Virtual Event Marketing in 2025: Strategies to Improve Signups and ROI

Virtual event marketing is about more than getting likes or views. Great online events start with finding the right people to show up. Then, it’s about making it worth their time, and giving them something valuable. This guide focuses on real strategies that help your event succeed, made for teams that need results.

Virtual Event Marketing vs. In-Person: How They Compare on Reach, Cost, and More 

	Virtual Events	In-Person Events
Reach	Anyone with the event  link can join	Limited by geography and travel
Cost	Less  logistics to manage, but more pressure on digital promotion	Venue, travel, and staff drive up costs
Engagement Tools	Live chats, polls, Q&A, clickable materials	Face-to-face interaction, hands-on materials
Data + Insights	Easy to track attendance and drop-offs as they happen	Harder to monitor unless you observe manually or use technology
Post-Event Value	Easy to reshare and repurpose recorded content	Often fades unless followed up manually

Before you start building the marketing plan for your virtual event, think about the end goal: getting people to register, show up, and stay engaged. Let’s break down how to make that happen at every stage, focusing on specific goals to achieve.

1. Pre-Event Goals: Get Real Registrants (Not Just Views)

Start with channels that convert, not just those that get attention.

Create Email Sequences That Pull People In

• Start with value: what they’ll learn or walk away with.
• Add speaker or session previews in each follow-up.
• Use segmentation so messages feel relevant.

Launch Ads That Reach the Right People

• Stick to intent-driven platforms: Google Ads, LinkedIn.
• Focus budget on warm audiences (site visitors, past attendees).

Partner With Groups That Already Reach Your Audience

• Swap content with mission-aligned organizations.
• Co-host a mini session or speaker series.
• Use each other’s email lists (with permission).

2. During-Event Goals: Make Your Event Worth Staying For

Let Attendees Choose Their Own Path

• Offer a schedule builder, so people can pick their sessions.
• Send reminders only for the ones they selected.

Include Real-Time Interaction Throughout The Event

• Include polls, chat, or Q&A in every session.
• Use upvotes to highlight attendee questions and increase interaction.

Watch for Drop-Offs, and Respond in the Moment

• Track which sessions are losing people.
• Flag moderators to follow up or adapt on the fly.

3. After-Event Goals: Turn Attendees Into Leads, Referrals, or Returning Participants

Make Session Content Available Immediately

• Send session recordings within a day if possible.
• Add quick links to download resources or rewatch key moments.

Send a Personal Follow-Up

Thank them for attending your event, ask for feedback, and give them one clear next step to follow. Do this ideally within the next 48 hours.

Share Event Outcomes Publicly

• Post event stats, quotes, or takeaways across different social media channels.
• Mention top contributors, tag speakers, and reshare key clips. Spread the word about how engaging and meaningful your event was and ask attendees to share their best moments on social media.

Know What Worked: How to Measure the Success of Your Virtual Event Marketing Efforts

You’re already putting all this effort into planning and promoting your virtual event. You should be able to see what paid off. The good news is that virtual events are easier to track than in-person ones.

Start by looking at the full attendee journey. How many people signed up? How many actually showed up? When did they drop off, and which sessions kept them around?

The following are metrics worth tracking to measure success, improve your next event and prove ROI:

• Attendance rate (registrations vs. check-ins)
• Session engagement (poll participation, chat activity, questions asked)
• Drop-off points (when people left or stopped interacting)
• Post-event actions (surveys completed, demos booked, next event signups)

Common Mistakes That Limit ROI for Virtual Event

Even with careful planning, a few missteps when marketing your virtual event can make things go wrong. The most common ones we see are:

1. Waiting too long to promote: Start at least 4–6 weeks out, with heavier pushes the final two.
2. Generic outreach: If your emails could go to anyone, they’re for no one. Personalize based on role or interest.
3. Difficult sign-ups: Long forms, too many clicks, or confusing flows lead to drop-offs.
4. Forgetting to follow up: You did all the work. Don’t let it end when the Zoom call closes.
5. No ownership of engagement: Assign someone to monitor chat, flag issues, and keep energy up during the live event.

Avoiding these five things can transform a forgettable webinar or virtual conference into an impactful experience.

Get Organized, Stay on Track, and Actually See Results With Sched

You’ve seen how to get people to tune in, keep them engaged, and turn that attention into real outcomes. You know how to measure results and what to avoid. But real success doesn’t happen without the right tools to support you.

A lot of teams rely on systems like Sched, designed to keep things organized when managing virtual event logistics. 

At the STEMxYouth Summit, a student-led conference, the event team used Sched to coordinate a six-hour online event with dozens of speakers and breakout sessions. As Eric Walters, Director of STEM Education at Marymount School of New York, shared:

“Students coordinated and ran a six hour virtual event FLAWLESSLY! I may have set up the account on Sched as well as all the Zoom links, but the success of the event belongs to the student coordinators. We doubled attendance and drew a more diverse group of speakers from across the United States as well; the virtual format made it easy for speakers to participate.”

That kind of success is what happens when the right tools remove the friction. Sched takes the pressure off by helping you:

• Drive signups through a branded event page and easy session sharing. 
• Keep attendees involved by letting them build their own schedule, check in from anywhere they are, and access sessions without extra logins.
• Get visibility during the event with real-time dashboards that show who’s checked in and where engagement drops off.
• See what worked (and what didn’t) by collecting feedback during the event and reviewing session-level reports afterward.

Sched won’t run the event for you. But it’ll give you enough structure to stay calm, and still look professional. Try Sched for free for your next event.

---

FAQs

What should a virtual event marketing plan include?

A good plan focuses on three stages: (1) driving registrations, (2) maximizing live engagement, and (3) following up after the event to convert attendees.

What channels bring most leads when marketing an event?

When looking at what channels bring the most leads, email and paid retargeting work best for getting serious registrants. Influencer buzz and organic social media posts help with awareness, even if they don’t drive as many signups on their own.

How can I tell if my virtual event was successful?

Look at:

• Signups vs. actual attendance
• Session engagement (polls, chat, time spent)
• Feedback or survey results
• Follow-up actions (demo requests, downloads, repeat registrations)

How soon should I follow up after a virtual event?

Make sure to follow up within 48 hours max after wrapping up an event. Your audience will still remember all the event perks and will be most likely to leave a detailed, trusted review.