The accession of COVID-19 brought a consistent increase in the use of virtual event platforms for conducting essential events. With the motive to bring people together onto a single platform, virtual event solutions presented a diverse set of advantages. In this article, we will be consulting with the top-rated virtual event platforms that help connect with the audience in an impactful way.
What is a Virtual Event Platform?
The word “virtual event platforms” contains the word “virtual,” designated as an online space that can manage interactive events. These platforms come with different features that allow people to gather for a specific purpose remotely through the internet. Overall, the virtual event software has multiple tools and features that allow it to cover various aspects of physical events.
While virtual events are much different from physical events, they bring the engagement and networking aspects of the physical format into the virtual landscape. Thus, you can hold concerts, trade shows, workshops, and conferences through it. However, when it comes to creating your virtual event platform, you might be confused with the right service.
ZEGOCLOUD provides its users with the option of building powerful interaction apps with its diverse range of APIs. Besides, its progressive structure helps businesses and developers to set up virtual products instantly.
Common Types of Virtual Event Platform
The inception of virtual event services led to the segregation of multiple types, which helped define the target audience associated with it. Following are the common types of virtual event platforms recognized at scale:
- Webinar Platforms: Online presentations, lectures, and workshops were in excessive demand after COVID-19. With webinar platforms, a focus on one-way communication from the presenter to the audience was kept in mind. Consequently, we were able to observe different platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams taking charge.
- Event Management Platforms: You can find tools for planning, promoting, and executing virtual events across such platforms. These event management platforms include multiple features, including registration, ticketing, live streaming, and data analysis. For example, Hopin and ON24 are recognized as progressive event management platforms.
- Online Expo Platforms: Virtual trade shows and exhibitions are another form of virtual event that has progressed in recent years. Using online expo platforms, a very specific type of virtual event software, allowed vendors to display their products and services. They can set up their virtual booths and interact with people online. InEvent and vFairs are among the most common options in online expo platforms.
- Webcasting Platforms: If you intend to create live-streaming presentations or events, webcasting platforms are better than webinars. These virtual event services provide a more comprehensive set of features for audience engagement, which includes covering Q&A sessions. You might be aware of WebEx as a popular webcasting platform in the current market.
Essential Features of Virtual Event Software
There are multiple types of virtual event platforms available, each with its specific highlighting features. Regardless of the virtual platform type you wish to opt for, some essential features are discussed below.
- Event Management and Registration: From managing registrations to creating ticketing systems, automation is necessary. Furthermore, these platforms should be able to send automated confirmation emails to cover all participants properly.
- Scheduling System: The platform needs to have the ability to create detailed agendas for your event. This should include all the details of the sessions to be conducted.
- Ability to Create Branding of Event: Subsequently, such virtual platforms should provide the option of creating proper branding for your event. It should use different branding elements to create a professional outlook for the event attendees.
- Live Streaming and Recording Options: When looking for virtual event solutions, you need a live streaming and recording option. This will allow you to hold live presentations and sessions in real-time. Meanwhile, you can also record your sessions for the attendees to share with them as per requirement.
- Engagement Through Q&A and Polls: An excellent way to increase engagement is by enabling two-way communication across virtual platforms. Chatting and Q&A sessions are one way to achieve it through the virtual event platform. Furthermore, there should be an option to conduct different live polls, quizzes, and gamification elements to enhance interaction.
- Complete Event Analytics: When you hold an event, you require proper analytics to judge the success ratio of it. Instead of manually tracking through the entire event, the virtual event platform should provide track key metrics such as attendance numbers or session popularity.
How to Choose a Virtual Event Platform
Once you know about virtual event services, there are some factors you should consider when choosing one. To avoid selecting the wrong type, the following points help guide you in the right direction in choosing virtual event platforms:
- Understanding Your Needs: Initially, it is essential to define your needs as a platform user. Understand the type of virtual event platform you need, along with the dedicated features that are important for holding the event.
- Evaluating Available Features: With the respective platform at hand, you should look out for its core features. Furthermore, you should excessively review the advanced features offered by the platform, which eases the integrations and communication procedures.
- Look Out For User Experience: It is essential to have a platform that offers ease of use to its users. This should be relevant for both the organizers and the attendees. Consequently, ensure the expected number of attendees can be overseen by the platform.
- Security Measures: You need to select a platform that offers robust security measures to its users. Besides, they should protect attendee information and event data coherently to avoid data breaches.
- Availability of Customer Support: Although this requirement sounds unwanted, it is essential to have customer support for such platforms. Troubleshooting issues that can cause problems in your event should be handled by the support.
What is the Best Virtual Event Platform?
After learning the proficient details of virtual event services and their basic operations, we will look into some top options for creating virtual events. In this section, explore the 10 best virtual event platforms available that will ease your selection:
1. Hubilo
Hubilo is known for its webinar technology, providing an enhanced experience to its users on different scales. Consequently, it can improve attendance through impactful webinars. The option of increasing engagement allows for improvement in the overall pipeline process by generating interest from the users. Also, it uses CRM integrations to provide the webinar impact through funnel attribution.
2. Google Meet
If you are looking for a dedicated video calling platform, Google Meet is one of the best virtual event platforms that provides a secure system for conducting video calls and important meetings. With its premium subscription, you can hold longer sessions and meetings of up to 24 hours. Furthermore, it offers multiple assisting features, including live streaming, video recording, and noise cancellation during meetings.
3. Microsoft Teams
Collaboration through Microsoft Teams allows users to conduct sessions and meetings with ease. This video call and live streaming collaboration software provides diverse compatibility with businesses for connecting and scaling on various levels. From conducting engaging meetings with interactive elements to collaborating across shared spaces through shared task lists, Teams is an excellent option to consider.
4. WebEx Events
Formerly known as Socio, WebEx Events is an event management virtual platform for progressive virtual events. This virtual event platform provides complete end-to-end event management for crafting an event that is customized to perfection. One effective ability of WebEx Events is its unique data management and analytical understanding, which helps review all results, including ROI.
5. BigMarker
BigMarker provides a user-friendly webinar experience with its impactful virtual event setting system. Consequently, this best virtual event platform allows complete user interface customization to enhance the live interaction experience. Trusted for its diverse operability, you can utilize its event badging and virtual venue features to control your events better.
6. Zoom
Zoom has developed itself from a simple video communication platform to an entire ecosystem of human connection. This virtual event service provides different collaborative options to individuals. Besides, it provides a dedicated system for businesses to strengthen customer relations. Also, Zoom offers a complete developer ecosystem with various tools to enhance user workflow, making it a great virtual event platform.
7. ON24
If you are looking for an engagement platform that integrates the virtual event experience into AI, ON24 is a great virtual event software. This progressive, intelligent engagement platform provides branded experiences to its users with enhanced personalization. Furthermore, you can track your engagement data at any instant to measure overall event performance. All in all, it helps you develop prospects into customers to help grow your revenue.
8. Accelevents
Accelevents is specifically known for offering event management functions to improve results. Besides, this progressive virtual event platform comes with the option of building advanced registration flows along with personalized branding. Not only this, but it also offers onsite check-in options and helps automate various event management operations. You can easily engage with your attendees through a dedicated mobile application.
9. vFairs
To make event management easy, it is vital to take assistance from the vFairs event management platform. This virtual event solution provides immersive features for engaging in different natures of events. Furthermore, while offering event registration features, it comes with a dedicated virtual event platform that allows an immersive 3D experience for its users. With the ability to integrate event data into CRM, marketing platforms, and other options, vFairs is a top-notch option.
10. Orbits
Users seeking a different virtual event experience should go with Orbits to conduct various events. Unlike other virtual event platforms, this platform allows large-scale events to be conducted with the ability to create virtual workspaces. This business mimics presents a great sense of purpose among users and helps collaborate on a different level. Subsequently, you can generate proper hybrid venues and digital twins of existing physical spaces with Orbits.
How to Build Your Virtual Event Platform
While you search for the best virtual event platform in the market, you might feel the need to develop a personalized system that is entirely under your control. ZEGOCLOUD allows you to build an interactive virtual event system with video calling, live streaming, and in-app chatting experience. Its fully featured APIs and SDKs have various interactive elements to help you monitor every aspect of your virtual event.
Moreover, the ability to interact through these API & SDK systems helps build an experience that can be conducted through single-host, multi-host, and cross-room live interactions. Its easy integration makes it one of the most user-friendly options for creating a complete interactive environment.
Highlighting Features of ZEGOCLOUD
- This API & SDK platform offers a low latency of 600ms to 1s as compared to the standard latency of other platforms.
- You can create engaging virtual event platforms with the 20+ pre-built UIKits available on ZEGOCLOUD.
- It offers a face beautification system for enhancing the presenter’s facial outlook with smooth retouching.
Conclusion
This article has gone through an in-depth discussion on multiple virtual event companies and their respective features. Furthermore, you have learned the effective details involving virtual event platforms and their types. This will essentially help you discover the right platform for your needs. However, if you can utilize the API & SDK systems for fully featured operations, ZEGOCLOUD is the best option.
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