Resources
Blog
Insights on events, technology, and the future of gathering
Latest articles
Insights on events, technology, and the future of gathering
Quick answer: Virtual conferences cost less, take less time to plan, scale to any audience size, and capture rich attendee data - but they trade away face-to-face contact, compete with at-home distractions, and can exclude less tech-savvy attendees. The right event platform amplifies the advantages and softens every one of the drawbacks.
Pros:
Cons:
Considering a virtual conference for your next marketing campaign? You're in good company: virtual and hybrid formats have moved from stopgap to a permanent part of the event mix. But popularity alone doesn't tell you whether the format is right for you.
Canapii has powered 2,000+ events for 300,000+ attendees across 45+ countries since 2020, so we've seen where virtual conferences shine and where they need extra care. Here are the pros and cons that should shape your decision.
Virtual conferences help you lower costs, reach more people, create reusable marketing content, and measure success precisely. Here are nine business reasons a virtual event platform might make sense for your upcoming events.
With a virtual format, your largest expense is usually marketing. You're not paying for hotel venues or conference centers, catering, exhibit setup, signage, or the many other costs that go into a physical event. Say hello to a faster ROI!
Planning a virtual conference takes far fewer resources and less time than an in-person event. There are no venues to shortlist and far fewer logistics to untangle, which frees up time to work with speakers, sharpen your marketing, and maybe even host more events than you normally would. An organizer console keeps the whole plan in one place.
Logistics for a virtual conference look very different from an in-person meeting. There's no equipment load-in and load-out, no attendee travel to coordinate, and no extra staff to hire for the day. Most of your logistics are digital and can be handled from just about anywhere.
Online conference platforms open sponsorship formats that physical events can't match. Sponsors can contribute to email marketing, digital collateral, ad space across the platform, and more.
The size of your event is almost limitless. Online conference platforms like Canapii scale to 10,000+ attendees with ease - the same can't be said for physical venues.
Physical events carry barriers that stop people from taking part, with geography and travel costs chief among them. In a virtual format those barriers all but disappear: anyone with an internet connection can attend.
Networking can be just as impactful online as it is in person - some would say more so, because you keep a digital record of the people you meet. Attendees can connect on LinkedIn or follow up by email right away to stay top of mind once the event is over.
Capturing a physical event means hiring dedicated video and audio crews. A virtual event platform records a full replay on your behalf, ready to repurpose for content marketing or to promote next year's edition of the same event.
Because everything runs through your event platform, data collection is built in. Attendance numbers, session duration, engagement metrics, and conversions are all available in a few clicks through analytics and reporting.
The list of advantages is notably longer than the list of drawbacks, but that doesn't make the drawbacks any less important. Before you go all-in on virtual conferences, consider the following.
Events thrive on engagement and person-to-person contact, which is harder to come by in a virtual format - especially if your event software lacks dedicated engagement features.
In-person attendees become immersed in the experience. At home, you're competing with family, television, and a full inbox. Holding attention is key to making your event a success: use chat tools, live polls, interactive content, and feedback forms to make sure your message lands.
Not everyone grew up as a digital native. Younger attendees will usually navigate a virtual conference without a second thought, but less tech-confident attendees can feel alienated or unable to take full advantage of the event. Consider your audience's likely skill set, keep the joining process simple, and make help easy to find - Canapii backs every event with 24/7 support.
Lower costs, faster planning, simpler logistics, unique sponsorship formats, near-limitless scalability, wider audience reach, effective networking, evergreen content, and easy data gathering.
Less face-to-face contact, more competition from at-home distractions, and technology barriers for less digitally confident attendees. All three can be managed with an engagement-focused platform and simple joining instructions.
Yes. With no venue hire, catering, exhibit setup, or attendee travel, marketing is usually your largest expense - which typically means a faster return on investment.
Yes. Peer-reviewed research found that moving a conference fully online can cut its carbon footprint by around 94% (Nature Communications, 2021), largely by removing attendee travel.
Build interaction into every session. Live polls, Q&A, chat, breakout discussions, and feedback forms give remote attendees an active role rather than a passive stream to watch.
The advantages and disadvantages of a virtual conference matter far less when the right event software leads the way. Canapii's purpose-built tools amplify the upsides and soften every downside - schedule a demo to see them in action.