Business owners and cigar fans are turning to Zoom virtual cigar events more than ever for all the glorious cigar-smoking revelry they offer, no matter the location. Hosting and promoting virtual events provide a unique way to engage with customers and industry leaders worldwide while tipping the sales and marketing scales in your cigar business’s favor.
So, leap into the digital sphere with us and discover how to capture all the benefits these unique events bring to the cigar world. We’ll show you how to effectively plan, promote, and host virtual cigar events and more. Let’s get to it!
Why Virtual Cigar Events Are Gaining Popularity
Virtual cigar events have been around for years. Yet, it wasn’t until the COVID outbreak of 2020 that virtual events caught widespread attention. As cigar businesses were forced to shut down due to COVID restrictions overnight, there were suddenly few options for cigar smokers when it came to engaging with fellow cigar lovers at their local cigar store or lounge.Â
Businesses worldwide turned to digital spaces to fill the void left by the shutdown. Enter virtual cigar events. Cigar lovers could enjoy cigars in the safety of their own homes while engaging with representatives from their favorite cigar stores or manufacturers. Once the word about virtual events was out, cigar smokers everywhere fired up their stogies and their digital devices. They rediscovered, albeit virtually, a camaraderie lost under the COVID lockdown.
Virtual events continue to rise in popularity, providing cigar lovers a fun, convenient, and engaging experience that doesn’t require getting dressed up or extra gas money. For cigar businesses, hosting a virtual cigar event is a cost-effective way to reach a broader cigar audience without the time and headaches live events bring. Also, virtual events fuel sales growth through effective marketing opportunities, consumer outreach, and education.
Choosing the Right Platform for Your Virtual Cigar Event
Many virtual event platforms are available yet not all will cater to your business needs. So, explore each platform’s features and consider what you need to make your virtual cigar event successful. Look to see if the platform provides robust tech and customer support. Is the platform user-friendly with a short learning curve? Is it easy to engage with attendees? What metrics does the platform provide? What restrictions, if any, does the platform impose? Cigarketing virtual event specialists can help you answer these questions and more to decide which platform is best.Â
Popular virtual event platforms include:
- Zoom
- WebEx Events by Cisco
- Microsoft Teams
- YouTube Live
- vFairs
- Whova
- RingCentral Events
Zoom, Microsoft Teams, WebEx and YouTube Live are widely used virtual event platforms that offer various features that can help you host a great virtual cigar event. However, these platforms can be expensive and have a limited range of quality and customization depending on your event goals. Other all-inclusive virtual event platforms, such as vFairs, cater to small businesses. These platforms offer a simple-to-use interface, affordability, and versatility while delivering high customer satisfaction rates.Â
Key Elements to Planning The Perfect Zoom Virtual Cigar Event
The planning stage of virtual event hosting is crucial to creating a seamless, trouble-free event that delivers the desired results. So first, decide what purpose the event serves you and the attendees. Is it to spread awareness about cigar products or services? Is it to bolster cigar accessory sales? Community outreach? Once you define your event goal, you can set your budget and develop the remaining elements of the virtual cigar event, such as scheduling, featured cigars, pairings, entertainment, etc.
Decide on a clear structure for your event so that it is easy for attendees to follow and holds their interest throughout. For example, you might start with a brief introduction and outline before introducing products or guest speakers while teasing at a surprise or two along the way to lend a little intrigue to the festivities.
Inviting manufacturer representatives as guest speakers can provide an additional layer of engagement and authenticity to an event. This is especially true if you plan to feature cigar and drink pairings. So, you might include reps from cigar companies, breweries, distilleries, or distributors in the virtual event. Reps often have jam-packed schedules, so contact them as soon as possible during the planning process to ensure they are available for your cigar event.
As live cigar events are often very social affairs, you might look to recreate the social vibe virtually. Many virtual event platforms offer tools to help foster greater social interaction. You can create virtual roundtables, enable group chat, or generate smart matching profiles to pair up like-minded cigar lovers. So, you have many options to help build a successful, fully engaging event.Â
Promoting Your Zoom Virtual Cigar Event for Maximum Reach
Getting the word out about your virtual cigar event is critical to maximizing attendance. So, there are various channels you can use to broaden your reach. Cater your event promotions to fit the channels used most by your customers. Partner with your marketing all-stars to optimize your customer profile and choose the channels your customers favor.
For example, social media platforms such as Meta (formerly Facebook), TikTok, and Instagram are hugely popular with consumers worldwide. These platforms are highly effective cigar marketing tools that let you inform your target cigar customers quickly and efficiently. In addition, these platforms are perfect for sharing virtual cigar event highlights across your digital space, letting you squeeze even more marketing “juice” out of the event long after it has ended.
E-mail marketing is another cost-effective way to promote your virtual event. It can reach customers fast while helping steer them towards attending the virtual event. Staying active with online cigar forums, like CigarPass or Reddit’s r/Cigars, is another option to help you spread the word. So, there are great opportunities to promote your virtual cigar event, regardless of the channel.
Engaging Your Audience During and After the Zoom Virtual Event
Getting people to your virtual cigar event is one thing yet keeping them there and engaged throughout is another. Virtual event hosts often inject games, like trivia or scavenger hunts, into the event to maintain attendees’ attention. Keep the games going after the virtual event to generate more everyday fun and sales opportunities. You can also sweeten the deal with special cigar discounts and promotions for those who maintain engagement throughout. This could be that surprise you hinted at earlier during the event.Â
Food pairings also open up possibilities, so inviting a chef or food pairing expert to demonstrate cooking methods or how food complements certain cigars is a great way to hold attendees’ interest throughout the event. That’s the key. You want virtual cigar event attendees engaged from start to finish to fully achieve your event goals.
Once the event ends, you will have many opportunities to keep the benefits going. Most event planning platforms allow you to record your event. So, you can make a replay of the event available on your YouTube cigar channel and other platforms. Or post excerpts across social media platforms for promotions and to generate interest in future events. The more ways you can engage with your cigar customers, and the more fun and interesting you can make it for them, the better overall results you will see for your virtual cigar event and beyond.
Put Virtual Cigar Events into Action to Broaden Your Reach and Influence
Virtual cigar events are the choice for reaching a broader audience, increasing prestige, and building better overall sales growth in a post-COVID, digital-obsessed world. Virtual cigar events are cost-effective and easier to implement than live events. So, discover a virtual cigar world filled with possibilities. Schedule a chat with one of our marketing all-stars today, and let’s go virtual.