It’s no secret that in the wake of COVID-19 and an increase in people working from home, businesses had to start thinking outside of the box in terms of their marketing efforts. In response, many took to increasing their use of online tools and platforms, including hosting virtual events. But don’t be fooled – a global pandemic is not the only time to use virtual event marketing. In fact, virtual events are an efficient and creative way to communicate with your customers and can be a valuable asset to a comprehensive content marketing plan.
Below are a few tips and instructions on how to create and implement a successful virtual event:
- Strategize and Plan: Treat the virtual event the same way you would a physical event and plan accordingly. Define your theme, messages, guests and timeframe. But because the event is not an in-person one, thought will have to be given to how you interact with attendees. Strategize how, and with what technology, to best translate your ideas and event outline into an engaging virtual event.
- Get the Word Out: Promoting a virtual event takes a different level of communication than a live event because it requires keeping your audience engaged the entire time leading up to the show. A few ways to do this include a promo video, speaker announcements, agenda teasers, user-friendly registration, commercials, etc. Creating a thorough editorial calendar prior to the event is monumental in making sure enough communication is being put out.
- Post-Event Content: Your virtual event has the opportunity to provide you with numerous valuable content to use post-event. Plan ahead to gather this information, such as presentations, FAQs, quotes from speakers, event analytics and more to use in your marketing plan going forward.
- Continue to Be a Valued Source of Content: This is your chance to use content marketing around your virtual event to build an online presence and community. With more branded content at your fingertips, a continuous stream of post-event interaction can be crafted for your audience. Offering an event recap in the form of an email or blog post, making event presentations available on-demand, sharing audience testimonials, or repackaging content into other usable formats are all ways to keep engagement high.
Virtual events are having a big moment right now, but we believe they will always have a place in a successful content marketing plan. Interested in hosting one? Vista14 can help you with all of your digital marketing needs, including virtual events!