In the fast-paced and evolving landscape of virtual events, choosing the right platform for your business and event can heavily impact its success. The needs of a virtual event platform goes beyond the conventional Zoom conference calls. Virtual events aim to deliver the same immersive experience and dynamics as in-person events.
As the virtual space continues to expand, it’s important to understand the key factors that can make your event stand out and elevate the overall experience for both you, as the organizers, and your attendees.
Choosing the Right Platform for Your Virtual Events
Selecting the perfect virtual event platform is not just a technical decision; your decision will influence participants’ engagement, interaction, and overall satisfaction. The right virtual event platform can enhance networking opportunities, provide valuable insights and analytics, and keep attendees actively involved throughout the event.
What to Look for in a Virtual Event Platform?
Let’s take a look at what you need to consider when choosing your virtual conference platform:
- User-Friendly Interface: A powerful virtual event platform should have an intuitive and user-friendly interface. Navigating the platform on the front and back end should be seamless for both parties. An easy-to-use and aesthetically pleasing platform contributes to a positive user experience and allows participants to focus on the content rather than struggling with the platform’s functionalities.
- Scalability: The virtual event platform should be able to accommodate events of different sizes, from a one-hour webinar with 20 participants to a full-scale 2-day conference with more than 500 participants. The platform you choose should provide that flexibility without having to switch to a different platform.
- Customizations: Tailoring the virtual event to match your brand and specific event requirements is crucial to a successful event. Having a collection of customizations will allow you to create a more personalized experience for participants and increase overall engagement and brand recognition.
- Integrations with Other Software: This is an important feature as most companies will use more than one software when planning a virtual event. Ensuring your chosen platform can seamlessly integrate with the software you’re using will help with the planning and management of your virtual event. Whether it’s integrating with customer relation management (CRM) systems, marketing automation platforms, social media platforms, or email providers, a dependable integration can ensure smoother workflow and data synchronization.
- Recording and Playback Capabilities: One of the main takeaways a participant is looking for when attending an event (aside from the goodies) is a recording of the session they just attended. Having a recording and playback capability within your virtual event platform will allow participants to revisit sessions and organizers to repurpose event content for future use.
Now that we’ve listed the key things you should consider when choosing a virtual event platform, let’s explore some of the best options available in 2024:
What is the best platform for online event?
1. Zoom Events
G2 rating: 4.4 out of 5
Zoom is renowned for its widely used video conferencing capabilities. With Zoom Events, you can seamlessly integrate your virtual or hybrid event with any Zoom meetings, making it an excellent choice if you’re already familiar with the Zoom platform. However, if you’re new to the Zoom platform, learning how to use Zoom Events can be challenging.
2. Whova
G2 rating: 4.8 out of 5
Whova sets the standard for excellence in virtual event platforms with a comprehensive suite of solutions. It provides an intuitive interface to drive attendee engagement and stands out with its powerful analytics that can significantly enhance online participation for your events. Whova also deeply integrates with Zoom Meeting and Webinar, making it a versatile and reliable choice for various virtual events. Whova’s virtual event platform functionality also allows you to:
- Facilitate event-wide discussions in a community board.
- Gain new insights with detailed attendee profiles.
- Make virtual connections for specific groups.
- Allow your attendees to find and connect with others with common interests and backgrounds.
- Easily moderate a virtual event with just a few clicks.
- Offer exclusive sessions with different tiered tickets.
3. ON24
G2 rating: 4.3 out of 5
ON24 comes equipped with all the necessary features of a virtual event platform, including analytics, personalized content recommendations, and engagement tracking. It is one of the more robust platforms, making it suitable for large conferences with multiple speakers and networking sessions.
4. INXPO by Notified
G2 rating: Unavailable
INXPO provides more than just a virtual event platform. Their services include a full-service event strategy that can help you better plan and manage your event. Though not very well known in the industry just yet, the platform does offer some robust features for virtual booths, live streaming, and interactive sessions.
5. Remo
G2 rating: Unavailable
Remo has a one-of-a-kind spatial layout that mimics a real-world networking experience. Attendees can move between virtual tables (like you would at a speed-networking event) and foster organic interactions. The company emphasized recreating in-person networking dynamics, making it a suitable choice if your virtual event has a heavy networking element to it.
6. Airmeet
G2 rating: 4.6 out of 5
Airmeet is a top-notch platform that caters to a variety of virtual event formats. It is also available in multiple languages and offers features that enhance customer experience, interactivity, and networking.
7. Intrado Digital Media (now known as Notified)
G2 rating: Unavailable
Intrado Digital Media/Notified offers a feature-rich virtual event platform with engagement tools and analytics at your fingertips. The platform is specifically designed to create immersive online experiences, which makes it suitable for organizers looking to increase their attendee engagement. While lacking a G2 rating, the company’s focus on feature-rich offerings makes it stand out in the virtual event landscape.
8. Pigeonhole Live
G2 rating: Unavailable
Pigeonhole Live is known for its simplicity and effectiveness in fostering participant interaction. It’s a versatile virtual event platform offering features like audience engagement tools, live Q&A sessions, and real-time polls.
9. Livestorm
G2 rating: 4.4 out of 5
Livestorm provides a comprehensive solution for virtual events with offerings like end-to-end video engagement features, email delivery tracking, social sharing, and more. If you’re looking for a platform that covers various aspects of virtual event engagement and would like to brand your event with customizable marketing materials, Livestorm may be able to help you.
10. Thola
G2 rating: Unavailable
Thola is a 2D platform with a 3D look and feel, providing a unique visual experience for virtual events. Thola connects with Microsoft Teams, allowing participants to seamlessly transition from chat messages to video conferences. The platform’s distinctive visual approach and integration capabilities make it a service worth considering for immersive virtual events.
11. Attendify (now retired)
G2 rating: Unavailable
Attendify is known for its user-friendly interface and customizable event apps. The platform emphasizes user-friendly features and customization options that may be appealing to organizers looking to increase their brand presence through the virtual event.
12. Run the World (now retired)
G2 rating: Unavailable
Run the World adopts a social-first approach to virtual events, emphasizing community-building and networking. The platform includes features like speed networking and virtual happy hours, focusing on creating a sense of community among participants. While lacking a G2 rating, Run The World’s commitment to social interactions sets it apart in the virtual event landscape.
13. InEvent
G2 rating: Unavailable
InEvent incorporates features for virtual booths, sponsorships, and interactive sessions. The platform focuses on providing a comprehensive platform, making it a potential solution for organizations seeking an all-in-one virtual event experience.
14. RingCentral Events (Formerly Hopin)
G2 rating: 4.6 out of 5
Hopin caters to a wide range of virtual event formats with special features like virtual stages and customizable event spaces. Its customizations allow the organizers to use the platform for a variety of event formats, including small meetings, trade shows, and large conferences. This is a suitable platform for event organizers looking for some flexibility and a unique way to engage their audience.
Elevate Your Virtual Event
Choosing the perfect virtual event platform depends on several factors, including your event needs, the number of attendees, your vision for branding and networking, the number of speakers, and more. Each platform listed has its strengths – whether it’s user-friendly interfaces, customizable email marketing features, social first approaches, or the ability to scale up and down based on your event needs.
If you’re looking for a dependable, well-rounded virtual event platform to host your next virtual or hybrid event, consider exploring Whova with a free live demo. Whova provides Intelligent Event Technology Solutions by creating authentic participation and engagement by simplifying the entire event process from planning to registration, networking, and follow-up. Their proprietary technology is cost-effective, reliable, and easy to use, and won the Event Technology Awards in for many years.
Whova stands out with its exceptional features, intuitive interface, and seamless integration with Zoom meetings. A live demo allows you to experience firsthand how Whova can elevate your virtual events and create memorable experiences for both organizers and attendees. Click here to discover the potential of Whova for your virtual events.