There is a lot that goes into planning a major conference, and event marketing is the key to success. Before you kick off the planning process and start touring venues, sampling catering options and lining up speakers, you should also be crafting a corresponding event marketing strategy that promotes the conference from the time you start planning all the way through to the weeks following the show. Just like how reading the lyrics does not have the same feeling as listening to a song, still images and text do not do justice to the excitement of attending your conference in person. Let us share with you a couple of tips on how to integrate engaging video content into your event marketing strategy before, during and after your conference.
Pre Show
- After you set up your event hosting page, whether it be a dedicated microsite or one of many ticket hosting services available, your first piece of event marketing content should be to send out a Save the Date reminder to attendees who joined you last year, letting them know this years show is just around the corner. Including a highlight reel from the year prior is a great way to remind guests how much fun they had at your event, and get them excited to participate again this year.
- As you start to confirm speakers, you should also announce their upcoming appearance by sharing videos of their past talks and give attendees a preview of what is to come. Your event marketing message may also reach some guests who are on the fence, and knowing that a personality is scheduled to be on your stage will motivate them to purchase a ticket.
- By this time you should be designing the decor and collateral concepts that create the look and feel you want for your event and attendee experience. During this transformation process, broadcast an exclusive behind the scenes look into the planning stages and give guests a sneak peek at what is in store.
During the Conference
- At this point it should be obvious that you will be live streaming the onstage experience. After all, you didn’t just put together this extravaganza to only reach the couple thousand people in the seats! With IBM Cloud Video’s white label solutions you can embed the stream on wherever you please, and as an extra bonus, you can include a watermark for additional branding or sponsor recognition.
- Since you have already captured the leads from your in person audience, how about learning more about your viewers who are joining you remotely? Fully leverage your online event marketing with Streaming Manager to collect valuable lead information from your remote viewers.
- The fun doesn’t stop after the stage content is over! Hosting an after party? Use live video to interview guests, get testimonials, and broadcast the networking activities.
Post Event
- After the festivities have ended, keep the inspiration alive by creating a highlight reel that reminds your audience of what they learned during their time at your conference, and entice people who missed the opportunity to engage at the time of the event. Edit together footage of the testimonials you gathered from guests, clips of your keynote speaker and even behind the scenes backstage moments to create a video that will make them count down the days until they can attend next year!
- Now that you have an archive of the recorded sessions and presentations, it’s time to leverage some of that video content. Try to compose different kinds of videos for multiple situations, such as a short teaser to share on social media, as well as longer uncut recordings of the talks to embed to your website. Leverage Streaming Manager to manage what content you would like to share freely and what video you would like to require viewers to provide information in order to access.
- Now you have gathered a ton of actionable data about both the guests that attended in person as well as those that joined virtually. This, in addition to the geographical, referral domain and device statistics that can be found in your dashboard, will help you craft your sponsorship prospectus, secure bigger and better speakers, and grow your conference next year.
Even if it’s a small gathering of 100 guests or 10,000 attendees each and every person should feel connected with the community, your brand and with speakers on a more personal level. Are you ready to create more feelings of intimacy, energy and enthusiasm among your attendees and get people coming back for more year after year? Contact us and find out how IBM Cloud Video can help!