Live streaming has never been bigger! Virtual event monetization is becoming more popular as online events have become increasingly more popular. In fact, according to Grand View Research, the video stream market size is expected to expand by a staggering $184.27 billion over the next ten years, and it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down anytime soon. And yet, it is hard to believe that 3 in 4 event marketers (74%) do not charge for virtual events.
Before we move on, maybe you are asking yourself, “What the heck does Virtual Event Monetization even mean?”
Glad you asked! Virtual event monetization is the process of hosting a live virtual event and generating revenue by offering your audience an opportunity to purchase your product or service. With the help of purchase-to-pay automation, businesses can not only offer their products or services for sale in real-time but also automate the entire purchase-to-payment process. Revenue can be generated in real-time, as they are purchasing it, or after the event has concluded depending on how you structured this offer.
Are you wondering how to make a profit with virtual events? Don’t worry, there are several ways you can monetize your event online!
One way to monetize your virtual events is to use a live event for advertising new products before the upcoming launch date. During this time, attendees gain access to limited products via special offers and discounts if they buy them now rather than later when everyone else does too!
Other Ways to Monetize Your Virtual Events –
Sell Tickets to Monetize Your Event Online
Virtual events are a great way to create new revenue streams around your existing sales and marketing efforts. One simple and effective strategy is to offer free admission but encourage attendees who want access to all sessions or give extra perks to purchase tickets or special access. You might offer ebooks, videos, or courses that you will be releasing during this event. Alternatively, you can offer an All-Access Pass with benefits beyond those gained by a single session attendee. You can also get creative with ticket packages – consider offering early bird passes as incentives which often come at discounted prices. People love to get a great deal!
Event marketers can also get creative to monetize their events and drive more sales with different ticket packages at varying price points such as:
- Early Bird Access passes that allow people early entrance into your seminar.
- VIP membership grants members perks such as discounts on future products/services and other goodies from select vendors.
- Single Day tickets – if you only need one day’s worth of seminars, this could be right for you.
- Group Packages are another way that organizers can generate revenue during slow times when they might not otherwise fill seats.
Once you have created your upcoming virtual event plan on Everytale, your participants can seamlessly complete their ticket purchase using Stripe’s payment gateway. Making purchases online is easier and more reliable than ever with companies like Stripe. Stripe charges a payment process fee for every transaction. Calculate the fee using a stripe fee calculator.
Offer Sponsorships and Partnerships to Increase Revenue –
Give your sponsors or partners ways to make their logo or message visible with custom virtual event sponsorship packages.
- Offer Sponsored Email Packages
- Create Speaker Slots for Sponsors
Use Shout-outs on Social Media Platforms
- Incentivize Attendees to Invite Use Social Sharing
Make Your Sponsorship Offers Clear
Websites have made it easy for people to research products before making an eventual purchase, so using these channels in promotional marketing materials has become more common. Social Media platforms can also play a massive part in advertising sponsorships, as people often share updates about videos that contain sponsor details. Utilizing social media can be a win-win situation for everyone involved.
Use the Power of Social Media for Online Event Monetization –
Social media is a great way to promote events and create revenue! Imagine what would happen if you were able to use social media as an event monetization tool. First of all, it’d be easier for the lead-up because people could share your posts with their friends on different social media platforms.
During the actual event, there are endless opportunities by using social media such as;
- Create content streams that pull attendees in by asking them questions.
- Asking people to help grow your event by asking them to share with family and friends.
- Posting viral-worthy content that will end up getting shares and likes for years to come.
The possibilities are endless and only limited by how much time you put into crafting perfect messages.
Social media is one of the best ways to make your event reach a vast audience. It allows you to promote your event before, during, and after so that people can buy tickets online.
Make Extra Cash with Affiliate Offers
If you are looking how to make a profit with virtual events, another great idea is to become an affiliate partner. If you have anything that might interest your target market (products, tutorials, software), then share this information in advance of starting the presentation, so it’s fresh in everyone’s mind when they’re ready to take advantage of these offers. Affiliate offers are easy to understand and a simple way to make money.
When someone signs up for or purchases something after being prompted by one of your links, you earn a percentage or commission of that sale or offer. If you are looking for additional ways to monetize your virtual events, affiliate offers are the easiest way to virtual event monetization. For example, if you were to become an affiliate of Amazon, you would get a percentage of every sale that was referred by your affiliate link. Easy Peasy!
It doesn’t matter if you’re a seasoned virtual event guru or just starting in the affiliate world; affiliate marketing can be an incredible addition to your online strategy. When promoting other people’s products, it is best to keep in mind that it is best to recommend products based on their rating and legitimacy, not affiliate commission rates.
Sell Products or Services Before, During, and After Your Events – ChaChing!
Virtual events are perfect for selling products and services. This can be achieved through an online store or website and a virtual trade show giving the attendees of your event to purchase without any hassle. Merchandise is another way to take advantage of hosting an online event by branding shirts, mugs, keychains with their logo or message and selling them during your virtual event!
There is never enough time to reach your entire target audience for the entrepreneur with a big idea. Virtual conferences or online events are an excellent way for entrepreneurs to make their message heard and sell access long after they have finished speaking at one event. A beneficial idea is for entrepreneurs to work with an Ecommerce PPC company to increase their sales.
Everytale offers a vast Global Events Library for “On-demand” consumption. Event organizers can create an additional part-time or even a full-time income stream by providing both live and recorded events, classes, training, conferences, and other types of programs that would be available “On-demand.” Expand your content’s reach with an advanced AI Algorithm to match it with a relevant Global audience on its platform.
After purchasing the event, the viewer can watch the content over and over at their leisure. It is a win-win situation for both the event host and the consumer. Another way to monetize your event online is to grow an email list of verified email addresses and email your viewers to let them know what they can look forward to next.
If you want to give your content a new life, there’s also the option of Patreon. This platform is where people can pay for exclusive material like live videos or articles and more with their favorite creator on board – which could be just about anyone from comedians to photographers.
Use Data to Improve Your ROI for Better Event Monetization –
Data is the key to ROI! All successful events have access to data. Make sure your sales and marketing teams can target prospects through their channels with the right messages by arming them with all of the lead scoring, follow-up actions, new prospecting ideas.
Data provides valuable insights into how you can measure an event for success or failure. Analytics allows both marketers and organizers to measure conversion rates across different campaigns to plan better next time around. When you have the correct data, it can save both time and money in the long run.
Here are some key takeaways to help with virtual event monetization that we hope you will put into action:
Virtual events are the wave of the future, and they can be as lucrative for you as in-person ones if done right! Learn how to best monetize your virtual event from one professional who’s been at this game since before it was even a thing.
As a recap, here are some of the high-level points we discussed:
- Think outside of the box when looking to monetize your virtual events.
- Start out with free offers to widen your audience, then create better and higher value content that your audience will want to purchase. (Build up the know, like, and trust)
- Extend the life of your virtual event by offering tiered packages that will fit your viewers’ wants and needs.
- Use Social Media to grow your audience and help your content go viral.
- Collect and analyze data for a better ROI in the long run.
We hope these tips have helped you when thinking about your own virtual events as a revenue stream.
It is awesome to be able to make money off your event. With these tips, you can now turn an idea into a profitable venture by adding more value and making it interesting!