According to Statista, 40 percent of events by marketers were predicted to be virtual in 2022! From the onset of 2020, major businesses have shifted their physical annual events to virtual ones for the safety of the audience. However, migrating to a completely virtual program brings a fresh set of challenges- from creating landing pages to event promotion to chalking out sponsors. Things can also go haywire if a well thought of virtual event marketing strategy is not implemented. In order to launch a successful online event, here are some virtual event marketing ideas every business should follow.
Virtual event marketing is the process of hosting online events for various occasions like product launches, seminars, town halls, annual events, etc using the services of an online video platform. The process involves letting your target audience know about your event beforehand, and attracting as many of the right attendees to your virtual event as possible.
After the onset of COVID-19, many businesses have migrated to hosting online or virtual events over in-person seminars. Sporting events, charity events, concerts, and even private events, such as weddings and funerals, have also started live streaming over the internet.
Virtual event marketing involves promoting the event through different channels, such as:
Did you Know: In 2020, the market size of the global meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) industry was estimated at approximately one trillion U.S. dollars.
This is one of the most crucial steps in launching an online virtual event. Creating a stunning landing page of your website as that will be the first thing your audience will see .All your promotion efforts should direct your target audience to your event page.
Since landing page is the first thing your audience notices, you should try to make the most of it by designing it tastefully and adding the correct CTAs to entice your audience to click and get themselves registered. Make sure your landing page resonates with your brand persona/event theme. You could use custom graphics, an event countdown, speaker bios, teaser clips, sponsor information, secure payment options, and of course your agenda and a registration form or button for the same.
Muvi’s feature-rich OTT platform offers powerful tools to build highly customizable event landing pages to drive maximum registrations.
While creating a virtual event marketing strategy, it’s important for you to consider your audience’s preferred viewing times. Findings of a recent survey indicates that people prefer viewing virtual event content around lunchtime on weekdays; interestingly that’s consistent around the world. Try to schedule your virtual events far from holidays and other major events as it could steal away your audience’s attention from your event. Try to find an optimal slot in your audience’s agenda.
If you are considering launching your global product virtually, you will have to optimize your event’s agenda for your audience’s time zone.
You could also offer VOD content of live recorded events to help your audience watch your event if they have missed it. On-demand sessions will help you deliver the full experience to all your attendees.
Also Read: How to Live Stream Virtual Conferences
One of the key steps in your virtual event marketing strategy should be to promote your event as soon as the landing page is live. Research shows that for your virtual event to be successful, you should start promoting at least 3-6 weeks in advance for a small event, and 12-16 weeks in advance for a major event.
The trick here is to constantly feed your audience with exciting snippets of your upcoming event- be it names of highly renowned speakers, a great entertainment act, exciting prizes, etc. You can also keep on posting new information until the day of the event, for generating enthusiasm and excitement.
Social media is one of the best ways to promote your virtual event- be it platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook offer the possibility to create event pages with all kinds of tools and widgets to inform and engage your audience.
You could also make use of groups and pages that are relevant to your event’s topic and reach out to your target audience. You could also run targeted paid campaigns. Create buzz around your event on social media by creating catchy posts and short teasers.
Also Read: Social Media Video Marketing: Detailed Guide
Emails are the single-most effective way to drive registrations to your online event. Considered as one of the most essential channels of virtual event marketing, emails could maximize event registrations to a huge degree if optimized in the correct way. Send out email blasts to your email database and leverage the databases of partners and sponsors as well. You could also send individual emails to registrants, keeping them posted on regular updates and sending them reminders to attend your event. It’s a good practice to follow-up with attendees even after your event. This is your opportunity to bring attention to your main objectives and lead generation.
In order to make your event successful, you would have to involve absolutely everyone: employees, partners, sales teams, friends, family, speakers and sponsors as well. You can literally 1000x your reach by asking everyone to put the word out. Remember – the size of your audience will depend on how much of a buzz you were able to create around your event.
Don’t shut the door after your audience attends your event. You have to keep the door ajar for future opportunities and this can be done by email follow-ups. Send them follow-up mails with a clear CTA that serves your objectives for your event, including:
Using Muvi, you could livestream exclusive virtual events as well as create on-demand sessions of recorded events and also monetize your exclusive virtual sessions. Muvi supports adaptive multi-bitrate streaming that helps you deliver buffer-free, auto-scalable streaming experiences even during peak hours.
We cover all your virtual event needs:
Ready to launch your virtual event? Check out Muvi by making the most of the opportunity of our exclusive 14-day Free Trial now!
Written by: Sreejata Basu
Sreejata is the Manager for Muvi’s Content Marketing unit. She is a passionate writer with a background in English Literature and music. By week Sreejata spends her time in the corporate world of Muvi, but on weekends she likes to take short hiking trips, watch movies and read interesting travelogues.
No Credit Card Required
9:00AM PST
Scalability in applications means that as more people start using the app or as the app handles more data, it continues to perform well without crashing or slowing…...
Event Language: EnglishReach out to Muvi at:
Add your comment