Virtual event budget The template is free and includes a guide

Additionally the event planners have to deal with ever-changing expectations. They have to compete with shorter attention spans and work with ever-shrinking budgets. Additionally, they need to demonstrate the ROI (ROI) of their events. They're typically expected to create exactly the same kind of participation as you would see in an in-person event virtually.

Below, we'll cover how you can budget for your online event, what lines you should eliminate in your spreadsheet, as well as how to measure the success of your event in order to get more substantial budget for the following one!

Print a copy of our free event budgeting template.

In this article

1.    Why you need an budget for your event (especially for virtual and hybrid occasions)
2.    Cost of hosting the virtual event
3.    Cost breakdown for virtual events
4.    What you need to have an event that is successful online
5.    How to measure the impact of your virtual event
6.    Include human touches to make your virtual experience appear real
7.    FAQs on budgeting an event that is virtual
8.    It's time to start event planning

Why you need an estimated budget (especially in hybrid and virtual event)

In many ways, online events can be much less expensive to host than in-person gatherings. After all, there's no need to rent chairs or a space for an event or print equipment, arrange accommodation, or even set up platters of charcuterie.

Setting a budget can help you make strategic decisions about the virtual event you are planning -- from where to cut costs to finding ways to increase sponsorship opportunities and cash flow.

If you have a budget for your event ahead of time it is possible to determine which line items are mission vital, which could be slashed, and where it is possible to come up with a new way of surprising and delighting attendees.

Average cost of hosting a virtual event

The cost for hosting a virtual event depends upon a variety of variables such as the length of the event, to the number of participants and speakers.

In the following piece, we'll discuss the various costs associated with hosting a virtual event, so you can more closely assess the expense of hosting your own party. However, for now, we'll outline what you can expect to pay for hosting a virtual event:

• If you are hosting a smaller webinar, with more than 500 participants, you can generally be prepared to spend between between $2,500 and $10,000.
• For a single-day virtual conference, complete with presentations and virtual breakout rooms, anticipate costs to range from to $4,000 up to $25,000.
• To host a conference for multiple days with multiple sessions, discussion rooms, breakout rooms and recorded content You can anticipate to spend between between $50,000 to one hundred thousand dollars.

It's clear, that's a pretty significant variation.

Let's dig into the different elements to be considered when planning the budget for your virtual event, in order to estimate costs more accurately.

Cost breakdown for virtual event

Example of cost breakdowns used for virtual event planning

What you need to create a memorable virtual event

Technically, you could run a virtual event by using a simple online meeting space with a camera and microphone. But, if you're trying to provide an seamlessand successful virtual experience, here are a few expenses that could be worth making.

Gear

It's not that difficult to find technology to make your online speakers appear polished and professional- but it does take some.

Instead, have presenters set up ahead of time with these:

• Microphones to ensure your audience can hear each sound ( prices start at $40)
• Cameras with crisp video ( prices start at $24)
• Ring lights that can be controlled for any poor lighting ( prices start at $30)
• In case you need to, use green screens are available ( prices start at $18)

If you're running an event that is more limited in budget You may be able to skip some of the items above Just make sure to check speakers' pre-existing setups ahead of time and guiding the speakers on how to improve the lighting they use and their levels of background noise during the event.

Learn more about gear

Virtual event software for hosting

It is possible to think of the event hosting software as the venue virtual in which your event will take place. Just like the physical venue the various platforms can provide you with various features.

According to Markletic, here's what you can expect to pay for the virtual event platform every month:

• Between $50 and $250 , you can host small virtual conferences that can accommodate up to 100 participants each.
• Between $625 and $8,000 to host larger virtual events with 500-2,500 guests.
• Between $25,000 and $40,000 , you can hold larger events that have more than 3,000 attendees.

The majority of virtual event platforms cost per user and will charge different price tiers dependent on the virtual event needs. (Think number of attendees, marketing and promotion features and security measures to name a few examples.)

Make sure to take note of the features that your event platform provides you with. Though some platforms could seem, at a superficial scale -- appear to be more expensive than others however, they might have additional features that make them more affordable when you consider the longer term.

Other software is also required.

If you opt for an option which doesn't include those features but you must ensure you include the following costs included in your budget when needed:

• Landing page hosting:starting at $39/month for landing pages that are hosted on an individual domain. Enterprise plans, for companies hosting multiple large-scale events, could cost as high as $469 per month.
• Registration forms for events: free for free occasions, but otherwise you will be charged a ticketing fee (for example, $0.99 and 2% of the ticket cost) per ticket, or an annual subscription that starts at $39/month.
• Email management software: starting at $3 per month to send 500 emails per month. Enterprise and premium plans generally cost between $136-150 for each user, per month.
• Audience engagement software: starting at $8/month for audiences of up to 50. Enterprise plan pricing ranges from $199/month up to 1,000 per month.

Speakers

Because virtual events need lesser travel and time as compared to in-person events. Most keynote speakers charge around half of their in-person fee when they host virtual events. What exactly a speaker will charge you, though, will usually depend on their experience and their popularity.

According to the Big Speak the company, you should expect to payfor:

• Between $2,500 and $5,000 to a relative new expert in the space
• $7,500 to $10,000 for a seasoned keynote or keynote speaker
• Between $10,000 and $30,000 for a thought-leader who has a large following or written books
• Between $20,000 and $75,000 for the most famous.
• From $100,000 to $200,000 to well-known celebrities

Content

If you're recording any type of content for your occasion, it's important to factor production costs into the budget.

To record at a studio, anticipate to spend anywhere between 375-$500 an hour to film. If you're recording remotely, this cost should drop by $125-$200 an hour.

Either way, warns Zephan Blaxberg who is the CEO of the ZMBMedia, the video production studio ZMBMedia, expect the costs of production to be about three times higher than what you'd initially expected. If you want to edit your video post-production, budget in $100 to $200 for an hour.

"Keep your mind on a 1:13 ratio for pre-event recordings in that for every minute recording, it will take roughly three times the time that is billed. Although your presenter may be speaking for a mere 60 minutes, your livestream technician is expected to arrive one hour earlier to prepare the studio, and then prepare. The technician will stay until at the least 1 hour after the recording has been completed to back up footage, and then begin editing process."

Marketing and advertising

Do you ask you (and the team! ):

• What amount of time will our marketing team spend on this particular event?
• How can we advertise the event to attendees who might be interested?
• Will we spend money on advertising on social media?
• What is our marketing email going to look like?
• We will work with influential people to spread the word about the occasion?
• What will our post-event marketing take on?

Remember that advertising and marketing could be among the costliest portions of hosting a virtual occasion.

"The biggest spend we have is on advertising and experts and thought leaders we invite on to give talks," says Miles DePaul, Director for Demand Generation at Superside. "This is the point where the worth of the Superside brand is realized. When people are more comfortable with the Superside brand and take advantage of our information Our participation increases, and event costs can start to regress. It is cheaper to advertise because our cost-per-click goes down with better brand awareness, and more organic marketing pays off. Speaker fees are reduced because great speakers want to work with us, or are willing to offer discounts."

After you've developed a plan, you'll have a better understanding of how you can make use of the resources you already have (such like your sales staff and existing email marketing software) or the areas where you might need to spend extra (for example, collaborations with influencers or landing pages hosting).

Swag or gift cards

• Notepads with a branded design for note-taking ( $4.66)
• Custom socks ( $9.78)
• A custom tote bag ($3.99)
• A plain mailer bag ($0.87)

While shipping will vary greatly dependent on where the attendees are located, the materials within the bags will cost $19.30 that's less than 20 dollars.

Sponsors or partners

This is an aspect where you are able to take out expenses from your virtual event budget. (We love to see it.)

Sponsorship opportunities might look differently for online events than they would be for events that take place in person However, they're still there. Prior to the event begins, sponsors may be featured on the marketing for your event prior to it like your event's landing page as well as social media updates along with your newsletter for the company, as well as reminder emails. You can also send registrants emails detailing any special offers by sponsors or partners.

In the course of your event, you can feature the logo of your sponsor on slides, host sponsored polls in their name and host a conversation with sponsors, or showcase their short-form video. If your sponsors would like to provide merchandise from sponsors to guests they can be included as swag items in your bags.

Also, be sure to include the sponsors you've partnered with in your post-event media which includes on-demand video, post-event emails and social media postsas well as videos snippets. By doing this, you're adding benefit to your sponsors as they'll continue to enjoy airtime even after the event has ended.

Additional event-related sources

What is the best way to gauge the effectiveness of your virtual event?

As you can probably tell from the above, there's plenty of expenses that go to hosting an excellent online event. To prove the ROI of your event , and ensure funding for future events, it's crucial to keep track of and demonstrate the effectiveness of the event.

A few metrics you might consider tracking include:

• Brand awareness: measured through events registrations, web traffic events, impressions of the event, and engagements on social media.
• Leads and customers generated by events: tracked via events, response to event surveys or any other actions performed by the new leads (such such as launching a free trial).
• Audience education is measured by the amount of time that guests attend and the amount of participation during discussions, Q&As and chats.

"Our event strategy works the best in delivering benefits across the entire funnel, influencing buyers to be aware of their problems and aware, but also influence meetings with sales, and eventually the revenue" DePaul says. DePaul.

He adds:

"The primary metrics we take a examine when it comes to any occasion, regardless of whether it's online or on-site, comprise (1) the total number of registrants from our ideal customer profile (ICP), (2) the total number of attendees that we have in the ICP, (3) opportunities generated by accounts following engagement at an event, and (4) revenues generated by accounts that have been engaged at an event.
 
  Certain factors that are down the funnel, such as the design subscriptions will, typically will take a while, and it's only just one aspect of your ROI calculation. The leading indicator of this will be if we're able to bring event attendees back to our website, consume more content, as well as take actions at the bottom of the funnel like visiting our pricing pages or asking for a demo."

Add human touchpoints to make your virtual event seem IRL

If you're hosting an event online it's simple to overlook the fact that real attendees are seated behind screens and it's easy for attendees to lose interest or get disoriented.

DePaul and the Superside team recognize the value of thoughtful, and even personal components when they design their online events. "Throughout this entire journey We are constantly trying to incorporate a personal touch through things like direct mail, gifting, user generated content, or videos," he says.

There are several methods to make your audience be more engaged with the event, other viewers, and your speakers:

• Utilize tools for engagement with the audience -for example, online chat or interactive survey and Q&A sections in order to ensure the event has a two-way conversation rather than the traditional monologue.
• Let attendees meet one another and chat in breakout rooms. Also, set up a LinkedIn group to ensure that attendees can connect with each other after the event. This will add a networking aspect (and extra value!) to your virtual event.
• Send out swag bags, and use a giveaway to encourage participation. These little things can foster excitement and keep attendees' energy up during the entire event.

DePaul's continues:

"For instance, our biggest summit in 2022, Momentum Summit, was promoted heavily with short selfie videos from our speakers. We used in both ads and customized 1:1 emails. When readers come to the landing page there will be videos of speakers, as well as our staff discussing the issues we'd like to address during the summit instead of the static landing page that is mainly text.

We also encourage our more VIP registrants to attend and invite their colleagues using things such as snack boxes, or offer the lunch option at the time of the occasion. The day of the event We encourage peer-to-peer interactions via discussion during the event chat, smaller executive roundtables or inviting them into the Superside Community in which conversations go on well beyond the event."

FAQs about budgeting for virtual events.

Have a few lingering questions concerning budgeting your next event online? We'll answer some frequently asked questions , and provide you with links to further resources to help with your planning.

What's the average budget for a virtual event?

According to Statista the survey found that 34% of marketers say they will spend between $500 and $1,000 per participant on an online occasion.

How can you plan your budget for virtual events?

How does hosting virtual events make money?

What are the most important things to look for in a virtual event platform?

The time is now to begin planning events

Planning a virtual event can be plenty of work However, it offers unique opportunities to grow your audience, partner with innovative sponsors and presenters as well as delight guests. In addition to hosting, the platform allows you to design a beautiful landing page, automate event reminder emails, engage the audience, incorporate your own marketing software and analyze after-event data.