Level Up Your Digital Event Marketing, Since We’re Still Doing That For a While
As much as we’d like to say we’ll be flying off to a conference or a big work meeting next year, digital events are still going to be popular in 2022, and not just because of global pandemics.
We’re guessing you’ll be planning an online event at some point soon, for one (or a few) of the following reasons: The cost, the convenience, the easy networking, the multi-tasking opportunities… but if you host a panel or a discussion online, will anyone listen?
Time to level up your digital events for 2022! Here’s how:
Ask yourself the tough questions before you host anything
Do you have to have guests?
It’s perfectly possible that your audience might just want to hear from you… and no one else!
Don’t jump through the hoops of booking and organizing guest speakers if there’s not a real reason to do it; if you can present everything of value and importance on your own, do it yourself! Often, guests are booked just to involve some partners, or for blatant cross-promotion. Your audience probably doesn’t care about who’s talking as long as they’re saying something valuable and interesting!
Does this need to be fancy?
There’s no reason not to keep your presentation super simple. Bells and whistles seem fun, but they make it so much harder to put an event together and sometimes are just distracting to your viewers.
Take notes from the fitness influencers out there, who are regularly recording videos of themselves doing crunches and gaining thousands of views. The value isn’t in what they’re actually saying (in fact, many viewers watch these videos on mute!); it’s the routine they’ve put together that saves a viewer some time and thought so they can get a workout in.
Will anyone watch this ever again?
The big question to ask yourself before you promote your event: Is this genuinely useful information? Is it compelling? Is it worth the money or time that’s going into it? Does anyone care about this?!
Be ruthlessly honest with yourself before you start the work of promotion and organizing. If there’s no real reason for this event to happen, there’s no real reason for anyone to attend.
Use low-cost advertising in a highly-targeted way
Want to ensure an audience for your brilliant online presentation?
Set aside a small marketing budget; even $200 will do!
Create a specific landing page on your website with a sign-up form for this event, and nothing else. Use these tips to make it great.
Pick a social media channel that your desired audience is likely to be using on a daily basis. If you’re not sure which, use research like this Pew report to get a sense of who uses which channel right now. For example, did you know YouTube is the most commonly used online platform in 2021?
Run some small social media ads to your target audience on your channel of choice, and try different messaging in each ad to learn what gets your audience to sign up. Smaller ads are better, so you can learn what works without wasting a lot of money, and if an ad really takes off you can always up your budget!
Don’t forget to follow up, and follow up, and follow up again
Guess what happens with the majority of digital events? People forget to attend, or choose not to because they’re busy and they can get the recording later.
Don’t let anyone forget your event is happening. Plan out your event promotion from the very beginning, and strategize based on where you’ve discovered your ideal audience spends time. For example, if your LinkedIn followers are the key to success, plan to post more about this event there and create different types of promotional content for this channel, like video teasers (LinkedIn loves video!) and eye-catching graphics sized just for the platform.
And don’t forget to add the option of signing up for your email list to your event landing page, so your attendees can get regular email updates from you now and in the future. You should email your peeps at least a few times leading up to your event, a reminder on the day of, and at least one or two follow-up emails afterwards. Here are more tips on email promotion courtesy of Campaign Monitor.
Now, as you’re planning all the promotion you’ll do for your events, you may realize that there’s actually not a real reason for people to attend a live event. Maybe this is a workshop that could be taken at any time, or maybe there isn’t a live interactive component of this that you care to facilitate. If so, take out the “event” part and make this a digital course or presentation that your audience can download and watch at their leisure. Save yourself the hassle of a live event if you can!
Use Zoom, but really learn to use it
Too many of us have made the jump to Zoom but have no idea how to use all of its features and functionality. That can be the kiss of death for hosting an event that people will enjoy attending. If you are overwhelmed by the Chat box, unsure how to answer audience questions, or scared of hitting that red record button, it will reflect poorly on your brand, so don’t risk it!
Zoom has a wonderfully comprehensive Ultimate Guide to Planning & Hosting Virtual Events that you can work through, step by step, to make sure you’re the digital host with the most. Sure, it’s made by Zoom so it’s heavy on the promotion, but there’s actually quality advice and technical know-how in here. Before you send out any invitations or book your guests, become a Zoom expert. (Or find the same type of resource for any other webinar platform you’re using; it’s just a quick search away!)