Hybrid events are a great way to reach a broader audience online, reduce costs and economic footprint or increase your engagement with your audience.
To ensure your event's success, treating both virtual and in-person ticket holders equally is important. Read on to learn how you can utilise a 'hybrid-first' mentality and deliver an amazing event on Humanitix.
Create separate ticket types for online and in-person attendance
You can create mutliple ticket types at different prices and capacities meaning you can create a ticket type each for your "online" and "in-person" audiences. Create your ticket types via the tickets > ticket types page.
Include a ticket type description via the settings ⚙️ to highlight any important event or ticket information to help inform a buyers purchase.
Live ticket, virtual ticket, or a hybrid ticket?
While you may want to charge more for an in-person ticket than an online ticket, it’s worth assuring ticket buyers that they can still access the online event no matter which ticket they buy.
Customise event information using overrides on ticket types
Using the advanced settings you can set overrides on a ticket type so that ticket holders receive the most relevant information on their confirmation email and digital ticket.
For example: enabling this on the online-access ticket will provide information such as the start times of the online stream or delivery instructions of the stream link. Alternatively, add venue location or entry times for the in-person ticket holders.
This information may differ between those joining online or in person, so you’ll prevent confusion amongst ticket buyers.
Click the settings ⚙️ icon on your ticket type > advanced settings
The information you enter in the date/time overrides will appear on the ticket holder's confirmation email and ticket type.
For all other tickets, they will show the default event information as entered on the event information page of your event.
Deliver your online access link via email
The simplest and most common method to deliver access to your Zoom webinar, livestream or online content is to include a link in an email sent to your registered attendees. You can include this link in the order confirmation email they receive after purchase, if it's ready to go, or deliver it at a later date using an email campaign.
How to add the online link to the order confirmation email
Every registrant to your Humanitx event automatically receives an order confirmation email which includes the details of their order. You can add a custom message to this email that includes the instructions on how to join the online event.
While managing your event head to design & comms > messages and select the email message tab
Add a custom message for only specific ticket holders
You can customise the buyer journey and deliver the in-person event information or online access link to only those relevant ticket type holders.
Click the + add message button to add a custom message that will only appear if that ticket type is selected
It's often best practice to still offer access to the online event if in-person attendees cannot attend.
How to send out the online access link via email at a later date
You can easily contact your registered attendees using an email campaign to deliver any event information including your online access link. This email can be scheduled to go out at a specfic date before the event start time.
You can choose to select only the online access ticket holders or all ticket holders.
>> Learn more about sending out an email campaign
Deliver your online event using the Humanitix virtual event hub
Customise the customer journey further with the virtual event hub, a dedicated online landing page accessible via an attendee's digital ticket.
Not only is this a secure way to deliver your online access, but the landing page can host multiple live streams and/or breakout video links, additional written and visual content, and even give spotlights on your speakers - all on one page.
Enable the virtual event hub via the promote tab on the left-hand menu bar of your event.
Make sure to enable the virtual event hub for only online ticket holders.
Click the settings ⚙️ icon in the top right.
Build your virtual event hub by adding video, text, and presenter elements
Add your livestream link to the virtual event hub
Create a slick landing page that centralises all your content
Ticket buyer view - Build out your virtual event hub landing page
Promote the hybrid nature of your event
In addition to promoting your event through your normal marketing channels, there are a couple of tips you can take on when stylising your Humanitix event page.
📃 Include it in your event description
Add a clear piece of text to let prospective attendees know that there is both an online and in-person option to attend the event. Your copy may reflect whether you are running a primarily in-person event with an additional livestream option, or vice-versa.
Customise your event description via the event information > details page.
Add a ribbon or text to your event banner image
Add a banner to your event image for a colourful and eye-catching promotion of the online element. Your event banner is often the first thing ticket buyers will see.
When adding your event banner image via the event information > details page, check out the design on canva tool to easily edit and insert your image.
Set your event location
In-person or virtual? Things may not always go as planned. Setting your event up as a virtual event can help prepare for unforeseen changes while still providing the ability to attend in person, should the circumstances allow.
This means you can focus on offering a slick digital offering (for all ticket buyers) and reduce costs with a smaller venue for a better ROI (return on investment).
For example, set the event to an online location and include instructions for how the event will be delivered.
However, if your event has elements that have to go ahead in person, using the steps above means you can still set the event location as the live address while highlighting the hybrid model.
This is also great if you’re just looking to take advantage of the hybrid model and reach a broader audience that would not be able to attend in any circumstance e.g. inter-state or international attendees.
In this case, set your event location as the in-person location and use the ticket type date/time/location overrides.
Send a recording post-event
Send a link to the recording to all ticket holders using an email campaign
Like sending them an email with instructions to join the online event, you can also use the Humanitix email campaign tool to send a follow-up email to ticket holders with instructions on accessing a recording of the event.
Host this recording on an online storage device (Google Drive, OneDrive etc) or video streaming service (Vimeo, Youtube etc) and provide the publicly shareable link in your email message.
Add the recording to your virtual event hub
If you’re already using the hub, you can simply update the content on the page you’ve created. Ticket holders can access the recording by accessing the virtual event hub - the same journey they made when joining the online event!
Remove the link to the online event and replace it with an embed or link to your recording.
Let ticket holders know they can access this recording by directing them back to their digital ticket and/or send an email campaign and include the @viewvirtualeventhub shortcut in your email message.
E.g.
Hi @Firstname,
Thank you so much for joining us the other night! We hope you had as much fun watching as we did hosting the event. We really appreciate your support!
If you missed the event or would like to watch it again, we have provided a recording via the link below. This recording will be available for 1 week from today.
Recording: @Viewvirtualeventhub …
… Kindest
Event host