Nobody wants another boring webinar.

You know the type. Generic agenda, forgettable speakers, that awkward 5-minute delay while someone figures out screen sharing. The kind of event that makes you wonder why you didn't just watch the recording at 2x speed after the fact or skip altogether.

At Exit Five, we've cracked the code on building virtual events that people actually get excited about. Our recent event, The Ultimate Roast of B2B Emails, pulled in 3,300 registrants with a 40% attendance rate, generated 4,000+ messages in live chat, and turned into 6+ hours of content we're still repurposing months later.

The secret? It's not just about finding speakers and firing up Zoom. Great virtual events are full experiences. From the moment someone hits your landing page to the content you're sharing once it’s over.

Here's exactly how we turn virtual events into a marketing engine at Exit Five. And you can, too.

Make Registration a No-Brainer

If people aren't signing up for your event, nothing else matters. 

Your registration page is a major part of this. Treat it like a product launch page. What’s in it for the attendee? That should be front and center. Don’t make them search for it or you’ve already lost them.

Our Ultimate Roast of B2B Emails landing page worked because it immediately told you what you'd get: 15 experts, 5 live teardowns, real feedback on actual emails. 

No fluff, no vague promises. Just straight to what’s in it for attendees.

From there, we make sure every event landing page includes:

• A clear speaker lineup with actual photos and bios (not just names and titles)
• Filterable agenda that shows exactly what happens when (because people should be able to come for specific topics and speakers)
• An FAQ section to answer the questions you’re constantly getting directly on your landing page (so people know exactly what to expect)

It’s also helpful to keep your signup flow as simple as possible. Don’t make people fill out a 12-field form. Keep it as simple as you possibly can. For this specific event, we just asked for name, email, company and role.

And if you’re constantly getting questions like, “Will this be recorded?” An FAQ section like this helps a ton:

The platform matters here, too. We use Zuddl because it lets us build landing pages that don't look like every other event page. You can customize the whole experience without needing a developer or designer. A total gamechanger. 

So before you launch your next event landing page, ask yourself if you would be excited to attend. If the answer is no, keep tweaking until you would be.

Make the Event Feel Like an Experience

Here's where most virtual events fall flat. They’re treated like a meeting instead of a show. But most meetings aren’t special. And your event *needs* to be.

For us, this looks like branded intros, smooth transitions between speakers, music during breaks, and copy that actually has personality. 

The production details that actually matter?

• Tight timing: Sessions start and end exactly when promised
• High energy: No 20-minute intros or rambling thank-yous
• Interactive elements: Live chat, polls, surprise guests, giveaways
• Smooth transitions: Music, branded overlays, clear next steps

For our Ultimate Roast of B2B Emails, we had two coffee breaks where we put a code up for 15 mins and the first 50 people who scanned it got a voucher for a coffee sponsored by Reachdesk. It was the perfect way to activate a sponsor and keep people engaged and online.

We also ran giveaways with our event sponsors that were tied to the specific content (and that attendees were actually excited about):

After the email-focused sessions, Knak gave away a free subscription and Meta Ray-Bans. For the events session, Zuddl offered free platform credits and a Hoka gift card (perfect for anyone running around at their next conference). And after the other sessions, we handed out Exit Five memberships, a ticket to our Drive conference, and more.

It wasn’t just swag, it was stuff that reinforced the session takeaways and got people to show up live.

And throughout the entire event, our team and the speakers were encouraging people to respond in the chat. We also had a Q&A at the end of each session to answer questions in real time and involve attendees. These touches made it feel like an event people were participating in, not just watching.

Zuddl gave us the formatting flexibility to do all of this without batting an eye. 

The bottom line? The way your event looks and flows matters. Production value keeps people engaged. Take the extra step to make it feel special.

Build With Repurposing in Mind

This is where the real magic happens. Every session becomes content fuel for the weeks and months ahead.

We don't think of events as one-and-done. We think of them as content engines. Each session gets published to our podcast afterward. We pull key moments for social media. We share clips with speakers so they can repurpose on their own channels.

Our post-event content strategy includes:

• Podcast episodes for each major session
• Social clips for LinkedIn and for speakers to continue sharing after their session (which Zuddl’s built-in AI tools automatically generate)
• Follow-up emails sharing the recordings and summaries from each session. 

This approach turned our one-day event into weeks of content. We're still getting engagement from clips we shared months later.

Don't think of it as a one-day event. Think of it as a content engine.

Track What Actually Drove Results

Total registrations are nice, but they don't tell you what to do for your next event.

We track everything: which campaigns drove signups, what content resonated, when people dropped off, which follow-up content got the most engagement.

For our Ultimate Roast of B2B Emails, we tracked daily registration by source:

• Email campaigns to our list
• LinkedIn posts from speakers and our team
• Paid ads targeted at B2B marketers

The data showed huge spikes on days with strong email sends and when speakers shared on LinkedIn. That told us exactly where to double down for the next event.

We also tracked engagement during the event itself. Which sessions had the most chat activity, where people dropped off, what questions came up most often. That feedback shaped our follow-up content and gave us ideas for future events.

Platform analytics matter here. You need clear breakdowns of registration sources, attendance patterns, and engagement metrics. Zuddl's dashboard made this super easy for us by breaking down registration numbers by the day so we could easily tell what drove the most signups and when.

Track what works so you’re not guessing the next time around. This will turn into your blueprint for the next event. Because you’ll know exactly what’s going to drive signups.

Results: What Success Looks Like

The numbers don't lie. Our Ultimate Roast of B2B Emails had:

• 3,300 registrants across all campaigns
• 40% attendance rate which is way above typical webinar benchmarks
• 6+ hours of content that we're still using
• 4,000+ messages in live chat during the event

But the real win was turning it into an ongoing content machine. We're still getting value from that one-day event months later through podcast downloads, social engagement, and people discovering Exit Five through the content.

Good results aren't random. This was a repeatable process that we’ve refined after running dozens of events, not luck.

Final Tips: Your Virtual Event Checklist

Here's your quick-hitting checklist for your next event:

1. Make registration smooth - simple forms, clear value prop, mobile-friendly
2. Focus on experience, not just content - production value, smooth transitions, interactive elements‍
3. Think like a content marketer - plan for follow-up content, not just live viewership‍
4. Track what actually works - source attribution, engagement metrics, follow-up performance‍
5. Choose tools that help you move fast - game-changing platforms (like Zuddl) that handle the experience stuff so you can focus on content‍
6. Plan for post-event content - clips, podcasts, social posts, speaker packages

The difference between forgettable virtual events and memorable ones isn't budget or big-name speakers. It's treating the whole thing like a real experience that’s worth people's time. Make them excited for the next one before it’s even over.