We’re well and truly into the new year – and it’s clear that virtual events are going to be a hot ticket for some time to come.
And there are great benefits for companies thinking about holding a virtual event: they’re cheaper, easy to promote and they can potentially help you engage with more people than you might at a face-to-face event. What’s not to love?
However, there are a few tricks to creating a virtual event that’s truly memorable. Making it fun, informative and engaging is essential – but so is putting together a virtual event pack to send to participants ahead of time to help generate a sense of anticipation.
Wait, what’s a virtual event pack?
A virtual event pack essentially connects your audience to the event – putting tangible items into their hands prior to the day. It might be a themed goodie bag or box of items that’s delivered to the attendees’ door – and the merchandise will be chosen to carefully match the message of the event.
For example, Halliday held an online wine tasting in 2020, delivering complimentary wines to the attendees’ doors, plus a delicious platter box. Virtual attendees enjoyed a range of chosen tipples in their own comfortable surroundings, while listening to wine expert and Halliday Wine Companion tasting panellist Jeni Port. Attendees reportedly adored it.
Virtual swag – how it works
Your virtual pack should be thoughtful, useful and customised to your event. It could be a chance to bring sponsors on board, and to create something special that you might want to unbox and enjoy with your audience on the day.
Some ideas for great virtual event packs include:
- Snack packs Great nibbles and drinks will go a long way towards keeping your audience engaged and listening rather than nicking off to the fridge.
- Merch that’s on message We recently worked on a virtual event pack for a healthcare conference which was themed around growth and transformation. The seed sticks and planting pencils attendees received were right on point!
- Make it fun A client commissioned us to put together a pack for its virtual birthday event, and we were tasked with designing and branding the items – cocktail pouches and snacks – and sending them to influencers who would enjoy them during the company’s virtual ‘birthday party’.
- Keep it local A virtual event pack can be a great way to showcase great things about your company or your city – choose useful items attendees will love, and remember that cheap is out, quality is in!
- Sponsored event pack. If you want to collaborate with sponsors for your event, the virtual event pack is a great way to get quality, branded items in front of attendees.
Obviously at a virtual event, you won’t be seeing your attendees in the flesh, but budgeting to send them a pre-event pack is a great idea. It’ll drum up excitement in the event, offer a great impression of your company and can also serve as reminders for specific products or brands. Do it right, and you’ll have an event that’s talked about long after your audience have closed their laptops.
Got a great idea for a virtual event pack, but need help pulling it together? We can print cards or invites to send to your attendees, and source just the right products for your virtual event pack. Our design team can create a fully-customised, beautiful box of swag and sponsor products (whatever you like) to fit in with your budget. We’ll even pack it for you and send it to your customers just in time for the big day. Talk to us about what we can do for your next event!
