Virtual Event Budget: Free template and guide

On top of that, event planners are dealing constantly changing expectations. They must compete for attention spans while working with ever-eroding budgets. Also, they must prove the ROI (ROI) of their events, and they're typically expected to create an engagement level similar to that that you'd see at an in-person event virtually.

We'll go over how to budget for your virtual event, which line items you can strike out of your spreadsheet, and how to measure the success of your event -- so you can get a bigger budget for the next one!

Create a copy of our free budgeting templates for events.

In this article

1.    The reason you should have an budget for your event (especially for virtual and hybrid event)
2.    Average cost of hosting a virtual event
3.    Cost breakdown for virtual occasions
4.    What you need to pull off an event that is successful online
5.    How to measure the success of your virtual event
6.    Incorporate human-like touches to make your virtual experience feel IRL
7.    Budgeting FAQs for a virtual event
8.    Time to get organized for your event

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

In many ways, virtual occasions can be far cheaper to host than in-person occasions. After all, there's no requirement to hire chairs or space at an event, print materials, sort accommodation, or even set up platters of charcuterie.

However, setting a budget can help you make informed decisions regarding your virtual event -- from how to reduce costs, to discovering possible sources of sponsorship as well as cash flow.

When you budget for the event in advance it is possible to determine the line items that are vital, which could be slashed, and where you can get creative in engaging and delighting guests.

Cost of hosting an average virtual event

The average cost of hosting a virtual event depends on several factors -- from the length of the event, to the number of people who will be speaking and the number of attendees.

Later on in this post, we'll go over the various costs associated with hosting an event online, so you can more closely estimate the cost of hosting your own party. However, for now, we'll outline what you can anticipate in terms of the approximate cost for hosting an event online:

• In the case of a webinar that is shorter, and has up to 500 attendees You can expect to pay between $2000 and $10,000.
• A single day virtual conference that includes the ability to present and even virtual breakout spaces, you can expect prices to vary from to $4,000 up to $25,000..
• If you are planning a virtual conference that lasts for a long time that features multiple sessions, discussion rooms, breakout rooms as well as recorded material You can anticipate to pay between $50,000 and one hundred thousand dollars.

You can see, that's a pretty significant spread.

Let's dig into the different elements to be considered in planning your budget for your virtual event, so you can estimate expenses more precisely.

Cost breakdown for virtual events

Examples of cost breakdowns to plan a virtual event

How do you make a virtual event

In terms of technology, you can conduct a virtual gathering using just an online space for meetings along with a camera a microphone. However, if you want to provide a seamlessand successful virtual experience, here are several expenses could be worth spending money on.

Gear

It doesn't take too much technology to make your online speakers look polished and professional -- but it does take some.

Instead, set presenters prior to the time by completing the following:

• Microphones that ensure your viewers can be heard each sound ( prices start at $40)
• Crisp video cameras ( prices start at $24)
• Ring lights to control for the possibility of poor lighting ( prices start at $30)
• In case you need to, use green screens ( prices start at $18)

If you're planning an event with a tighter budget You may be able to skip some of the items above Make sure to check the speakers' setups prior to of time, and coaching them on how to optimize their lighting as well as volume of background sound during the celebration.

Find out more about gear

Virtual Event Hosting Software

The idea is to consider an event-hosting software program as the venue virtual in the event that will take place. And just like physical venues various platforms provide various features.

According to Markletic is a good resource for what you can expect to pay in virtual event platform costs per month:

• Between $50 and $250 to hold small virtual meetings which can have up to 100 people for each.
• Between $625 and $8,000 to host larger virtual events with 500-2,500 guests.
• Between $25,000 to $40,000 is the minimum amount needed to host larger events with over 3,000 attendees.

Virtual event platforms typically cost per user and charge different pricing tiers dependent on the virtual event needs. (Think the number of guests, marketing and promotion features as well as security features to name a few examples.)

Be aware of the features that your platform for events comes with. Although some platforms might -- at the surface level -- seem more expensive than others, they may come with added features that can help them be more affordable over the long term.

Any other software needs

If you select a platform that does not include those features, however, make sure you add the following charges in your budget as needed:

• Landing page hostingstarting at $39/month for a landing page with an individual domain. Enterprise plans for organizations 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 an ticketing charge (for for example, $0.99 and 2% of the ticket cost) per ticket, or the monthly fee starts at $39/month.
• Email management software: starting at $3/month to deliver 500 email messages per month. Enterprise and premium plans generally cost between $136-150 per user per month.
• Software for engagement with audiences: beginning with 8 dollars per month for groups of up to 50. Pricing for the Enterprise plan ranges between $199/month to $1,000/month.

Speakers

Virtual events take lesser travel and time than traditional events, the majority of keynote speakers are charged around 50percent of their live cost when they host virtual events. The exact amount the speaker is going to charge, though, will usually depend on their experience as well as how popular they are.

According to the Big Speak You can anticipate to payfor:

• A range of $2,500-$5,000 for an expert who is relatively new within the field
• Seven,500-$10,000 to an experienced keynote or keynote speaker
• Between $10,000 and $30,000 to a thought-leader with a large following or book published
• From $20,000 to $75,000 for famous people
• From $100,000 to $200,000 to well-known celebrity

Content

If you're recording any type of content for the occasion, it's important include production costs in the budget.

If you want to record in a studio, expect you to shell out anywhere from $300 to $500 per hour to film. If you're recording remotely, this cost should drop to $125 to $200 an hour.

Whatever way you go, warns Zephan Blaxberg, CEO of video production studio ZMBMedia, expect your production costs to at least three times more than what you'd initially expected. For post-recording edits, budget in $100 to $200 an hour.

"Keep an eye on a 1:3 ratio for recordings prior to events: for every minute of recording, it will take roughly three times the amount of time charged. Although your presenter may be speaking for a mere 60 minutes, the livestream tech will be arriving one hour earlier to prepare the studio and prepare. The technician will stay until at the least 1 hour after the recording to backup footage, and then begin editing process."

Marketing and advertising

You can ask yourself (and the team! ):

• What amount of time the marketing team of our company will devote to this particular event?
• What can we do to promote this event to potential attendees?
• 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 help spread word about our occasion?
• What is our post-event advertising strategy? look like?

Keep in mind that marketing and advertising can be some of the most expensive aspects of hosting an online event.

"The most significant expenditure we can make is advertising, as well as experts or thought leaders that we bring to speak at our events," says Miles DePaul director of Demand Generation at Superside. "This is where the value of the Superside branding comes into. Once people get more acquainted with our brand and gain knowledge from our content the participation rate increases and the event budget will begin to decrease. We save on advertising since our cost-per-click goes down with increased brand recognition, and more organic promotion pays off. We save on speaker fees due to the fact that great speakers would like to partner with us or are willing to offer discounts."

Once you've come up with your plan, you'll be able to be able to see how you can make use of your existing resources (such as your marketing team and existing email marketing software), and the areas where you might require additional funds (for instance, for influencer partnerships or landing page hosting).

Swag or gift cards

• A branded notepad that allows note-taking ( $4.66)
• Custom socks ( $9.78)
• A custom tote bag ($3.99)
• A plain mailer bag ($0.87)

Shipping costs can vary depending on the location of attendees, the materials within the swag bags would cost you $19.30 that's less than $20.

Partners or sponsors

Fortunately, this is an opportunity to take out the costs of your virtual event budget. (We would love to know.)

Opportunities for sponsorship may be different for virtual events than they do for in-person events however, they are still available. Prior to the event, sponsors can be highlighted across all of your pre-event marketing, including your event website and social media pages along with your newsletter for the company, as well as reminder emails. Also, you can send participants emails detailing any special offers from partners or sponsors.

At the time of the occasion, you may display sponsor branding on transition slides, host sponsored polls in their name and host a conversation between your sponsors or showcase their short-form video. If your sponsors would like to provide items from their sponsors to the attendees and attendees, they could be included as swag items in your bags.

Don't forget to feature the sponsors you've partnered with in your post-event media -- including on-demand footage as well as post-event emails, social media posts, and short video clips. In this way, you're giving worth to sponsors as they'll continue to enjoy airtime long after the event has been concluded.

More event resources

How to measure the success of your online event?

You're probably aware by now, there are numerous expenses that go in hosting an amazing virtual event. To demonstrate the return on investment of your venture and to secure the funding needed 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 the number of registrations for events, traffic on websites as well as event impressions as well as social media interactions.
• Leads and customers generated: tracked through event sign-ups, responses to event surveys or any other actions performed by leads who have been contacted (such as starting a free trial).
• Educational value for the user is measured by the amount of time with guests as well as the level of attendee engagement with discussions, questions and answers and chats.

"Our events strategy is the best when it is delivering benefits across the entire funnel and influencing customers to not only become problem-aware but also to influence more meetings with sales, and eventually the revenue" states DePaul.

He adds:

"The primary metrics we take a examine for any event, whether it's virtual or in-person, include (1) the total number of attendees of our ideal customer profile (ICP), (2) the total number of attendees that we have in our ICP, (3) opportunities that are created by account after engaging at an event and (4) revenues generated by accounts that have been engaged at an event.
 
  Certain lower funnel indicators, such as the design subscriptions will, typically will take a while, and this will just be an element of your ROI calculation. The most reliable indicator will be if we can bring participants back to our site and consume more of our content and also take action at the bottom like viewing our pricing page or requesting demonstrations."

Include human touches to make your virtual experience feel IRL

If you're hosting the event via a computer, it can be difficult to remember that actual people are sitting behind their screens which makes it easier for attendees to lose interest or become disoriented.

DePaul and the Superside team are aware of the significance of thoughtful, even personalized aspects when planning their online events. "Throughout the entire process We are constantly trying to incorporate a personal touch by using things such as direct mail, gifting and user-generated content or video," he says.

Here are some ways to help your audience feel more connected to your program, the other attendees and speakers.

• Make use of tools to engage your audience- like a Live chat feature, polls that are interactive and Q&A sections in order to ensure your event is an interactive conversation, not a monologue.
• Let attendees meet one another and have a chat in the breakout rooms. Also, establish a LinkedIn Group so that participants can interact to one another after the occasion. This will add a networking element (and an added benefit!) to the virtual event.
• Distribute swag bags and use a giveaway for participation. These small elements can help create excitement for attendees and keep' energy up during the entire event.

DePaul's continues:

"For instance, our biggest summit of 2022, Momentum Summit was heavily promoted using short video selfies from our speakers. We employed in ads as well as personalized 1:1 emails. When readers come to the landing page, we'd have videos from speakers, as well as our team talking through the issues we'd like to address at the event rather than the static landing page that is mainly text.

We also encourage our more VIP registrants to come along and bring their colleagues along with things like snack boxes, or the lunch option on the day of the event. The day of the event, we prioritize peer-to-peer connections by engaging in a discussion chat, smaller executive roundtables or inviting them into our Superside Communities for conversations that continue long after the event."

Budgeting questions for a virtual conference

Have a few lingering questions about budgeting for your next event online? Here, we'll address some of the most frequently asked questions and link you for additional resources that can help you plan your event.

What's the budget average for virtual events?

According to Statista, 34% of marketers claim they will spend between $500 and $1,000 per person for an online event.

How do you budget for an online event?

How can hosting virtual events make money?

What should I look at in a virtual events platform?

It's time to start planning your event

Planning a virtual event can be plenty of work However, it offers unique opportunities to grow your following, work with innovative sponsors and presenters, and delight attendees. Aside from hosting, 's platform lets you build a gorgeous website, create event reminder emails, engage your guests, connect with your own marketing software as well as analyze event post-event analytics.