybody can view it. 

• Awards: The social media streamings that last longer than 3 hours receive awards from the audience. 

• Multi-device Accessibility: One can access this platform from their desktops as well as their mobile devices. 

• No Limitation: There is no limitation when it comes to the number of LIVE sessions users can host; one can go LIVE as many times as they want. 

Pricing: Reddit, also, is a free-to-use social media live streaming platform. However, the users need to meet one requirement before being able to go LIVE on this platform. They need to have comment karma in order to go live. It can be earned through getting upvotes on their comments. 

G2 Rating: 4.2 out of 5

Let’s see what the next name on this list is. 

10. Vimeo:

We all know Vimeo as one of the most renowned video hosting platforms; however, what you need to know is it also offers live streaming services. It comes with different solutions for all kinds of social streamings, suitable for all sizes and strategies. Not only this, it allows creators to choose plans according to their needs and demands. 

Do you know what its features are? 

• Ad-Free Streaming: One can broadcast high-quality videos as well as stream ad-free in HD, ensuring the best experience for the viewers. 

• Customization: Users can personalize their streams to match their brand requirements and needs. 

• Preview: One can preview their streams before going live for the quality check. 

• Password-Protected Streaming: One can broadcast content privately; one can also add passwords and permissions to ensure complete privacy. 

• Real-Time Feedback: Users can get real-time feedback on their streaming, which would help them improve their quality. 

Pricing: Vimeo offers several pricing options to its users; however, out of those packages only its Premium and Enterprise plans let users live stream.

 Premium: Users get unlimited access to live events and webinars with its Vimeo player. Not only this, but they also get basic viewer analytics, three streams, and 1080 p streaming, all at $75 per month. 

Enterprise: This plan is best suited for medium and large businesses. Users get everything that Premium Plan offers and certain add-ons, including custom embedding, account management, and more. It is a customizable plan; hence, users need to contact their team for its pricing. 

G2 Rating: 4.2 out of 5

Let’s have a look at the next platform. 

11. Zoom:

We all know Zoom as certainly the most popular webinar and online conference platform. The popularity of Zoom can be understood by the fact that online meetings are synonymous with Zoom Meetings. 

Zoom is undoubtedly one of those few names that saw tremendous growth in the past few years. According to the data, the usage of Zoom grew by more than 30 times since 2019. 

Want to know more about it; let’s have a look at its features: 

• Video-On-Demand: Unlike several social media streaming platforms discussed here, Zoom lets users stream on-demand content. Hence, users can record their content and stream it later. 

• HD Video Meeting: Users can stream their content in HD quality with 1000 live viewers. 

• AR and Studio Effects: Users can enhance the quality of their streaming with Augmented Reality and Studio Effects. 

• Live Chat: Viewers can chat with each other in group chat. 

• Breakout Rooms: Attendees can be divided into groups for effective communication and interaction. 

Pricing: 

Zoom offers two pricing plans to its users; however, its pricing varies with the number of attendees. 

Zoom Webinar: Users can host an unlimited number of webinars, each can last for more than 30 hours. CRM and Marketing Tools integration, and many other tools. It starts at $690 per year per license. 

Zoom Events: This plan offers everything Zoom Webinar offers, along with some add-ons. These add-ons are event hubs, multi-session hosting, event analytics, and so on. This plan starts at $890 per year per license. 

G2 Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Next, we have 

12. Twitch:

Last on the list of the best social media streaming platforms, we have Twitch, a live streaming platform that was launched especially for gamers. However, in 2020, this platform expanded its categories. Now open for all categories, such as art, music, and lifestyle. 

Talking about its features, here are some points to consider: 

• Live Comments: Viewers can add comments to live streams. 

• Emote Slots: Viewers can interact. 

• Subscriber Badges: Subscribers get various badges on subscribing. 

• Stream Scheduler: Users can schedule their streams in advance. 

• Monetization: Users can monetize their social streaming with ads. 

Pricing: It is a free Live streaming platform; hence, users aren’t charged for anything, neither streaming nor viewing. 

G2 Rating: 4.2 out of 5

 Choose the Best Social Media Live Streaming Platform

Given there are a plethora of social media streaming platforms available in the market, making a final choice isn’t an easy task. While you are looking for your platform, there are several factors that you should consider, starting with your objectives. You need to know that what might work for one, might not work for another. Hence, keep your eyes and mind wide open, and choose your platform accordingly. 

FAQs

The post Top-Rated Free Social Media Live Streaming Platforms For 2026 appeared first on Dreamcast Blog.

The festive season is here, and what we hear are carols, jingle bells, and all the excitement buzzing around. Christmas and New Year brings you an opportunity to reunite with friends, family, and colleagues and make memories for a lifetime. With a Virtual Christmas and new year party, you get to create unique memories in a unique way. Now that it’s the festive season again, we are sure you are looking forward to hosting your near and dear ones and hence, searching for some online Christmas party ideas. 

Hence, after recalling several virtual parties, asking our friends, and surfing the internet, we are here with the best and unique 21 Online Christmas Party Ideas that will ensure it is a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Eve for you. 

So, without any ado, let’s dive into the pool of ideas and choose the best for your virtual Christmas and virtual new years eve party.

Best and Most Unique Online Christmas Party Ideas:

#1 Virtual Christmas Party On a Screen:

Plan an entire virtual holiday party by bringing your teammates, friends, or family on an online meeting platform such as Mixhub. This party will have some games, gossip sessions, fun challenges, and a night full of laughter. Wish to make it more relaxing and memorable? Ask your guests to show up in their favorite pajamas and socks. 

Laugh your hearts out with your colleagues, make memories for a lifetime and boost team bonding. 

#2 Virtual Mixing Session:

Are you also of the opinion that a virtual Christmas party is not as fun as an in-person party? No. Infuse some boozy vibes into your party by hosting a virtual cocktail mixing session. Deliver custom cocktail kits to your guests before the party, and host a mixing session that is fun and engaging. 

#3 Winter Chalet:

It is a complete Christmas and holiday-themed event where you and your guests come together on an online meeting platform, have a chit-chat session, narrate some winter legends, and simply have a cozy get-together. Contrary to some popular and jazzy party ideas, it is simple and guarantees a relaxing time for everyone. 

#4 Christmas Bingo:

Who says you can’t include activities that bring out the competitive sides of your employees? Play a few rounds of Christmas Bingo with your guests, and boost the chances of interaction among them. Make it fun and lifelike by sending e-Bingo cards to your guests before the commencement of the party. 

#5 Christmas Laughs:

How would you like to celebrate your Christmas and end this year? On a happy note, right? What better way than an online comedy session to ensure the same? Host an online comedy show at your Virtual Christmas Party and laugh till your stomach hurts. Ask your guests to prepare something or invite a stand-up comedian to guarantee a memorable time for your guests. 

#6 Virtual Magic Show:

Make your celebrations magical by hosting a Virtual Magic Show. You can learn and perform tricks by learning from YouTube videos or having a magician onboard. You can get custom magic kits created or use items from your home as well. 

#7 Online Paint n Sip Session:

What better than sipping some delicious drinks and inviting everyone to unleash their hidden Picasso? Conduct an Online Workshop where you and your guests will learn something artsy while sipping some hot chocolates or wine maybe. You can collaborate with some artists and they will teach you and your guests to paint. 

#8 Online Hot Chocolate Tasting Party:

The holiday season for us is wearing our warmest sweaters, taking the coziest pair of socks out, and sipping some hot chocolate while enjoying a movie. Sounds like a perfect winter night to us! This Virtual Christmas Party, host an online hot chocolate tasting session for your colleagues, where you all will try hot chocolates of different flavors. For this, you can either send recipes to your guests or send packaged hot chocolates. 

#9 Virtual Photo Booth:

Is it even possible to not click pictures at a party? Though you are not together, you can still get some fun pictures clicked on Christmas with Virtual Photo Booths and Virtual Backgrounds. All you have to do use an online event platform that comes with virtual photo booths at your party and seal all the precious memories and smiles for life.

#10 Online Holiday Dinner Party:

You and your guests don’t need to be physically together to enjoy a delicious dinner together. Add a twist to your regular Virtual Christmas Party and host an Online Holiday Dinner Party. For it, you can decide on a menu before the party and ask everyone to prepare it or order it. To make it more real, you and your guests can set your tables similarly. 

#11 Virtual Carol Jamming:

The essence of Christmas lies in singing carols and having a gala time together with your near and dear ones. Host a Virtual Carol Jamming session, and sing carols with your friends. This Virtual Christmas Party idea will add a touch of reality to your virtual celebrations. 

#12 Virtual Movie Marathon:

You can never go wrong with a movie night with your friends and colleagues. Host a Virtual Movie Marathon, and watch some top-rated movies. However, we suggest you follow a theme and watch movies around the same. You can later have a discourse around the same with your guests.

#13 Decorate Christmas Tree:

Decorating the Christmas Tree is an important tradition of Christmas; Make this tradition more special by decorating your christmas trees with the presence of your friends around you. You can host an Online Christmas Tree decoration contest for your guests. It won’t only get everyone into a festive mood but also let them show off their skills. 

Most Fun Online Christmas Games Ideas

#14 Virtual Holiday Coworker Feud:

It is one of the most unique Online Christmas Games you can plan with your colleagues and have a fun-filled Christmas celebration. In this game, the teams will come up with fun and quick answers to random questions presented by the host. This game would bring out the competitive spirits of your guests and fill your celebrations with thrill and excitement. 

#15 Virtual White Elephant:

The Virtual White Elephant is an online gift exchange where the participants can steal or exchange mystery gifts. What one should note is, once you exchange gifts, you will be sent the gifts physically after the party. 

#16 Online Holiday Game Show:

This game show consists of several rounds of puzzles, brain teasers, trivia, and riddles. These games are not only fun and interesting but also enable you and your guests to get into the competitive spirit and bring your minds to action. 

#17 Online Gingerbread House Making:

Gingerbread decoration and Christmas together have an old history and hence, your celebrations also cannot be completed without an Online Gingerbread House Making contest. You can send Gingerbread kits to your guests before the party and bring your creative side to the table together.  

#18 Online Time Machine:

Get on the journey of time with your guests, get back in history and explore the culture and traditions related to the festival. This Online Christmas Game is an excellent way to learn more about the history and different decades. Hence, it will enable everyone to gain some knowledge about the festival of Christmas and the legends associated with it. 

#19 Virtual Trivia:

We all celebrate Christmas every year on December 25. But do you know the reason behind it? We are sure many of your guests don’t. Divide your guests into teams and make them compete through different rounds of trivia. It is a great way to test everybody’s knowledge and share some laughs together. 

#20 Online Merry Mingles:

This Online Christmas Game will bring your guests together in a very unique way on an online meeting platform and spend quality time together. If you are someone who has friends and family all over the world, there is no better way to bring them together than an Online Merry Mingles. 

#21 Virtual Escape Game Show:

If you are looking for some ways to boost the morale of your remote employees and fuse some festive vibes, it is the right game. This game consists of several fast-paced rounds consisting of online puzzles and games. The best part about this game is it just needs a simple online event platform and nothing fancy to be hosted. 

#22 Guess the Resolution:

The onset of a new year is incomplete without setting some resolutions for the upcoming year. We are sure you and your friends have also set some new year resolutions. In fact, resolutions can be a great idea for your virtual new years eve party. You and your friends will guess each other’s new year’s resolution for the upcoming year. It isn’t only a good idea to create some buzz in the party, but also a great idea to learn new things about your peers.

Unique Virtual Christmas Party Ideas to Add Excitement to Celebrations:

1. Send Tasting Kits:

If you are planning to host some tasting sessions, don’t forget to send tasting kits to your guests beforehand. It will make your virtual Christmas celebrations more real and boost excitement among your guests. 

2. Good Food Guarantees a Happy Celebration:

No celebration can get over without food, so can’t be yours. Enable your guests to order food of their choice while the party is going on. It won’t only make them and their choices valued but also make the celebrations more memorable. 

3. Send Gift Hampers:

Who doesn’t like to feel special? We do, and we know you also love it when someone makes you feel special. We know your guests will love it too. Hence, send beautifully packed gift boxes to your guests. There are several online stores you can contact and get custom-made gift boxes ready and deliver them to your guests’ doorsteps. 

4. Host Online Secret Santa Gift Exchange:

Is it even Christmas without Santa and gifts? Secret Santa is a famous tradition that several families and offices follow. Now that you cannot come together physically and be somebody’s Secret Santa, you can always do it virtually. 

Use an online tool to pick names for your Secret Santa, and send gifts to each other before the party. You and your guests would need to open the gifts during the party. You can send physical gifts for a personal touch; however, digital gifts are also in trend these days. 

5. Decide a Theme:

Even though it is an online celebration, it doesn’t mean you can’t set a theme for your party. Having a theme for the party would enable you and your guests to get into the same kind of vibes. However, whatever theme you choose, ensure you design your online meeting platform as well as your activities and games accordingly. 

There are several Virtual Christmas Party Ideas that you can choose from to make your celebrations unique, memorable, and exciting. However, one thing you need to consider the most is the kind of online event platform you are choosing for it. Though there are several platforms available in the market, the best of all is Mixhub. Let Mixhub take care of your upcoming Virtual Christmas Celebration and host a crazy and unique online party. 

6. Invite a Large Number of Crowd:

When it comes to physical events and parties, accommodating a huge crowd can be a major problem. However, if it is an online Christmas and new year party, you don’t have to worry about anything. Online meeting platforms like Mixhub let you accommodate as many people as you want. Therefore, accommodation isn’t an issue, and you can invite a large crowd for your online Christmas and new year party.

7. Use different rooms for your party

If you want to recreate a home party, you can use breakout groups to create different zones that represent different rooms in your house, each with a different theme. All guests can enter and exit any room as they please. You can set up a disco room for dancing and music, a games room, or a room for casual conversation and drinks. 

8. Celebrate a variety of holidays

December is a month with many holidays. Use virtual parties as an opportunity to celebrate other holidays as well. You can also ask people who celebrate different holidays to prepare special activities. This includes everything from preparing traditional meals to performing dances to playing games.

Final Words:

There are several Virtual Christmas Party Ideas that you can choose from to make your celebrations unique, memorable, and exciting. However, one thing you need to consider the most is the kind of online event platform you are choosing for it. Though there are several platforms available in the market, the best of all is Mixhub. Let Mixhub take care of your upcoming Virtual Christmas Celebration and Virtual New Years Party. Host a crazy and unique online party, and give 2022 the perfect send off. 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The post 22 Online Christmas and New Year Party Ideas to Make Your Celebrations Merrier appeared first on Dreamcast Blog.

Ever since online events came into the picture, there has been a constant debate going on regarding whether or not they are as efficient as physical events. While some are of the opinion that online events are more efficient than physical events, others believe that no matter how quick online events are, they can never replace physical events, for they have human feelings and emotions attached to them. 

Seeing these many conflicts, we decided to address them, and here’s why we have come up with a quick comparison of Online Events and In-Person events. 

So, without any ado, let’s jump straight into the blog and find out which format is better than the other. 

What are Online Events? What are the Advantages of Online Events?

Online events are simply events hosted in web space rather than at a physical venue. These events use online event platforms and are powered by the internet. Also known as virtual events or digital events, online events have become the present and future of the event industry, for they deliver almost the same experiences as physical events. 

Talking of the advantages that online events come with, here are a few to note: 

1. Exponential Reach:

The first advantage that comes with online events is that there’s no restriction when it comes to expanding one’s reach with online events. As a brand owner or a marketer, you can reach out to people in the other corner of the world. Online events enable organizers to reach out to a global audience all at once. 

2. Lesser Costs, More Profit:

Another notable advantage of planning and hosting online events is that organizers get to cut back significant costs and save money. Unlike physical events, online events don’t involve elements such as traveling, accommodation, stationery, catering, etc. 

3. Highly Scalable and Flexible:

Moving onto the next advantage of online events, they come with high scalability as well as flexibility. As an organizer, you are allowed to target as many attendees as you want. Apart from it, as an attendee, you get to attend the event from any part of the world. 

4. Engaging and Interactive:

While most people like to believe that online events are not engaging, what reality says is completely contradicting. Unlike popular belief, online events are engaging and let attendees interact with each other. Online event platforms such as Mixhub provide organizers with tools such as live chat, live polls, and more to connect and interact with people. 

5. Live Analytics:

Talking about the next advantage, online event platforms enable organizers to collect live and detailed analytics of their events. These analytics enable organizers to analyze and examine how their online event actually went. With the data collected, the event organizers can check what went right or wrong with their strategy. 

What are In-Person Events? What are the Advantages of In-Person Events?

As the name derives, in-person events are the traditional method of hosting events where attendees and organizers would gather at a physical venue. Also known as offline events or physical events, in-person events have always been people’s first choice. 

Here are the most common advantages physical event offer to the organizers as well as the attendees: 

1. Non-Verbal Interactions:

The first advantage that physical events offer is they enable attendees to have non-verbal instructions from fellow attendees. One thing online events lack, whereas physical events have is the human touch to interactions. Where the absence of facial expressions, tone, and body language makes it difficult for attendees to get the cues of sarcasm, humor, and other emotion that the message carries, the interactions happening at physical events are more meaningful for the said reason. 

2. More Enchanting Experiences:

In-person events are said to deliver more enchanting and personal experiences to the attendees. For example, to ensure that the attendees have a memorable experience, the organizers can execute and design their events as well as the event venue in a certain way, adding value to the overall experience of the attendees. 

3. More Focus:

The attention span of human beings is less, and by less, we mean as less as 6-7 seconds. There have been many types of research that show that it takes human beings an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to start disengaging from the event. With the internet connection and endless possibilities to get distracted, online events are not beneficial when it comes to keeping people engaged. However, this is not the case with offline events. 

4. Networking:

Though online events and online event platforms provide organizers with several possibilities to interact and connect with others present at the event; However, there’s nothing like connecting and networking at a physical event. Meeting someone in person has that human touch that digital networking will never have. Not only this, business-men have more chances of closing a deal at a physical event rather than an online one.  

5. Exploring New Places:

Another most underrated advantage that comes with in-person events is that as an attendee, one gets to explore several places, something one would never get to do with online events. With physical events, one gets to work, connect and learn in a new environment. In addition, physical events let them travel, explore new cultures, try local food, and whatnot. 

Comparison Between In-person and Online Events:

Both online and offline events have their own sets of advantages and disadvantages. However, there are several factors where online events beat their in-person counterparts. Let us have a look at what those factors are: 

1. Easy Accessibility:

It might become challenging for organizers to find a suitable venue that can accommodate all attendees in case of physical events. Not only this, but traveling might also not be convenient for all attendees. 

However, online events eliminate the need to travel to any venue to attend any event. It allows attendees and the organizers to save hefty sums of money and time. Virtual events enable organizers to tap into a wider range of audiences. Similarly, people from any part of the world can attend any event with the help of an online event platform. 

2. Less Expenditure, More ROI:

There is a long list of expenses associated with offline events. As an organizer, one needs to book venues, take care of the catering and accommodation for the attendees, manage the travel expenses of the guests, and so much more. Hence, a physical event demands spending hefty sums of money. 

However, in the case of online events, one gets to cut back several costs significantly. As an organizer, you don’t need to spend money on venues, catering, logistics, etc. In fact, the most significant investment in a virtual event is that of the online event platform. 

3. Efficient Networking:

Of course, the networking and interactions taking place at a physical venue have a more human approach to them; hence, they are somewhat considered more meaningful. However, there’s always a sense of restriction with networking at physical events. The attendees might feel awkward approaching people in person. 

However, with online events, approaching people becomes a lot easier and more convenient. All you need to do is find attendees who share the same interests as you, and reach out to them over the live chat functionality or other networking tools, provided by the virtual event platform. 

4. Live Analytics:

We are sure you have hosted several offline events as of now. Are offline events feasible when it comes to gathering all the attendee information and data? Definitely not. Though you end up doing it, it would be nothing less than a nightmare itself. Moreover, is there any guarantee that the data will be accurate? Collecting attendee data is inconvenient in case of physical events.

However, in the case of online events, several online event platforms, such as Mixhub, provide organizers with the live analytics tool. This analytics tool enables the organizers to keep track of attendees’ activities throughout the event. Not only this, but with the help of this tool, the organizers can quantify their event strategies, and analyze how their event went in terms of profits or losses. 

5. Do Your Bit Towards the Environment:

Planning and hosting offline events leads to a lot of environmental degradation. There is a lot of food wastage, CO2 emission, and several other things that lead to environmental pollution and add to global warming. 

While in the case of online events, since there is no traveling involved, it eliminates all the contributing factors towards global warming. Not only this, there is no food wastage, paper wastage, and as well as less usage of plastic. All these factors add together and help you do your bit for the environment. 

6. Scalability

Most physical venues have limits on the number of people allowed and the cost of accommodating thousands of people must be considered. Virtual events are much easier to scale, accommodating more attendees at a fraction of the cost. For example, each event can accommodate up to 50,000 attendees. This can also extend your reach and increase brand awareness.

7. Engagement

30% of people are more likely to talk to someone in a virtual booth. Perhaps it’s because people are afraid to approach someone at an event, or simply enjoy anonymity. In either case, the virtual event will offer tools such as polls, Q&A, live chat, and even a downloadable resource section to allow attendees to fully participate in your content. Some platforms also offer the ability to integrate with widgets, which can greatly enhance your interaction.

Final Word:

As you can also see, online events have got the upper hand over physical events. There’s no doubt that physical events have always been one way we have attended events; online events have widened our horizons and allowed us to explore a different world altogether. With the fast-paced world and constantly evolving technology, online events have become a convenient and better way to host and attend events. 

Hence, dive into the world of online events with the best online event platform, Mixhub, and host events worth attending in 2022. 

The post Comparison Between Online Events and In-Person Events appeared first on Dreamcast Blog.

Online donations, fundraisers, and charity events have become extremely popular in recent years. Thanks to the era that we are living in where everything is controlled by technology, things have become extremely simple, even though it is about raising funds. 

We are sure you have come across several online fundraising campaigns on several platforms. But online fundraising is a lot more than that; virtual fundraising events have become a thing, and there’s a lot that you should know about them. 

Given the popularity of virtual fundraising events and feeling the need to disseminate the right information related to virtual fundraising events, here we have put together a complete guide. It will take you through the steps, ideas, and best practices of hosting virtual fundraising events. 

How Can You Host a Successful Virtual Fundraising Event?

Hosting an online fundraising event is not at all as worrisome of a thing as people think it is. All you need to do is segregate the entire planning process into steps and move ahead one by one. 

Here are the basic steps you need to follow to host a successful fundraising event online. 

1. Decide Your Virtual Fundraising Event Type:

A fundraising event can be of different formats; it can be a gala dinner, an online donation drive, an online game show, and an entertainment show. Not only this, but you can also host a virtual auction and raise funds. But, for that, you need to have clarity about the kind of event you want to host. 

Hence, in the first step, decide the kind of virtual fundraising event you want to host. Not only this but decide your audience type according to the kind of event you will host. 

2. Choose the Suitable Online Fundraising Platform:

The most important and crucial step in hosting a virtual fundraising event is selecting a suitable online fundraising platform. There are several platforms available in the market; however, as an organizer, make sure you select the best platform available. Now, while choosing the platform, it becomes necessary to keep your event in mind. 

Consider the following factors before making the final choice: 

• The kind of interface you want in an online fundraising platform. 
• Do you want any branding options? 
• How do you wish to stream your event, pre-recorded or live? 
• The kind of engagement opportunities to provide to your attendees? 
• Your budget. 

Once you are determined the factors you want to have in an online fundraising event platform, move ahead and choose the best option.

One platform that is the most diverse and suitable to the users’ choice is Mixhub. 

3. Set Up Your Registration Forms:

In the next step, you are required to set up your registration forms for your audience to register for your fundraising event. There are several online fundraising event platforms that let users customize their registration forms. 

Hence, with platforms such as Mixhub , users can create their registration forms, depending on the information they want to collect from their attendees. 

4. Promotion is the Key:

Now that you are hosting a fundraising event, you need to ensure that the maximum audience gets to know about it. It is why promoting the upcoming event becomes important. 

Now, talking about promotions, the first thing you should do is create the website of your event. It will be one authentic source of information for your audience; keep everything updated here. Apart from it, there are several promotional techniques that you can use; for example, social media promotions, traditional media advertising, email marketing, etc. 

5. Keep the Virtual Fundraising Event Lively:

The success of any virtual event depends on how involved the attendees felt in the event. Virtual events are different from in-person events, and both these formats deliver different experiences to the attendees. However, the attendees still wish for a physical event-like experience in an online event. Hence, it becomes necessary that you deliver an immersive experience to the attendees, which is similar to a physical event. 

6. Create Opportunities to Interact

People who attend traditional fundraisers gather, share tables, or line up, making it easy to get involved. Virtual events don’t have such interactions built in, so you’ll have to create one.

To make your virtual fundraiser feel more like an in-person event, look for opportunities for audience participation. Ask questions in the chat box and get answers, or conduct live polls during the live stream. Give peer-to-peer fundraisers the opportunity to join teams and create friendly competition. 

Therefore look for a platform that provides you with the following features: 

• A 3D interface to deliver a closer-to-reality experience to the attendees. 
• Audience engagement tools so that the attendees can engage and feel involved. 
• Networking tools for them to connect with their fellow attendees, just like an in-person event. 
• An easy interface so that they don’t find it difficult to manage their ways through the virtual event tool. 

All and all, make sure that the attendees enjoy the event and leave with good experiences and memories. 

What are the Best Practices for Hosting an Online Fundraising Event?

Here are some of the best tips, techniques, and practices that one should keep in mind to ensure a successful event experience. 

1. Choose a reliable virtual fundraising event platform; it’d be better if the platform is already familiar to you. To make it easier for you to choose a platform, you can also check out some software review platforms. These platforms will help you know the platform from the customer’s point of view. 

2. Always ensure that the devices you are going to use for the fundraising event are in their best condition. 

3. Make sure your internet connection is stable; it is advisable to use LAN instead of Wi-Fi. 
4. Don’t go live with your event without a trial run; always host a trial session. It will help you know the loopholes in your strategies, platform, and other things. 

5. Always have your Plan B ready; You never know when and how it will save you. 

6. Record your event; share the recording with attendees, those who couldn’t make it to the event, and across various social media platforms.

7. Make the event fun, lively and cheerful. Use music, set a theme, and make it interesting. 

What are the Best Ideas for a Virtual Fundraiser Event?

Here are some of the best virtual fundraising ideas you can use to make your upcoming event a hit. 

1. Online Auction:

Auctioning is probably the safest and easiest way to raise money for a particular cause. You can make use of any online fundraising platform for hosting an online auction. Host your online auction through a live streaming session. One thing you need to make sure of is to keep the auction engaged. For that, it is suggested to use an online event platform such as Mixhub. 

2. Live Streaming Sessions:

Hosting live streaming sessions is considered one of the most sought-after virtual fundraising ideas. With live streaming, you can convert your audience within the span of some hours in real-time. 

While you plan your live stream, make sure you choose a platform that lets you create an engaging and immersive experience. Though there are several platforms available out there, the best and most free online donation platform is Mixhub. You can host different kinds of live streaming sessions such as Panel discussions, webinars, online tours, and more. 

3. Virtual Race:

Marathons have always been one of the best ways to raise funds for some cause. You can also host them for your fundraising event; the best part is you can host races virtually too, all due to the latest and updated technology that we have. Your audience will register for the race and run on the pre-decided time together. You can ask the participants to record their run and their stop points. After the race, you can host a live session and invite the participants. It is how they will be able to connect with each other and learn more about your objective and organization. 

4. Social Media Takeover:

This online fundraising idea is rising in popularity these days, all due to the rising popularity of social media. You can collaborate with any corporate organization where you will be taking over their social media. On their social media, you will add content and link about your organization’s social media and website. It will help you expand your brand’s visibility and boost its growth. This idea works best if you are currently working on a campaign. 

If you wish to host an online fundraising event that is successful, immersive, and fulfills your purpose, look no further. Mixhub is a reliable online event platform that would ensure you deliver a happy experience. What makes Mixhub special is that it lets you host events free of cost for a month. 

Learn more about this platform by visiting the site and booking your free demo today. 

FAQs

The post 5 Steps To Hosting Online Fundraising Event (Best Practices) appeared first on Dreamcast Blog.

One of the most testing aspects of hosting online conferences has always been keeping the attendees hooked to their screens throughout the session. While many organizers have successfully decoded the best ideas to improve virtual engagement, there are still a few who find it difficult to hold on to the attention of their attendees in an online conference. 

And, as an online event organizer, misjudging the importance of high audience engagement rates might cause them the success of their online conferences. Hence, if you are also struggling your way through audience engagement, stick with us till the end. You are sure about to hit the jackpot right here. 

In this blog, we will share some of the best virtual event engagement ideas you can use to boost your engagement at your online conference. 

Before diving into the ideas, do you know why it is necessary to maintain a good audience engagement rate at virtual conferences? Why are we emphasizing so much on the audience engagement rate? After all, what is the need to keep the attendees engaged during the virtual conference? Let us find the answers to all your questions. 

What is the Importance of Keeping Attendees Engaged During a Virtual Conference?

We all know how little the attention span of humans is. For your attendees, there will be several distractions. It might lead them to leave your online conference platform midway. It would have a direct impact on your conference and the ROI. 

Hence, it becomes necessary to create content that is engaging and compelling enough for your audience to stay back till the end of the session. 

For those who don’t know, audience engagement rate is considered one of the most important KPIs and is kept in mind while measuring the success of any online event. 

Now that you know how important it is to keep the audience engaged at a virtual conference, let us move ahead and go through the best virtual conference engagement ideas. 

What are the Best Virtual Conference Engagement Ideas?

1. Use Your Social Media Feed:

Social media is everywhere, and we all know how vastly it is used to connect with the rest of the world. Make use of the fact that every other person has a social media presence. You can use social media for audience engagement even before the commencement of the online conference. 

Create a page solely dedicated to your upcoming online conference. Use it to keep your audience updated about the conference; you can also conduct social media contests to keep the attendees hooked on the virtual conference. In fact, there are many other social media engagement techniques that you can use to boost engagement at your virtual conference. 

2. Gamify Your Online Conferences:

How about you gamify your online conference? Trust us; it would only make your online conference more fun and interactive. There are several online conferencing platforms that come with in-built gamification features. To encourage attendees to play games online, you can announce prizes for the winners. 

3. Swag Up your Attendees:

We all like free goodies and gifts. Don’t we? Your attendees will like them too. Swag up your attendees and give them some goodies to keep them excited throughout the session. You can host a few quizzes or contests and distribute the goodies to the winners. The excitement of getting gifts won’t only keep the attendees hooked to the online conference but also motivate them to participate in the contests. 

4. Make Use of Trivia and Polls:

The next idea to improve virtual engagement at an online conference is to host trivia and polls for your attendees. Create live polls during the session; they can be related to getting their feedback or asking questions related to the session itself. Live polls and trivia will ignite a sense of excitement and competitiveness among your attendees. Several online conference platforms, such as Mixhub offer audience engagement tools like live polls. You can use them for the same purpose. 

5. Broadcast Both Live and On-Demand Content:

One of the greatest advantages of hosting conferences online is that you get to deliver your content in your desired format, Live or Pre-recorded. Both formats have advantages, which you can use at your virtual conference to keep your attendees hooked till the end. While it is always advisable to present keynote sessions live, make some on-demand available for the attendees. They can go through it in between the sessions. 

6. Host Icebreaking Sessions:

Attending an online conference with strangers might make the attendees awkward at first. They might find it difficult to get along with others in the beginning. In this case, you can host ice-breaking sessions for your attendees. It won’t only allow them to get along with each other but also make them feel involved in your online conference. 

7. Conduct Q&A sessions with your attendees:

One factor where virtual conferences lack behind in-person conferences is attendee involvement. Attendees don’t feel connected to the conference, the content, and the speakers. It is one of the most prominent reasons some people still prefer offline conferences over offline ones. 

Hosting Q&A sessions will keep attendees engaged and enable them to present their queries before the speakers and get them answered during the session itself. Virtual conference tools such as Mixhub come with Q&A tools that one can use in their online conference. 

8. Live Performances:

How about hosting an online entertainment session for your attendees? You can always have some entertainment sessions at an online conference, even though it is a formal conference. You can invite a stand-up comedian to entertain your attendees at your online conference. It will give them a break from the ongoing sessions and allow them to have some fun. 

9. Host Virtual breakout Sessions:

Keeping all of your attendees engaged at once in an online conference might not always be feasible. Not only this, attendees too might feel it difficult to engage with everyone while the conference is going on. However, you always use the feature of breakout rooms. It is a great way to keep all the attendees engaged all at once. You can divide your attendees into some groups and assign them different virtual breakout rooms as soon as your session gets over. It will make it easier for them to get involved in the discussions. 

10. Encourage Attendees for 1:1 Networking:

One of the biggest reasons people attend online conferences is to connect with other professionals and expand their personal networks. Use online tools such as video calls, networking tables, and one-on-one chat to let your attendees connect with others present in the online conference. It won’t only keep them engaged throughout the session but also add value to their overall experience. 

11. Get Attendees’ Feedback:

As an organizer, you will always want to know how your attendees feel about your online conference. But how do you get to know the same? Simply by asking about their feedback. There comes our next virtual event engagement idea; ask for your attendees’ feedback. It is a great way to keep the attendees hooked and attentive, make them feel valued, and help you improve your conference. 

12. Use Rapid-Fire Learning Method:

Last but not least, you can use Rapid-Fire Learning Method to keep the attendees hooked to the content you are delivering and your online conference. One thing you need to understand if you are organizing an online conference, you need to keep your sessions short and crisp, unlike physical conferences. The long sessions can easily make your attendees bored, and they will end up quitting the online conference platform. 

Not only this, factors like the short attention spans of humans and ‘Zoom Fatigue’ can also affect the success of your online conference. Hence, it is always advisable to keep sessions short, i.e. 10-12 minutes with a quick question and answer round after it, and so on. 

Post-Event Engagement Ideas

Find out what worked best through post-event surveys

After the event, send a thank you message and solicit feedback from attendees. Were there specific sessions or speakers that covered them? What could be improved?

A lot of user-collected data tells us which sessions were the most popular. However, you can gauge their sentiments towards your brand by asking them directly in a survey. And what users really think about your event. That way, you can host an even better event next time. 

Invite attendees to your next event

Inviting attendees to your next event after an event is a smart move that will help increase event attendance and engagement. If attendees have a good experience at an event, they are more likely to attend future events. Especially if you received a personal invitation.

Inviting attendees after the event shows that you value their presence and want to maintain the relationship after the event. There will also be an opportunity to collect feedback and insights from participants. 

Deliver Engaging Experiences in Your Next Online Conference With the Best Online Conference Platform, Mixhub.

Now that you know the best techniques and ideas to improve virtual engagement at an online conference, the next thing you need to do is include them in your strategies. 

If you are looking for an online conferencing platform that will let you deliver your conference easily and seamlessly, there’s no better place than Mixhub. To know how you can use this platform, Book your demo now and get started with your free trial today. 

The post Top 12 Ideas to Boost Virtual Conference Engagement appeared first on Dreamcast Blog.