With Covid-19 starting to re-appear in our lives again, working virtually may have to last a little longer than expected. However, this doesn’t mean that we should stop all our usual activities. Technology has quickly adapted to our new ways of working and has allowed us to continue our day-to-day tasks and this goes for hosting professional events too. There are many ways that technology allows us to host virtual events however promoting it might require some different techniques. In this blog, we are sharing our guide to promoting a virtual event.
create a multi-channel marketing plan
Like with any event, you need to incorporate it into your marketing plan. With technology playing a huge role in the event, we recommend focusing on a digital marketing strategy. Firstly, put together a social media plan. Aim to post it every other day, on all your social media platforms. Think of innovative ways that you can promote your virtual event such as through instagram stories, or a live countdown. You’ll need to think of a hashtag for the event so that you can use it on all social media platforms for consistency. Secondly, make sure the event is promoted on your mailings. Even if it’s a paragraph in your weekly newsletter or even better, a whole campaign about the virtual event will help to entice customers.
build a dedicated website or landing page for your event
You need to think about how potential attendee is going to find out more information about the event and more importantly, how they can register to join. Building a dedicated website for the virtual event may not suit all companies as it needs time, personnel and budget. Alternatively, you can create a landing page. This may even be a better solution, as potential attendee’s can find out about your company too. However, having one or the other is extremely important. It helps to build a brand image for the event, and allows easy navigation for attendees. In the run up to the virtual event, you could have a countdown on the main page to create a sense of excitement and anticipation.
send out mailings
Once you have promoted the virtual event and received a good amount of interest for the day, you can out mailings to remind and invite people to the event. We would suggest sending out two emails in the week prior to the virtual event. Professionals can be busy and forget that they have registered their interest for the event. So, at the beginning of the week, send out an official invitation to the event with the date, time and links to enter the virtual event. For ease, you could even add an option that allows professionals to add this invitation to their calendar. In addition to that, send another reminder email the day before or two days before. This will hopefully ensure that the virtual event is on their radar.
announce the agenda for the event
It’s important to announce the agenda for the event as attendee’s want to know what they are getting themselves into. This is also a good idea for attendee’s who can’t stay for the whole day and only want to participate in specific activities. Announcing the agenda should happen on social media platforms, the website or landing page and through email. The agenda might entice more people in, so it’s important that you spend time promoting it as well. Reveal the agenda around 1 week before the event. You can even use this to create hype around the virtual event. Important details that you should include are timings, the relevant link, topic of the activity and the speakers.
promote the event even on the day!
The hard work promoting your virtual event isn’t over yet! You should promote the event on the day whether it’s on LinkedIn or Instagram stories. And don’t forget to use the event hashtag too! You could even offer an Instagram live for one of the activities so that anyone can have the opportunity to witness the virtual event. Think of it like a taster session. They might be so engrossed that they’ll pencil it in the diary for next year! It’s also a great way to build brand reputation and image.
Promoting a virtual event can mean using slightly different strategies to entice attendees. But if you incorporate some of these ideas, we can guarantee that your virtual event will be a success. Remember, build up the virtual event in as many ways as you can and promote it as often as you can!
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