Get an edge on the competition with virtual events!
Virtual isn’t just another buzzword, it’s a powerful tool that companies can use to enhance their brand and help them reach their goals. From prospecting new customers to recruiting top talent, virtual events help increase engagement, interaction, and communication in the digital space.
Tips for the Best Virtual Events
Are you wanting to step into the virtual event world? Or maybe you’re drowning in it already and wondering what you can do to make it more successful. Here are our suggestions for making virtual a success.
Focus on Your Audience
The best virtual events are centered around the audience, from ideation to execution. Think about how to engage the people who will be coming.
What could bring humor?
What could bring heart?
What do they want from you?
Engagement is key with your audience when it comes to virtual. You’ll need to have the tools and setup to encourage interactions between attendees as well as with you and your company. Live chat features are a big help here, as are polling opportunities. Make sure your audience can be active participants in your event. Making the event personalized and primed for safe and authentic conversations between the consumer and the brand is crucial. Do that, and can count your event a success.
Strategic Thinking
Your next goal for a virtual event is going to be strategically linking products and giving your sponsors visibility. This can be a great opportunity to provide brand exposure and give partners the chance to talk about their products and engage with consumers in the audience. But you don’t want to blindside your audience, you should have a clear agenda that outlines what will be discussed and an estimated timeline.
Then, your job is to focus on the connection. When you can tap into the culture of the brand and the synergy between the brand and the audience? That’s where the magic happens. Creating synergy is when storytelling becomes a powerful tool for creating true connections. Stories have heart–they embody the soul of a brand that helps your customers truly connect; it separates a company from a logo and humanizes them. Stories are rooted in our emotions and that’s what makes them such an integral part of good marketing.
But you can have a great story, and be telling it in the wrong place. That’s why it’s so important to choose the right platform for your virtual events.
Choose the Right Platform
Ever heard of tentpole marketing?
Tentpole marketing is all about centering your promotional activities around big events like tradeshows. To do this effectively, you need to tap into the synergy between the brand and the audience. Virtual events are no different!
In order to bring the brand to life, you’ll need to find that place where the consumer and the product resonate with positive energy.
What makes people happy?
What fills them with excitement?
People move when they have energy–they engage, click and tap, and make purchases. So find that synergy and let it guide you through your interactions with the audience and in how you decide to make connections.
Work as a Team
While you’re listening to your audience, always remember to listen to stakeholders too. All successful events start with clear communication from the vision to the budget, to the after-show.
Communicate clearly, be honest about the budget, and don’t overpromise! You will build trust when you show how you are looking at the whole picture. Watching the “budget” is not the most glamorous task, but it is an essential part of creating a successful event so don’t sleep on it!
It is always better to deliver MORE than what you say you can, rather than less. Keeping the money conversation open feels awkward, but it actually creates more connection than if there were to be money surprises.
Once the event is over, take some time to connect with your team and go over what worked and what didn’t. That way, you will be better prepared for your next virtual event.
In Summary
Remember that an in-person event cannot always translate to a virtual one with a quick copy and paste. You may have to run it through new channels and find creative ways to match the synergy. If you can translate the human connection between brand and consumer, a virtual event could end up saving you time and money.
Just remember: the story is what makes the event memorable. Know what story you’re telling!
And don’t forget to record your events so those who couldn’t make it can watch them later. Not to mention, you can add it to your content folder as future promotional material–maybe for your next virtual event! Good luck!