Conferences and events are an important financial driver for many organizations. But, understanding how to drive revenue with a Virtual Event when you’re used to offering in-person events can be a challenge. That’s why we invited Dr. Michael Tatonetti, CAE, CPP, the Founder of Pricing for Associations, to share his expertise with us.

In this follow-up to our first conversation with Dr. Michael Tatonetti, he shared more best practices around Sponsorship and Pricing Methods for Virtual Events as part of our Conversation Series, a live webinar series where we gather insights from industry experts and thought leaders. You can get free access to watch the full replay of our conversation with Dr. Michael Tatonetti on-demand here.

Here are a few actionable insights from the conversation:

1) Demonstrate the Value That Your Virtual Event Will Provide

There is so much high-quality content available online that it can feel strange to charge for a Virtual Event. But remember: people don’t attend events (in-person or online) only because of the content they’ll get. There are many reasons that people attend events, including networking, small group discussions, learning about vendors, and earning Continuing Education credits, for example. Listen to Dr. Michael Tatonetti discuss how to articulate your event’s value:

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2) Offer On-Demand Access to Provide Information When Your Audience Wants It

On-demand content is a great way to increase engagement during a Virtual Event. By offering pre-recorded content before the event, in between sessions, and after the event, you give attendees more options to learn and interact with your content. As an example, you can view our On-Demand Content Library from our first annual conference event: Engage 2020. And, listen to Dr. Michael Tatonetti describe how his team used on-demand content:

3) Make Sure Your Event's Sponsor Content Comes from Real People, Not Brands

At an in-person event, attendees would interact face-to-face with sponsors. While we don’t have an opportunity to shake hands at a Virtual Event, organizations are getting creative to humanize content from their sponsors. Include contact information, pictures, and video content alongside your sponsors’ advertisements, thought-leadership pieces, and links. Listen to Dr. Michael Tatonetti: