It’s no secret that COVID-19 has shifted so many aspects of our lives, including how we plan and enjoy events. Brands and businesses that rely on event attendance have scrambled to come up with ways to remain engaged within their communities. While it may seem impossible to reimagine your in-person event as a virtual one, there are many benefits to leaning into the digital world. Virtual events allow your brand new opportunities to reach a more global audience. With a larger audience comes a larger chance of standing out, and a greater event attendance than ever before. While there has been a requirement of physical distance during this time making in-person events impossible, there is a newfound opportunity in the world of virtual events.
Walk your audience through the process
This digital format of events and event attendance can be a bit of a learning curve for all of us, so it’s a good idea to be clear with your audience about what they can expect. Be specific with the topics, speakers, and purpose of your event so that you’re sure to attract the right audience. It’s also a good idea to break up your event into concise sections to give it structure, and an easy-to-follow along pace for the attendees. Since you’re not all in the same room together, distractions are more likely to occur for your audience tuning in at home, so by supplying a timeline, your attendees can stay focused so they don’t miss your next point.
Co-Market your event
Co-Marketing your event is another great way to help broaden your audience. The idea of co-marketing involves partnering with another brand to create an event together. Creating a virtual event takes away the limitations that distance creates, making it way more feasible to co-market with brands and sponsors all over the world. By partnering with another business or partner, your event is likely to have a bigger online turnout, and your brand will gain more exposure. Another benefit of co-marketing is the ability to reach out to organizations or speakers that can add more credibility to your business. In the weeks and days leading up to your event, the act of cross promoting from all parties involved can reach far more people, leading to a higher event attendance.
Get the word out
Whether you’ve decided to co-market your event, or to plan on your own, it’s important to have as many people promoting the event as possible. If you’re featuring a keynote speaker, have them post and promote to their individual networks. Encouraging employees to spread the word by sharing the event on their personal channels is also a great way to increase the buzz and build anticipation. Depending on your business, incentives may be a good idea. For example, you can create a reward for your employee who posts, shares, or tags the most people on social media.
Use different platforms to reach different audiences
Your audience is unique, so your event marketing should be as well! In the past we’ve shared the best times and platforms to reach different age demographics, and if you have a target audience that spans over different generations, you’ll need to know the best methods to reach them. Using different media from social media to videos to email marketing covers all of the bases to get the word out to the right people. Even within specific marketing forms, like e-blasts, it’s a great strategy to create different styles of emails to cater to different groups on your email subscribers list. With there being no limit on the number of attendees for virtual events, different forms of digital marketing is more worth it than ever.
Track the numbers
After you’ve put the work into marketing, make sure you follow up with the analytics. Trying out different times, social media platforms and marketing techniques will offer valuable insight to when your business is receiving the most engagement. It may take a couple of attempts, but once you have the knowledge of the best way to reach your audience, you’ll be able to successfully set yourself up for future virtual events.
Does the idea of hosting and promoting a virtual event sound like it might work for your brand but you’re not quite sure where to start or how to execute the planning process? We are here to help! Ready to chat? Fill out this form to set up a free consultation.
