Virtual Conferences: Creating a Meaningful Experience
Check out the custom Kits we created for TechCrunch Disrupt’s 10th Annual Conference!
As with so many aspects of life, the pandemic has also reshaped the conference experience, and many have gone virtual. With the containment of COVID becoming a possible reality, you may even be planning to hold a physical conference, at limited capacity, while keeping the digital format as an additional platform to reach a wider audience. Either way, we’ve figured out how to help you make virtual conferences more engaging.
We know that planning these annual events takes a lot of time (and brain power), which is why we’ve created a list to help you make the most of your attendees’ experience with custom swag! This list will help you stay organized, spark inspiration, and build excitement for your event.
5 steps for a successful virtual conference experience:
Categorize your key players
Set your budget
Curate unique products
Set up drop-shipping
Add engagement elements
Step 1: Categorize your key players
Usually, there are five types of participants at conferences: speakers, sponsors, press, staff, and attendees. Identifying these groups and estimating their head count will help you establish how much of the budget each group should receive. For example, speakers are typically a high-value, small-quantity group, while press, though important, are a lower-value, high-volume group.
To start, we recommend ranking each group by priority. Your list might look like this:
Speakers
Sponsors
Press
Staff
Attendees
Step 2: Set your budget
With your key players identified and ranked, it’s time to figure out how much to allocate to each group. The groups that are the most important to your event should receive higher-end items. Keep in mind that the quantities for each group will play an important factor in your budget decisions as well. We recommend a budget breakdown by percentage for each group, such as:
Speakers (15%)
Sponsors and press (25%)
Staff (30%)
Attendees (30%)
Step 3: Curate unique products
The most obvious solution for conference swag is to place your logo on the front of a T-shirt and call it a day. But what if you took your merch a step further?
Tone-on-tone or unique print placements are an easy way to add value to even the most basic items. Well-designed apparel is likely to be worn more often and, therefore, bring more awareness to your event and brand.
Our Design Consultants make the ordering process easy and fun by providing thoughtful design solutions and product options that fit within your budget. Keep in mind, differentiating your gifts for each group is easier than you think! We are able to create custom bundles, or Kits, for your different recipients. Download our 2021 Conference Merch Catalog for ideas!
Step 4: Set up drop-shipping
Now you’ve picked out and customized unique products for all of your participants. The DLW team will create an invoice and provide you with clear visuals of what each gift will include. After your invoice and payment is processed, we take care of the rest! That’s right, we handle address collection, inventory tracking, and quality control for your entire order. We ship your gifts individually to each recipient’s door, both domestically and internationally. We recommend making sure recipients receive their gifts 1 week ahead of the event.
Step 5: Add engagement elements
It’s finally time! Your event is nearing and your participants are starting to receive their gifts. We recommend adding an engagement element to your gift that recipients can experience while opening their package.
One of the most trending methods of product marketing these days is unboxing videos. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, they are videos shared online of users recording themselves opening packages of products they’ve bought or received. Encouraging recipients to post their new merch on social media with a certain hashtag is another great way to spread awareness, stir up excitement, and maximize your recipient’s experience of your event before it even happens!
Over a year since they’ve become the norm, virtual conferences continue to be a new frontier for organizers and attendees alike. Thankfully, providing quality custom swag is a tried-and-true method of building audience engagement that still applies today as it did in pre-COVID times. As experts in the field, we’re confident that we can assist you in curating the ultimate swag experience for your conference. Feel free to drop us a line to get started!