The events industry is finally waking up again. After a year of Zoom calls, animated booths, and live chats, it’s time to return to live, in-person events. But that return isn’t going to happen over night. Before you have a booth full of sales staff and swag, you’ll want to consider how you’ll handle hybrid events.

What is a hybrid event? It’s a live event with both in-person and online elements. Users comfortable being physically present can attend the show in person, while those with travel restrictions or otherwise unable to attend can join online.

In fact, you can expect hybrid events to become the new event medium for the foreseeable future. So with that in mind, let’s look at how you can prepare for hybrid events.

Use Universal Lead Capture

With hybrid events, you’ll find two lead sources: in-person leads and online leads. In many cases, these could be handled by two different systems or even companies. However, universal lead capture systems like Captello can capture leads both in person and online. 

Typically speaking, at the in-person portion you have a better opportunity to get to know your Prospects. You have time for a conversation to build rapport, and with a better rapport you can include more survey questions to your lead capture form.

At the same time, virtual attendees are less likely to volunteer a lot of extra information. In general, the simpler your form, the more people will be willing to fill it out. 

When you use a universal lead capture system, you can set which form fields appear depending on the medium. Booth staff holding a lead capture device may have many optional survey questions to fill, while self-serve kiosks and online versions may only ask for basic contact info.

However the lead is captured, all leads are captured from the same source, making it significantly easier to track ROI. You can also make sure all of them receive timely follow up and nurture.

Prepare for Contactless Capture

Different people will have wildly different comfort levels at live events. While many may be happy to jump back in to handshakes and exchanging business cards, others won’t. To keep everyone comfortable, make sure to offer a contactless solution. 

Check to see what lead capture solutions your event has. Most lead capture providers have an API for universal lead capture systems like Captello to use. By renting their API, you can capture info from a simple name badge scan, avoiding exchanging cards.

In some platforms like Captello, you can generate a QR code that redirects to your lead capture form. Attendees can approach your booth, interact with your Activations, and share their contact info without ever touching a thing.

Make Things Fun

By far, the best way to get excitement at any kind of event is using gamification. At hybrid events, you can share the same game across kiosks, QR codes, and your virtual booth. Regardless of how the attendee finds you, they can participate.

With a universal lead capture system, you can even set up competitions between the in-person and virtual events. Each can have its own individual leaderboard, plus a global leaderboard with all of the top competitors.

By choosing a universal lead capture system, you’ll make sure to get the most out of your hybrid events.