Do you know the attendee personas of your virtual event?

With virtual events, just as with live events and as in marketing in general, there are very typical representatives of your target group. Some behave like this; others like that, and you as an event planner have to reconcile them all somehow. Why? Only in this way you can attract them and optimize your conceptual design. Because when designing events, you should by no means assume only yourself or even think that your potential participants don't want this or that at all. Only if you know which personas are at your own events you can find the right tone in your communication. Either you orient yourself to the largest group of your personas or you take a multiple-track approach.

At trember and after countless virtual and hybrid events for a wide variety of customers and groups, we have compiled some very typical representatives, or participant personas, at virtual events for you.

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Carl Cannot-Live

Carl or even Carla Cannot-Live would love to come to your live event, but they can't. They fell sick at short notice, something came up, or they had other plans from the start. Another possibility is that they are simply not allowed to come, e.g. because their supervisor has not given them permission to attend the event. Another reason: It is simply too expensive for them or for the person releasing the budget. Carl or Carla Cannot-Live are happy about the possibility to visit your event virtually and consume their offers actively on the net.

What Carl and Carla are happy about: That they can be part of this. Therefore, be sure to keep recordings, because if you cannot attend at short notice, you may not be able to sit in front of a computer.

Dorothea Doesnwant-Live

Dorothea or Dave Doenswant-Live simply do not want to participate in live events and have a wide variety of reasons for this. There are simply too many other people on site whose presence they find unpleasant or with whom they don't want to catch Corona. Or they see neither necessity nor added value in attending your live event. They would much rather come to your virtual event because it saves them time and travel expenses, or because sustainability is now more important to them than experiencing the speakers and other participants live. A good work-life balance is more important to them than a live event, and that's why they like to come to your virtual event.

What Dorothea or Dave are happy about is that you have a digital offer ready. They would definitely network online, because offline is sometimes too stressful, too time-consuming or too tricky for them.

Olivia Online-Rejecting

Olivia or Olaf Online-Rejecting find online simply too impersonal, after all they already spend enough time in front of their PC. They don't believe that such an online event will bring them anything and find it far too complicated. Often they are also afraid of technical problems and don't have the proper equipment to make participation fun. Perhaps, for example, they lack a sufficiently fast computer, a quiet room or a good Internet connection. If Olivia sits in front of a boring Zoom call, her attention wanes faster than you can imagine. She also believes that no emotions can arise at all in virtual events and is suspicious per se. On top of that, she may live in the wrong time zone and therefore won't tune in to your virtual event live - quite the opposite of her preferred presence events, where she's automatically there at the right time. 

What Olivia and Olaf are happy about: If not a real live event, then a virtual event that is really easy to use and visit. Hopefully with variety that is enjoyable. Preferably in such a way that they say afterwards, "Oh, it was better than we thought."

Tim Technophobes

Tim or Tanja Technophobes don't have much of an affinity for technology and simply can't get to grips with it, despite good intentions and settings. A button here, a double opt-in there, a download or an activation code - they are quickly overwhelmed and find virtual events fundamentally too complicated. They also have strong reservations about data protection and distrust all providers and services that they don't understand or about which they have heard something negative in the press. Above all, the GAFA companies and Zoom.

What Tim and Tanja are particularly excited about: Very, very simple digital solutions, GDPR-compliant with little release of personal data. Possibly also participation without own audio and video.

Tina Tech-Savvy

Tina or Tom Tech-Savvy are, as their name suggests, tech-savvy. They prefer digital as well as mobile solutions in all areas of their lives - whether in everyday life or in business. Therefore, they are generally open to new things, are among the early adopters and simply try out new platforms, tools or ideas of yours. They are very willing to experiment and take risks, even at the risk of installing too much or clicking too quickly. From a technical point of view, they don't care whether your virtual event takes place on trember or another platform. The main thing is that it is fun and has a coherent concept.

What Tina and Tom are particularly looking forward to is a virtual experience in a class of its own. The more cool features there are, the better. They try out everything. The main thing is that it's fun and makes sense. Maybe the two of them will come to your live event one day - but then please with online registration, cashless payment and an event app.

Conclusion

There are certainly more facets and interests of your target audience. This is an example of the personas we've come across. The important thing is to develop your personas yourself and to do this, talk to your colleagues from marketing, sales and service and then really understand who comes to your events. Only then you can adapt your event and the communication to your target group and their typical representatives. The better you know your attendees and their typical representatives, the more precisely you can develop offers for the individual personas and don't have to be surprised when some say the IT was far too complicated and others would have liked some with more pep. Take their needs into account, take them seriously - then your next event will be a complete success. Whether virtual, hybrid or on-site.