Virtual Housing Fair Platform

  In 2020, Apple went live with their first virtual event ever. The 2020 WorldWide Developers Conference faced the COVID-19 challenge head-on and offered a unique virtual experience that had its attendees glued to their screens for two hours straight. How did Apple manage this feat?  The conference had 20 different speakers that announced new features of the product lines from the technology giant. The location changed to a different spot on the campus each time a new speaker came on to switch things up a bit. No one spoke for more than 10 minutes.  Despite being pre-shot and virtual, the event was a huge success. This begs the question: how did Apple realize all the nuances of entertaining a remote audience? The answer is: with meticulous research and a carefully crafted virtual event strategy. 

What’s a virtual event planner?

Like for a physical event, a virtual event planner is a detailed document that covers tasks to do along with their high-level details. These details can be task owners, important deadlines, or any further deliverables.  Such a planner is typically created before an event starts so all the moving parts can come together before you get on with all the hard work of the event setup. It acts as an event checklist so you can make sure you strike off everything in a timely manner. Let’s take a look at some of the sections it covers and how you can create one for your next event.

1. Define your event goals

Before you begin with the event planning, you need to understand why you’re hosting one in the first place. Clear event goals are the first step to enabling event success as they help hosts:

• Steer the event messaging towards the right target audience
• Plan activities that push them down the right conversion funnel
• Improve brand awareness 

Along with this, you’ll have to carve out other details such as event name, live dates, and target audience. 

2. Budget for the event 

Costs rise up pretty quickly when you don’t start off with a budget for your event. At the end of it all, you won’t even know what hit you. A starting budget keeps you grounded from the very beginning and is a crucial part of an event checklist. It saves you from burying yourself in budgeting nightmares.  Virtual event costs can vary greatly, most of it coming directly from your virtual event platform. Most of these start from around $10,000 and go upwards as you stack features or use more add-ons. 65% of all virtual event hosts spend between $500 to $1500 per attendee, so it’s common for a host to spend around $20,000 for a small company event for 20 people.  To find the right solution for your budget, compare virtual event platforms before you pull the trigger on a solution. Virtual event platforms vary greatly in the features that they offer for the price they charge.  An early comparison will make sure your event has everything it needs without emptying your pockets. 

3. Finalize event partners

Next up, get your event partners in order. A well-designed event planner needs to document all speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, and representatives. You probably won’t be meeting them before the event so coordinating in advance is absolutely critical.  Here’s a quick list of the things you’ll need to track in your event checklist:

• Partner name
• Partner contact information (number and email address)
• Deliverables such as speaking notes, marketing collateral
• Deadlines

4. Put together the agenda

With your partners on board, start chalking up an agenda for the event. You want to do this before you set up your virtual event so you’ll know exactly what activities you’ll be hosting.  Your event agenda needs to have the activity information for each line item. This includes the activity title, name and credentials of the speaker (if any), and starting date and time for the session. An agenda will also help figure out the time and place for your sessions. Do you want any concurrent speaker sessions? When will the keynote speaker be on? All these questions are best answered before you start working on the event layout so you know exactly what you want your virtual event platform to do for you.  Here are the types of activities you’ll typically want to add to your agenda:

• Welcome address
• Plenary sessions
• Breakout sessions/workshops
• Keynote sessions
• Games such as trivia and scavenger hunts
• The exhibition 

5. Set up the virtual event platform

Now that most of the event details have been taken care of, it’s time to set up the actual event.  There’s a lot that goes into a virtual event’s setup. You’ve got to design the visuals, set up webinars, brand the platform, and much much more. This is why you need to track as many tasks as you need with an event checklist and cross them out as you go.  Here’s a quick list of items you can include in your virtual event planner while setting up the platform:

1. First, get in touch with the project manager to discuss your needs and expectations for the event. 
2. Next, get your landing page up along with event details and a registration form. Until and unless this happens, there will be no way to market the event and get registrations.
3. Integrate any additional apps with the software. 
4. Set up all the activities (including sessions and games) in the virtual event platform. 
5. Coordinate with exhibitors on their booth setups. Make sure you have everything you need from them.
6. Create all relevant marketing collateral including banners, logos, videos, documents. Finalize the event layout with your project manager.
7. Test the software, sessions, and equipment before the event. 

6. Market your event

Once you have the landing page set up, it’s time to invite people! Virtual events are only as successful as their marketing strategies so you need to track every channel along with its deliverable in your virtual event planner.  Start with selecting the marketing channels for your event. Then, assign owners, set deadlines, and track deliverables. Here’s what you’ll need for your virtual event planner:

• A content marketing plan including any blogs, articles, PR posts for the event. 
• A social media marketing plan for all your channels along with copy and graphics. 
• An email marketing plan with the entire drip campaign planned out. 
• Optional: A paid marketing plan with budgets and launch dates.

7. Analyze event performance

A hundred people registered for your event but only 10 attended the keynote session. What went wrong? Tracking event performance helps accomplish four goals:

• Understand your target audience and their interests
• Flag areas of improvement
• Measure ROI and event success
• Improve future events

These make it essential to monitor audience engagement throughout the event and after it as well. For your virtual event planner, track all your relevant metrics along with your desired goal and the actual result. This will help you decide what worked and what didn’t, making it easier to plan for the future.  

Conclusion

That sums it up! While event planning can be a long and laborious task, timely planning gears you up for a stress-free event. An event checklist will be a life-saver. Make sure to create a comprehensive virtual event planner before you start putting together the event. We don’t want you chasing speakers while pulling at your hair.  

A virtual housing fair empowers participants by helping them learn about available property options, and connecting them with the best local property agents. These fairs advertise a large choice of accommodations or properties while also helping people meet landlords and disseminate relevant information about housing options, rental listings etc. It is also a unique opportunity for incoming attendees to discuss available housing and properties with estate agents, speak to lawyers etc. 

Who are you talking to?

For students it comes to finding on- or off- campus accommodation. Where students choose to live is one of the most important parts of the overall student and university experience. In addition, who you live with and where you live is an important decision. A virtual housing fair is that perfect opportunity for students to learn about the available options. Oftentimes, parents are also involved in this decision making process. Hence, this also allows them to come in, ask questions and see where and how their children will be living.   Other than that there are housing fairs for overseas properties. These virtual housing fairs allow you to purchase properties overseas from the comfort of your home. There attendees require additional information such as exchange rates hence, they need to speak to currency experts. However, you might have put together a stellar virtual housing fair platform. Be it for students or for people looking to purchase properties. How are you going to bring the relevant audiences to your platform? Simple: by vigorously promoting your virtual housing fair.  But before you dive into marketing, identify your audience. This is the first step towards successfully promoting your virtual housing fair. Know who your audience is.  So how will attendees know where to look for housing options? How do you draw them in? Let’s talk about how to spread the word about your virtual housing fair. 

Webpages

Your event landing page is the most important platform which can be used to promote your virtual housing fair. All your efforts, be it email marketing or content on social media, direct your audience to your webpage. Here you must host all the information your audience needs to make that final decision. From creative, eye-catchy designs to relevant information about the speakers, sponsors, date, time etc. Add in a powerful CTA, to give that nudge to audiences.  Moreover, add in a popup to your website pages, that instantly remind any new visitors of the upcoming virtual housing fair. This helps send in that extra reminder for your upcoming event. 

Email Marketing 

Email marketing offers a potential return on investment of 4400%. Woah! Isn’t that great? It still remains one of the best ways to attract and retain customers. Sending out email reminders about the virtual housing fair, the speakers present, the variety of housing options, rental listings can help attract your audience looking for accommodations or properties.  Additionally, regular newsletters before the event can be sent to students and parents with updates. You can add in helpful blogs which talk about ‘tenant landlord agreements’ or ‘what to look for when renting an apartment’. Or ‘top considerations when purchasing overseas properties’. Essentially, any content that would add value to their experience. Make sure to have a subject line and Call-To-Action (CTA) button that compels people to hit the register button. Through automated email building tools you can send emails before, during and after the virtual housing fair. If people have registered, but not logged in, they can be reminded. Share event announcements, or collect post event feedback through emails. Pre-schedule emails, or set up triggers to leverage email marketing. It is simple and effortless to use email marketing to advertise your event.

Social Media 

By leveraging social media channels of the participating university, realtors and property agents, you can expand your reach when advertising your virtual housing fair. Add in content, starting from basic details on where it is taking place, the date and time, most importantly how to register. Include details regarding the agents and realtors present, plus speaker sessions and networking opportunities that will be available for the attendees. Regularly post these updates regarding your event to keep your audiences informed.  Using platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter can help you create some noise around your virtual housing fair. Additionally, when it comes to housing fairs for students specifically, you can utilize Facebook groups created for students of each year and advertise the virtual housing fair there to further concentrate your audience. Current students, student body representatives and ambassadors can also be engaged to help talk about upcoming virtual fairs.  Of course, being active on social media is only half of it. To really build up noise around your virtual housing fair on social media, you need to create social media posts that carry the message in a captivating way. Using an online graphic design tool can help you create engaging social media posts without the need to spend on an expensive graphic designer.

Sponsors and Speakers at Virtual Housing Fair 

Invite speakers and sponsors to use their own social media channels to advertise the virtual housing fair. Using their own platforms will help spread the word far and wide with their own respective audiences. Engaging the speakers and sponsors present at your event will help bolster word of mouth. This is because at times, sponsors and speakers are the primary attraction towards the event, and leveraging their presence can help bring additional people to the event.  It is essential to promote your virtual housing fair to reach the relevant audiences. It is a great place for audiences to connect with agents and realtors, and get the resources they need. Through webinars and individual booths they have the opportunity to learn more before they rent an apartment or buy a property. They can even engage in one on one conversations with booth representatives for additional queries.  Use email marketing to your advantage, simultaneously creating noise on social media, and your website. Pay extra attention to the designs, and art works. Throw in catchy taglines, and powerful CTAs to your communication to effectively engage your audience. Voila! You are on your way to a successful virtual housing fair. 

  Are you looking to host a virtual housing fair for your incoming students this fall? Great choice! With the advent of virtual event hosting technology, it has become easier and effortless to host a housing expo online and help your students from around the world find accommodation before they get to their new home city. We have put together this guide to help you host the best virtual housing fair for your students. Here, we will cover the following:

• What is a virtual housing fair
• Benefits of hosting a virtual housing expo
• How to host a virtual housing fair
• Must-have virtual housing fair platform features 
• Tips to find the best virtual housing fair platform
• Virtual housing expo examples from vFairs 
• Some virtual housing fair tips for universities
• Virtual housing fair tips for accommodation providers
• Key takeaway

Let’s get started!

What is a Virtual Housing Fair?

A virtual housing fair offers an opportunity for current and prospective students to connect with housing providers, ask questions about the available accommodation, and find out more about living both on and off-campus in an online setting.  Student housing services present several housing options for students to choose from such as apartments, rooms, etc. Presentations and virtual tours by specific housing providers are also available within the booths. Additionally, virtual housing fairs include sessions for students from different university reps about the tips to find accommodation, legal advice for incoming students, renting do's and don'ts, on-campus facilities, etc. Online housing fairs are a great way for students to kick off their house hunt for the semester, and get all their questions answered. In addition, student legal services can help them understand their rights during their stay.

Benefits of Virtual Housing Fairs

There are several reasons why you should host a virtual student living fair for your current and prospective students. Let’s look at the top 5 reasons:

1. Ease of Access

Ease of access is perhaps one of the most important benefits of hosting virtual housing fairs. In person, events are mostly restricted to or limited by the geographical location but that is not the case with online events. You can easily connect students and accommodation providers from different locations. Not just this, students can attend from anywhere they want - whether from their favorite coffee shop or the comfort of their home. Additionally, you can accommodate as many students and exhibitors as you want - since there are no space limitations when you are hosting virtually. 

2. Cost-Effective

Virtual fairs cost significantly less than physical fairs. This is because there are no venue, catering, and staffing costs. If you are inviting speakers to give valuable sessions to students, you can work with a smaller budget since there are no travel, transportation, and accommodation costs.  All you have to do is pay a small fee to set up and customize your virtual platform and you are good to go. 

3. Time-Efficient

Organizing in-person events can take days, weeks, and sometimes even months of planning. You are required to book the venue months in advance. And don’t get us started on the marketing activities to attract attendees for registrations. All this not only sounds overwhelming, it actually is.  On the other hand, virtual events don’t take as long. You will be able to successfully host a housing fair even on short notice. In fact, virtual event hosting platforms always offer a dedicated project manager to make sure everything runs smoothly. Also, some good platforms come with in-built marketing tools to take care of your pre-event hype. All this and more! 

4. Networking Opportunities

When you're organizing a physical event, you may have noticed that many landlords don’t even get a chance to meet every candidate one-on-one. Similarly, long lines at booths make it impossible for students to interact with providers and many of them go home empty-handed. Through virtual housing fairs, students get a chance to individually e-meet housing providers through real-time chat and 1:1 meetings. They also get to collect as much information as possible about available options. Moreover, students can seamlessly navigate the event to visit their preferred booths.

5. Measurable Results

You can easily track your event’s ROI and results if you host a virtual fair. You can easily collect valuable information such as how many students have visited the booths, set up their profiles, instigated a chat with an accommodation provider, and viewed a video, among other things. Based on all the insights, you can improve your strategy and plans. Whereas during physical events, even taking an individual student’s feedback can become a headache!

How to Host a University Virtual Housing Fair

Preparing for a virtual housing fair takes a great deal of work. Let’s look at how you can host a successful virtual fair: 

Step 1: Determine your Goal

The first step is always the most important because if you are not clear about your event goals, then you are in trouble! If your university is hosting an online housing fair for students, your main goal is to connect students with as many accommodation providers as possible all in one place - so they can narrow down their housing search.  You also want to offer your students the opportunity to chat with providers and student services staff, get virtual tours of available spaces, ask questions and find out more about living on and off-campus.

Step 2: Select the Virtual Event Hosting Platform

Now it's time for you to select your event hosting platform. You need to consider the features you need to host a striking fair. We will talk more about that in a bit. Apart from features, you can evaluate your choices based on the provider's years of experience, cost, support, and user interface.  Remember to browse case studies and client success stories of every platform you are considering. This will help you understand the platform and know whether it is the right fit. Good virtual event solutions will offer you a live demo to answer all your questions.

Step 3: Set up your Event Schedule

Next, focus on setting up the logistics for your virtual housing fair. Here you will decide the complete schedule of your event including the date and time. You will also need to decide how many exhibitors will attend and how many webinars will run. Also, make sure to have your complete schedule on the event’s landing page because it would make it easier for students to seamlessly navigate the fair and connect with housing providers they are interested in without any confusion. 

Step 4: Promote your Event

After you have planned out your schedule - creating a pre-event hype to attract attendees should be next on your checklist. Because even if you have everything planned out, launching the event without attendees is meaningless. Now you must be thinking, ‘how can I get people to join?’ - it’s not a big deal. All you need is a well-thought-out marketing plan!  Since the fair is for incoming and existing students - leverage email marketing and your university's website to get the word out. You can inform everyone about the fair through newsletters and by posting ads on university soft boards and student forums. Moreover, you can share the event platform’s screenshots and a list of companies who are participating to stir up the excitement.

Step 5: Invite Potential Speakers

Now you need to make a list of all the potential speakers that you should invite to deliver sessions such as legal advisors, real estate advisors, campus staff, etc. To support your search, you can either use practical tools to find speakers in your industry or use the contacts you already have to save both time and effort - all up to you!

Must-Have Virtual Housing Fair Platform Features 

Your choice of virtual housing fair platform should not only enable you to create amazing attendee experiences, but it should also allow you to engage them through virtual tours, 1:1 chat with housing vendors, and more. Make sure that your event hosting platform has the following features to make your student housing fair successful:

Customization Options

Event branding is one of the most important ways through which you can excite and interest the students to attend your event.  You should look for a platform that not only allows you to showcase your university or college but also the housing providers through ample branding options. You should be able to add logos, relevant imagery, brand colors, videos, and all sorts of items to highlight your identity. 

3D Virtual Environments

The platform should provide a ‘real’ experience to attendees through virtual environment features, something that is closer to physical events. Therefore having 3D interfaces is a game-changer.  We all know how hard it can be for university student affairs to engage students during the virtual event and let’s not talk about webinar fatigue. But interactive 3D designs such as auditoriums, virtual lobbies, booths, avatars let you bring your virtual event to life and help you keep your audience glued to the screen.

Virtual Exhibit Halls/ Booths

You need individual personalized and fully customizable booths for your exhibitors or accommodation providers. Because booths should enable them to deliver virtual tours of available spaces, upload floor plans, and other documents. Virtual booths will make it easier for students to find the information they need in real-time. 

Chat Features

Features such as chat/ group chat and 1:1 meetings are a great way for attendees and exhibitors to connect and develop relationships throughout the virtual housing expo.  Your students should be able to get the conversation going with video and audio chat options. A meeting scheduler is another great way to let incoming students reserve appointments with student housing services, property agents, or landlords within the exhibit booths to ask direct questions about on-campus living or off-campus housing.

Live & Pre-recorded Webinars

Speakers such as legal advisors and university staff should be able to conduct live, semi-live, or pre-recorded sessions to familiarize prospective students with on-campus facilities, available spaces, etc. Additionally, at the end of webinars students should be able to ask questions through a live Q&A session. 

Event Reports

Your event hosting platform should also enable you to measure the performance of your virtual housing fair through event reports such as fair turnout, student engagement, and ROI. Additionally, data analytics helps filter out meaningful event information, that allows you to improve attendee engagement to create more personalized content.  Moreover, it helps you better understand your audience and their behaviors, and make your future virtual events more impactful.

Tips to Find the Best Virtual Housing Fair Platform

Finding the best virtual housing fair platform can be very challenging for university and college student housing services staff. There are so many options available in the market. Here are some tips to help you choose the best virtual student living fair platform:

Know What You Need

The virtual event hosting platform looks great, but does it offer all the features necessary to make your event a success? This is where you have to be very smart about your decision. List all your ‘nice-to-haves and ‘must-have’ features and then choose a platform. Because at the end of the day, platform features should help you achieve your goals. 

Stick to Your Budget

Some virtual event platforms are free with basic features and others are premium solutions. So it's crucial to set up a budget and make a list of must-have features before jumping straight into it. This will not only save you time by narrowing down your research but also help you find the right fit. 

Compare Reviews

Top review platforms like G2 and Capterra offer unbiased customer reviews about products including ratings and reports on user satisfaction. Therefore, it’s always a good idea to check them out to compare platforms. Choose the platform that has the highest ratings and positive customer reviews by other universities and colleges. 

Reach out to Similar Event Hosts

There is no harm in reaching out to universities or colleges that have hosted similar events before you. You can always ask for the platform that they have utilized and their experience and whether they would recommend the same platform to you or not. 

Request for Demonstration

Have you performed an extensive search and narrowed it down to a couple of platforms that interest you but still find it hard to make one final decision? The best step forward is to book a one-on-one demo session with the product expert. Product demos are highly effective because they enable you to understand how the solution truly works. Also, you can visually see the ‘value’ for money that the platform offers you.

Virtual Housing Expo Examples 

vFairs is wow-ing its customers with top-notch features and tools necessary for hosting striking virtual housing fairs for universities, and colleges. 

Liverpool Student Homes

vFairs helped LSH to host its virtual housing fair in March 2021. LSH is owned and managed by the University of Liverpool, and other colleges in the area. The LSH virtual housing fair provided students with an opportunity to meet a selection of LSH accredited landlords, and explore their accommodation options for the 2021/22 academic year.

Penn’s Off-Campus Housing Fair

Similarly, Penn Off-Campus Services partnered with V-fairs to host a virtual housing fair. Off-Campus Services (OCS), is a department of Penn’s Business Services Division that provides resources and tools to assist and support student’s housing searches. They provide them with information to help make finding an off-campus home less stressful. Through the event, students got a chance to live chat with both Penn departments and local landlords, from any location and on any device, without downloading any type of software. They also virtually visited as many booths as they chose without having to travel anywhere. 

Virtual Housing Fair Tips for Universities

Want to host a fair that becomes the talk of the town for weeks, if not months? Here are some tips to help you host the most valuable virtual housing expo for your students:

• Have a beautiful landing page for your virtual housing fair with all the necessary information such as event agenda, speaker bios, sponsors, time, day, date. Landing pages act as a gateway to your event and are considered essential. 
• Make sure your landing pages are optimized for SEO to boost the page ranking in Google search results. 
• Offer a user-friendly registration form so that students can easily register for and attend your fair.
• Use email marketing to attract your students to the event. You can also send out email blasts to create some pre-event buzz. 
• Set clear expectations for your exhibitors who are showcasing their spaces. 
• Prepare content way ahead of time. Teaser videos can always spark some level of excitement and curiosity among event attendees. 
• Market your event through social media channels since they offer the most influential places today. 
• Ask your speakers, and exhibitors to spread the word. 

Read more about - How to Promote your Virtual Housing Fair

Virtual Housing Fair Tips for Accommodation Providers

Have you decided to exhibit at a virtual fair? Here are some tips for you to get the most out of your virtual booth:

• Focus on branding when you set up your booth to help you stand out from other providers.
• Make full use of text, audio, and video chat. Use both group and private chat to address questions and connect with students.
• Upload content such as guides, floor plans, checklists, and property flyers that students can browse and download.
• You should include a virtual tour of the available space in your booth to attract tenants.
• You should host at least one webinar with live Q&A to boost your brand visibility

Key Takeaway

A virtual housing fair is an effective way to connect incoming students with accommodation providers to ensure your students secure on/off-campus housing. Because by going virtual you are breaking down the limitations and barriers. You are essentially bringing your event to the student body spread across different locations and giving them an opportunity to secure accommodation before stepping onto the campus. Just remember to follow our tips as you navigate your virtual event journey. If you'd like to browse more events that you can host as a university, check out our Complete Guide to Virtual Events for Universities.