How to Plan Virtual Events That Actually Engage People

A successful virtual event doesn't just happen. It's built on a solid foundation of planning that starts long before you even think about platforms or speakers. Nail down your purpose, your audience, and your budget first, and you'll have a clear roadmap for every other decision you make.

Setting Your Foundation for a Flawless Virtual Event

Before you get caught up in the fun stuff—like booking that keynote speaker you've been eyeing—you need to lay the groundwork. An event without clear goals, a well-defined audience, and a realistic budget is just a meeting. This is the phase where you turn a good idea into a concrete, actionable plan.

Let's be clear: virtual events aren't just a pandemic-era substitute for the real thing. They've become a strategic powerhouse. They often cost 75% less than their in-person counterparts and can rake in up to 30% more leads. With the market projected to hit a staggering $236.69 billion by 2025, it’s obvious that getting this right is a huge opportunity. If you're curious, you can dig into more event industry statistics to see just how massive this shift is.

✦Define Your Purpose and Goals

First things first: ask yourself the big question. Why are we doing this? The answer to that question is your guiding light.

Are you trying to drum up new sales leads? Maybe you need to train existing customers on a new feature. Or perhaps you're just looking to boost morale for your remote team. Each of these goals demands a completely different strategy. A lead-gen webinar, for example, needs a powerful call-to-action and slick data capture, while an internal team event should be all about fun, interactive activities that help people connect.

Your event's 'why' is its North Star. It dictates your content, your technology choices, and how you ultimately measure success. Without it, you’re just planning a meeting; with it, you’re creating an experience.

To help you get specific, here’s a quick framework for tying your goals to actual, measurable results.

✦Virtual Event Goal and KPI Framework

Event Goal	Primary KPI	Secondary KPI	Example Metric
Lead Generation	New Leads Acquired	Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs)	Number of demo requests
Brand Awareness	Event Registrations	Social Media Mentions	Website traffic increase
Customer Education	Session Attendance Rate	Q&A Engagement	Post-event survey scores
Internal Training	Completion Rate	Quiz/Assessment Scores	Reduced support tickets

This table isn't exhaustive, but it should get you thinking about what success actually looks like for your event.

✦Create Your Event Budget

A well-defined budget is your best defense against scope creep. It keeps you honest and ensures you're putting your money where it will have the most impact. Most of your costs will fall into three buckets:

• Technology: This is your virtual event platform, any special software, or production tools.
• Talent: This covers fees for your speakers, hosts, moderators, or any entertainers.
• Promotion: This includes all your marketing and advertising spend to get people in the virtual door.

Here’s a look at how that budget often breaks down.

As you can see, technology usually takes the biggest slice of the pie. That really drives home how critical it is to pick the right platform—one that not only fits your budget but also helps you achieve the goals you just set.

Picking Your Tech and Building a Can't-Miss Agenda

In a virtual event, your tech platform isn't just a backdrop—it's the entire venue. It’s the stage, the networking lounge, and the front door, all rolled into one. Getting this choice right is probably one of the most important decisions you'll make, as it directly shapes how your attendees experience everything you've planned.

The virtual events space is exploding, with projections showing a 20.0% Compound Annual Growth Rate from 2025 to 2030. This growth isn't just about more events; it's about smarter ones. With 50% of event professionals already planning to use AI, the tech is evolving fast. You can dig deeper into the growth of the virtual events market to see just how big this is getting.

✦How to Choose Your Virtual Event Platform

Your platform choice really boils down to your event's goals and complexity. A simple internal training session might work perfectly fine on a standard webinar tool. But if you're planning a large conference with multiple tracks and networking, you'll need something far more powerful.

When you're weighing your options, here are the features I always tell people to look for:

• Interactive Tools: Does it have easy-to-use polling, Q&A features, and a lively chat? These are your lifelines for keeping the audience hooked.
• Breakout Rooms: For me, this is a deal-breaker. If you want to encourage real conversation and networking, you absolutely need the ability to split people into smaller, more intimate groups.
• Solid Analytics: You need to see what's working. Look for a platform that gives you clear data on who registered, who showed up, which sessions were popular, and where engagement peaked.
• Smooth Integrations: Your event platform shouldn't be an island. Make sure it can connect to your CRM or marketing tools to avoid a data-syncing nightmare later.

For companies running internal events, a major pain point is coordinating between the tools your team already uses. If your company operates on Slack and Google Calendar, you know how frustrating it is to jump between them. This is where Be There is incredibly useful. It directly connects Google Calendar to Slack, automating event announcements, RSVPs, and reminders right where your team collaborates. It’s a simple integration that solves a huge coordination headache, making it an invaluable tool for any internal event planner.

✦Designing an Agenda That Beats Zoom Fatigue

With your tech sorted, it's time to build an agenda that keeps people glued to their screens for the right reasons. We've all felt "Zoom fatigue," and it's usually caused by a poorly paced schedule. The trick is to think in short, dynamic bursts of content.

An engaging virtual agenda is a story, not a list. It should have a clear beginning, a compelling middle, and a satisfying end that leaves your audience feeling inspired, not drained.

To create that kind of flow, ditch the idea of back-to-back, hour-long presentations. Instead, build a rhythm into your day.

1. Kick things off with a bang. Start with your most exciting keynote or a really engaging panel to grab everyone's attention from the get-go.
2. Vary the format. Jump between different types of sessions—a classic presentation, then an interactive workshop, followed by a moderated Q&A. This variety keeps things from feeling stale.
3. Build in real breaks. Don't just schedule a 10-minute "bio break." Plan a structured networking block or even a short, guided meditation. For more ideas on this, our guide on hybrid meeting best practices has some great tips.
4. Finish with a clear call to action. End your event by telling people exactly what to do next. Should they download a resource? Join a community? This ensures your event makes a lasting impression.

Getting People in the (Virtual) Door and Keeping Them Hooked

You can have a killer agenda and the slickest tech, but none of it matters if your event is an empty room. Getting people to show up is about more than just a calendar invite; you need to build real excitement and show them exactly why they can't afford to miss it.

Once they've logged in, the challenge flips. Now, it's all about keeping their attention.

The great news? Virtual audiences are ready to jump in. We've seen that virtual events can hit surprisingly high interaction rates of 60–70%, with people spending 27% more time engaged than they do at in-person events. Here’s the secret: a whopping 80% of attendees show up to learn something. This means your content, especially the interactive parts, is your most valuable asset. If you're curious about the numbers, the latest virtual event engagement statistics paint a clear picture.

✦Your Game Plan for Promoting the Event

Think of your promotion not as an ad campaign, but as an exclusive invitation. To get the word out effectively, you need to be everywhere your audience is. This isn't about spamming inboxes; it's about a smart, coordinated push across different channels.

• Smarter Email Marketing: Ditch the generic announcements. A drip campaign that reveals speakers one by one, teases session topics, and shares some behind-the-scenes prep is far more compelling.
• Create Social Media Buzz: Come up with a unique event hashtag and get everyone—speakers, sponsors, your team—to use it. Share short video clips from speakers, pull-quotes from their talks, and run polls to get people talking before day one.
• Lean on Your Partners: Get your speakers and sponsors to promote the event to their own networks. A little cross-promotion can introduce your event to a whole new group of people who already trust the source.

A solid promotional strategy is a massive piece of the puzzle. For a complete walkthrough, take a look at our guide on building an https://be-there.co/blog/articles/event-marketing-plan.

✦From Passive Viewers to Active Participants

The moment your event goes live, your entire focus needs to shift to the experience. If people are just passively watching, they’re also checking their email, getting distracted, and eventually, dropping off. You need to make them feel like they're in the room with you, contributing to the conversation.

Even small interactive moments can completely change the vibe of a session. It’s about moving beyond a simple chat box and weaving in activities that get people to actively do something.

Don't let your audience just consume content—invite them to co-create the experience. An engaged attendee isn't just listening; they're contributing, questioning, and connecting.

✦Simple Ways to Boost Engagement

Ready to get people involved? Here are a few tried-and-true tactics that work for everything from intimate workshops to huge virtual conferences.

1. Live Polls & Managed Q&A: Use polls to get a quick pulse check from the audience or even let them steer the conversation. For Q&A, having a dedicated moderator to field and organize questions makes the whole process smoother and ensures the best ones get answered.
2. Breakout Rooms with a Purpose: Never just toss people into random breakout rooms. Give every group a clear task and a deadline. It could be a specific problem to solve or a prompt to discuss, but a clear goal is what makes these sessions productive instead of awkward.
3. A Touch of Gamification: A little friendly competition goes a long way. You could award points for asking great questions, participating in polls, or sharing key takeaways on social media. Offering a small prize for the "most engaged attendee" is a fantastic way to keep energy levels high from start to finish.

Unifying Your Team with Be There

While your audience sees a polished, professional event, the behind-the-scenes reality can feel like barely controlled chaos. I've been there. You're juggling speaker confirmations, tech checks, and last-minute team briefings across a tangled mess of calendar invites, email chains, and frantic Slack DMs.

If your team lives in Google Calendar and Slack, you know this pain well. That constant app-switching isn't just a minor annoyance; it’s a genuine drain on productivity and focus. This is where a dedicated tool is not just handy, but essential for streamlining your workflow. What if you could turn your team's main communication hub into your event command center?

✦Streamlining Internal Event Coordination

The biggest headache for companies using Slack and Google Calendar is the disconnect between where events are scheduled (the calendar) and where they're discussed (Slack). It’s in that gap that crucial details get buried. A key update is missed in a busy channel, or a calendar notification is swiped away and instantly forgotten.

A smoother workflow is non-negotiable. Instead of manually creating a calendar invite, then posting about it in Slack, and then chasing people down to see if they're coming, you can automate that entire sequence. Getting this right is the secret to a stress-free internal event plan.

✦A Practical Scenario: A Multi-Speaker Webinar

Let's look at a classic example: coordinating an internal dry-run for a big webinar. The list of people involved can get long fast—you've got multiple speakers, a host, a moderator, and a technical producer who all need to be on the same page.

The old way of doing this looks something like this:

• Create a Google Calendar invite and hope everyone accepts it.
• Start a new Slack channel (or a messy thread) for all the chatter.
• Manually post reminders in Slack as the dry-run gets closer.
• Cross your fingers that everyone saw the updates and shows up on time.

This manual approach is just so fragile. It puts all the pressure on every single person to be perfectly organized, which, let's be honest, is a recipe for failure.

The best event teams don't work harder; they work smarter by getting rid of the friction. When you automate the tedious administrative tasks, you give your team their brainpower back for creative thinking and delivering a standout event.

✦Turning Slack into Your Event Hub with Be There

This is exactly where a tool like Be There changes the game for teams that run on Slack and Google Calendar. It acts as the bridge over that frustrating gap, turning two separate tools into one cohesive, powerful system. It's incredibly handy because it’s built for the exact workflow these companies already use.

Instead of that clunky, manual process, your workflow becomes refreshingly simple. Create the event in your Google Calendar just like you always do. Be There then automatically pushes it into a designated Slack channel, creating a clear, actionable event notification.

From that point on, everything happens in one place:

• Automated Announcements: The event post pops up right where your team works, so you know they’ll see it.
• One-Click RSVPs: Team members can confirm if they're coming with a single click, right inside Slack.
• Smart Reminders: Automatic notifications go out before the event, which is a massive help in cutting down on no-shows.

By connecting your calendar directly to your communication platform, you create a single source of truth for your team. Every update, confirmation, and conversation about the event lives in one spot, making coordination a breeze and keeping everyone perfectly aligned from kickoff to wrap-up.

Maximizing Your Event's Impact After It Ends

https://www.youtube.com/embed/4LrqKYiO-JM

Just because the last session has wrapped up doesn’t mean your job is over. Honestly, what you do in the next 24 to 48 hours is what separates a forgettable event from one that delivers real, lasting value. A solid post-event plan is how you turn all that great energy into tangible results.

The key is to move fast while the experience is still fresh in everyone's minds. A timely follow-up is absolutely non-negotiable. And I don't mean a generic "thanks for coming"—this is your chance to provide genuine value and keep the conversation alive.

✦Extend the Experience with Smart Follow-Ups

Think of your follow-up email as a resource hub. You'll want to include links to the event recordings, any slide decks the speakers used, and other helpful materials that were mentioned. This simple step transforms your event from a one-time thing into an on-demand asset that people can come back to and share with their teams.

This is also the perfect time to ask for feedback. I've found that a short, well-designed survey can give you incredible insight into what landed and what didn't. Keep it brief and focused on things like session quality, the platform experience, and overall satisfaction. You’ll get a much higher response rate that way.

✦Repurpose Your Content for Greater Reach

That event recording you have? It’s a content goldmine. Don't just let it collect digital dust on a server somewhere. Start thinking about all the ways you can slice it and dice it into smaller, more shareable pieces.

Here are a few ideas I've seen work really well:

• Create Short Video Clips: Pull out the most powerful quotes or key "aha!" moments and turn them into short, punchy clips for social media.
• Write Blog Posts: Transcribe a really popular session and flesh it out into a detailed blog post. You can even embed the relevant video clip right in the article for context.
• Design Infographics: Were there any compelling stats or data points shared? Visualize them in a clean, shareable infographic.

This strategy does more than just extend the life of your content; it introduces your event to a much wider audience who couldn't make it to the live show.

The end of the live event is the beginning of its legacy. By thoughtfully repurposing content and analyzing data, you multiply your ROI and gather the exact insights needed to make your next event even more successful.

✦Analyze Your Data and Prove Your ROI

Alright, now it’s time to connect the dots and go back to those goals you set at the very beginning. Your event platform’s analytics are your best friend here. It's important to look past vanity metrics like simple attendance numbers and dig into the data that really signals success.

Check out the audience retention rates. Which sessions kept people completely hooked from start to finish? What about engagement scores—how many questions were asked in the Q&A, and what was the participation rate on polls? For internal events, this kind of data can give you a powerful snapshot of team morale. If you want to dive deeper, you can explore different ways to measure employee engagement.

When you tie these data points back to your original objectives—whether that was generating leads, educating customers, or boosting team cohesion—you can build a clear and compelling story about your event’s return on investment. This data is exactly what you need to justify the budget and get buy-in for your next virtual event.

Got Questions About Planning a Virtual Event?

Even with a rock-solid plan, you're bound to hit a few snags or have questions pop up. Let's walk through some of the most common hurdles people face when planning virtual events, from keeping a remote audience hooked to proving the whole thing was worth it.

✦How Do I Keep My Audience from Tuning Out During a Long Event?

The biggest enemy of any virtual event is fatigue. The secret to winning that battle is to think in shorter, more dynamic bursts of content. Forget about those long, hour-long lectures.

Instead, slice your agenda into digestible 20-30 minute blocks. Within each of those blocks, you need to get people involved every 10-15 minutes. This doesn't have to be complicated—it could be a quick live poll, a moderated Q&A session, or even short breakout room discussions.

A great host is also your secret weapon. Their energy can set the tone and keep things moving smoothly. And don't underestimate the power of a little fun! Adding some light gamification, like awarding points for participating in polls or asking questions, can work wonders for keeping people engaged all day long.

Finally, build in real breaks. Give people a chance to step away from the screen, stretch, and recharge. They’ll come back feeling refreshed and ready for whatever’s next.

✦What’s the Best Way to Actually Get People to Show Up?

There’s no single magic bullet here; a multi-channel approach is the way to go. You'll want to start with a targeted email campaign for your existing audience, but don't just send one "save the date" and call it a day. Build a story around your event by revealing speakers and teasing session topics over a few weeks.

Get active on the social media platforms where your audience actually hangs out. Use eye-catching graphics, create short video clips of your speakers, and rally everyone around a unique event hashtag. You should also make it easy for your speakers and sponsors to promote the event to their own followers—it’s a great way to expand your reach.

For an internal company event, promotion needs to be frictionless. It has to live where your team already works. This is why connecting your calendar directly to your communication platform is such a game-changer.

This is where a tool like Be There is incredibly useful for teams running on Slack and Google Calendar. For companies using these tools internally, it's a remarkably handy solution. Instead of posting announcements that get buried, you create the event in your calendar, and Be There automatically shares it in Slack, making RSVP tracking effortless. It ensures everyone sees the event without creating more noise and solves a common logistical headache.

✦How Can I Prove This Virtual Event Was a Success?

To measure your return on investment (ROI), you need to look past simple attendance figures. The real value is tied directly to the goals you set way back at the beginning.

Here’s where to focus your attention to measure what really matters:

• New Leads: How many qualified leads did you actually capture? More importantly, how many of them took the next step you wanted, like booking a demo?
• Sales Influence: Did the event help move existing prospects closer to a decision? Check in with your sales team to see if it made a difference in their conversations.
• Audience Engagement: For events focused on customers or employees, look at things like which sessions were most popular, how many questions were asked, and which resources were downloaded. This tells you what really resonated.

And never, ever skip the post-event feedback survey. Getting that qualitative data and hearing directly from your attendees is one of the most powerful ways to prove the event's value and figure out how to make the next one even better.

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Ready to make your internal event planning easier? Be There is the first event planner built right inside Slack, turning your workspace into your event headquarters. Stop chasing down RSVPs and start creating events people love. Try Be There for free and see how it works.