Virtual Events Platform Development – A comprehensive Guide

As per the report, the global market size of virtual event platforms was valued at $139.28B in 2022 and is expected to reach $657.64B in 2030 at a CAGR of 21.4%.

Creating virtual event apps offers many benefits to businesses, such as improving audience engagement, conversions, sales, and so on.

Also, many businesses want to target an online audience by creating their digital event apps but need to know how to get started.

Check this detailed guide to learn how to create your virtual event platform, but first, let’s understand the benefits of creating virtual event apps for your businesses.

Reasons to build your virtual events platform

You can use digital events to host and manage various online events like keynotes, concerts, trade shows, and much more. With your app, you can provide attendees, speakers, or event organizers with engaging tools like real-time chat options and opinion polls.

Moreover, we have discussed many benefits of creating your virtual platform below. 

1. Increase audience engagement 

Creating your virtual event platform will offer endless opportunities to customize your virtual event app. Also, you can customize your app based on your audience’s needs, like adding group chat or video chat-based features.

Also, you can consider adding the following features like

• Surveys 
• Interactive networking sessions 
• Workshops
• User feedback 

2. Build strong connections with your audience

You can build strong connections with your audience by hosting a virtual event on your app. With your virtual event app, you can open the door to a global audience to join your event by offering them the flexibility to connect with you anywhere they want.

Also, for audiences who missed your live event, you can offer them your recorded event to let them access your virtual event anytime. 

3. Collect valuable online event data

Another benefit you can get with your app is capturing real-time event data for your virtual events. 

You can collect data regarding revenue, audience insight, identity behavior, demographics, and other important data that can help you host digital events in the best way.

Moreover, the marketing team can use this data for lead generation and get better business outputs. 

4. Reduce time and costs

You can save up a lot of time required when hosting events in physical places. While there is less time required to host events on virtual apps.

Also, hosting a virtual event is less expensive than hosting them in a physical location. With your virtual event app, you can save huge expenses when hosting events digitally.

Now let’s check the common features of every digital event app.

Features of virtual event platform

Most digital event apps come up with the following features.

1. Customizable and interactive event features

Offering event-based features such as group chat, push notifications, and others can help increase audience engagement in virtual events.

When you go for customized app development for virtual event platforms, the developers can offer a wide range of features such as live comments, reactions, and others that you can implement into your app.

2. Online event registration

Virtual event apps make it easier for audiences to join upcoming virtual events by registering straight from the app. You can put up descriptions of upcoming events, so interested audiences can register on your platform and access events when they become live. 

Putting your links on virtual event apps offers a great opportunity to help you attract a worldwide audience with interests relevant to your virtual event.

3. Virtual event marketing automation tools

These apps offer real-time automation tools that help organizer host their events efficiently. With automation tools, the organizers can manage different activities, such as CRM and e-mail marketing, for their virtual events.

4. Live event support

Boost the engagement level of your virtual platform by offering live virtual event functionality in your app. You can add features like live comments and emoji-based reactions to help you offer your audience the best platform experience. 

5. Real-time event metrics

Your virtual event app can help you gather useful information regarding your virtual event. Overall, insight into your audience can help you offer real-time visibility about your event and audience. 

How do these apps power different types of experiences?

There are multiple ways to host your virtual events. It is important for you to select the best one to fulfill your business goals carefully.

Check out the available options to better understand which one will suit you for your virtual event platform. 

1. Webinars

Webinars are live events that happen online worldwide. Many best webinar apps, such as Zoom or other video conferencing platforms, allow audiences to interact with live events and meetings.

Many apps for webinars offer real-time features such as quizzes, breakout seasons, and representations to help you increase and maintain the engagement level in your event. 

2. Social events

These events are less formal and have similarities to concerts and sporting events. 

Social events allow you to introduce gamification in your virtual events, such as audience polls, contests, leaderboards, and other friendly competitions, to boost the engagement level of your virtual event.

3. Trade shows and conferences

A virtual trade show uses video conferencing tools to bring worldwide audiences to showcase their latest products and services. 

Compared to physical events, trade shows have turned out to be fruitful when it comes to broadening consumer reach and opening networking opportunities.

Reliability is another plus point of virtual trade conferences. You can be free from efforts like maintaining backend services so you can focus on delivering your core product and services to your audience.

4. Hybrid events

It combines a virtual and in-person event where participants can attend the event face to face in a physical location or virtually anywhere in the world.

Hybrid events allow participants to customize their experience based on their preference to join events virtually or by visiting that place. 

These events are the best way to increase your audience reach by targeting them both from physical locations and virtual platforms.

So what are the exact steps to create your platform for virtual events? Let’s understand the process.

How to create virtual event platforms? 

You can create your app for digital events by checking the steps:

1. Build a strategy for creating your virtual event app

Understanding your business goal should be your top priority. When creating your virtual event app, you can do extensive market research on your targeted audience and competitors to come up with all the list of features your virtual platform ever needs.

When strategizing virtual event platform creation, you can prioritize the following things.

• What virtual event do I need to host in my app?
• What monetization strategies should be to make money from my virtual event?
• List of qualities for hiring an ideal app developer team
• Checking virtual event app portfolios from the team you will hire for your project.

2. Hire app developers specialized in making event apps

Selecting the best app developers for your virtual event app is essential. We advise hiring app developers who have already created such apps for their past clients.

When hiring app developers, you can ask the following questions to identify their suitability for your project.

• Among Native versus hybrid app development? What should you suggest for my event-hosting app?
• What tools and technologies do you use to create apps that offer virtual event hosting functionality?
• Are you comfortable integrating all the required third-party integration into my app? 

3. Create your platform UI 

The user interface is the first thing through which you will create an impression among your users. Therefore, it is essential for you to select the designs for your virtual event app carefully. 

It would be best if you first go for a prototype where it will showcase the blueprint of your entire virtual event app. Creating prototypes will enable you to make changes per your needs and desires.

When you are at the stage of creating the user interface of your virtual event platform, you can take care of the following things:

• Do I have carefully select a simple design to simplify the accessibility of my virtual event app?
• Can my users easily find all the required buttons to join events and access other required features?
• Is there any issue in my app that makes it difficult for my users to join upcoming events?

4. Build and deploy virtual event app features 

Almost all digital events apps have common features such as push notifications, scheduling events, reminding users about ongoing events, and much more. 

Hiring app developers relevant to the virtual event industry will help you simplify the app-building process as they know what features should be added to your virtual event app. 

Along with checking and implementing all the required features. It will be best if you develop unique features for a digital event to get a competitive advantage for your virtual event business. 

5. Be the first one to test your platform 

Offering a smooth experience on your app to access events is essential. To ensure your app has outstanding performance, you can test it multiple times until it meets all the quality standards. 

When testing your app, check the following things.

• Can my users easily register and join the upcoming events?
• Check all the app features by yourself, such as organizing events, registration with links, live comments, and reactions.
• Check your platform’s video quality when users join your hosted live events.

6. Launch and promote your virtual event app

Now, your virtual platform app is ready to launch. You can deploy your app on different app distribution platforms. 

When deploying your app, focus on optimizing your app on different platforms, such as by placing proper screenshots, descriptions, and other required things to describe your app properly.

Also, you can perform marketing practices to attract your target audience to your live event app.

7. Don’t forget to upgrade and maintain your app

Publishing your live event app is not the last part of your app development journey. Be consistent with adding new features and eliminating drawbacks from your event app.

When you consistently upgrade your live event app, you can offer fresh and new experiences of joining live events on your app. 

It would be best if you hire app developers who can help you add new features and do any modifications even after launching your app to your targeted platform. 

Contact Idea Usher to create your virtual platform 

Extensive market research in the live event industry can help you develop a list of all the required features and functionalities. 

However, you will need guidance from app developers who can help you build and launch your live event app to your preferred market.  

If you need to hire app developers to help you with market research to deploy and upgrade your app, you can contact the best app developers like Idea Usher.

Idea Usher offers customized app development services where you can tell us about your project requirements regarding creating your event hosting app.

Contact Idea Usher 

Email:

[email protected]

Phone:

(+1)732 962 4560

(+91)859 140 7140

FAQ

Q. How do I create a virtual event platform?

A. You can create your event hosting app by following these steps:

• Build a strategy for creating your virtual event app
• Hire app developers specialized in making event apps
• Create your platform UI 
• Build and deploy virtual event app features 
• Be the first one to test your platform 
• Launch and promote your virtual event app
• Don’t forget to upgrade and maintain your app

Q. What is the most popular online meeting platform?

• Zoom
• Webex
• Google Meet
• Microsoft Teams 
• Whereby 

Q. What are the features of the virtual events platform?

The features of digital events app consists of the following features:

• Customizable and interactive event features 
• Online event registration
• Virtual event marketing automation tools
• Live event support
• Real-time event metrics