With the COVID-19 virus on the rise, it’s no wonder the boom in demand for virtual space and video conferencing. And with the presence of numerous virtual events on the internet, most event planners and even marketers are stumped at a single point, how to get the most pairs of eyes on their respective virtual events. Many would say that the key is to be as creative and attention-grabbing as possible. But isn’t that a bit too vague? So, here’s are a list of more substantial ideas to help you market your virtual event like a professional.
#1 Draw Attention with a Landing Page
Creating a landing page allows your future guests to get the full lowdown of what’s going to go down at your event, all in one place. From details of the event, the speakers who will be there, the agenda and timeline right down to sponsorships, one visit to your webpage should leave them informed and geared to attend your virtual event. Add some pizzazz to your site by creating content on the website, for instance, introductory videos, behind-the-scenes footage of the event, and engaging clips of key people involved, like keynotes, workshop mediators, hosts, and more. Don’t forget to link them back to your sign-up page for effective conversions.
#2 Make the Most of E-Mail Marketing
Although in this day and age, where social media seems to be at the top of the marketing food chain, many would be surprised at the power e-mail marketing still holds. Dig up those databases of past clients, contacts lists, and data from sign-up forms, you’ll need these. By sending a simple invite via email, you’ll be guaranteed to be getting more pairs of eyes on your event compared to putting it out to the world on social media.
#3 Tweet, Tweet, Tweet Away
Email marketing may still be the bigshot when it comes to directly reaching out to a potential event guest. However, if you don’t have access to that kind of database, social media is just as good. Brand your social media steps with a special hashtag, so that people know how to trace back to your event. Keep live communication channels open, like via Twitter or Facebook. Content is just as important, so populate your Facebook page, Twitter feeds, TikTok accounts with engaging videos and posts.
#4 Get Ambassadors to Do the Work
The main people who would be speaking at your event will no doubt become somewhat of an ambassador for it. And if they are in-demand speakers, it’s most likely that they wouldn’t have the resources to market your event from scratch. What you can do is make things easier for them (and their teams) by sending them an Ambassador Portfolio, complete with images, videos, links, a summary of your event’s social calendar, and more. All they have to do is to post these up on their pages and tag your event. Simple.
#5 Sweeten the Deal
People love promotions, so running an online contest, promo code offer or even free ticket giveaways are definitely crowd-magnet ideas. Spread the word on social media and watch things pick up like wildfire. And it always helps to add a ticking timer to your promotions. This gives them the needed push to go through with the sign-up.
#6 Get Help From Paid Ads
With all the traffic buzzing about on the Internet and the constant flow of information, it’s quite the struggle to be in the front row in online marketing, more so if you’re new to your business niche. But there is a way for you to put yourself ahead of others and that’s through paid ads. These ads help you target a specific audience and tailor your media advertisement to attract the right people for your virtual event.
#7 Use a Sprinkling of Keywords
You may be wondering how this is going to help your event, but you’d be surprised at the number of people who just go up to Google and search for things like “latest events” or “events near me”. With a little bit of help from the right keywords, Google could very well be doing free marketing for you. Spread them across your web copy, write-ups, image, and video content even, and watch as the click pour in.
#8 The Element of Surprise
Everyone loves a good surprise, especially if it’s something close to their hearts. A surprise announcement of a special keynote speaker, who happens to be a great contributor to their field and an icon, will excite your audience further and drive them to book a spot for your online function. Other surprises like gifts, free tickets to future events, meet and greet passes and more can also be useful in marketing your virtual event.
#9 Leverage Your Fanbase
If you’ve been in the event business long enough and have several high-publicity events under your belt, you may have already amassed a following on your social pages. Upload content that speaks to them and encourages them to share onto their own social pages. This way, you’ll have the benefit of their friends getting to know your brand and even more about the events that you’ve launched.
#10 Run the Math
For almost every event, the analytics is key to figuring out what’s worked and what hasn’t. This way you’ll be able to note key trends and patterns among your audience. For example, their preferred social media channel, if they’re susceptible to email marketing, their response to promotional items, and more. Having this data allows you to tweak certain things in your event marketing scheme, not just for this one, but for the ones to come as well.
