7 Tips for Planning and Promoting Virtual Events

Have your organization’s events been canceled due to coronavirus? Conferences, fundraisers, trade shows, and many in-person meetings have been called off in efforts to slow the virus spread and flatten the pandemic’s curve. While necessary from a public health perspective, these anticipated event cancellations can have many negative consequences for organizations that were dependent on these events to generate revenue and connect with their community. 

The good news is that thanks to technology, many organizations can offer virtual event options! 

As a marketing and public relations agency, Becker Digital has partnered with many organizational clients in promoting events. Even when we’re not all expected to practice social distancing, virtual events can be a great way for organizations in all industries to connect with target markets, raise money for nonprofit initiatives, and enrich communities with networking, learning, and other organizational opportunities.

In-person vs. Virtual Event Planning

Similar to in-person events, virtual events require the organization to have a well-developed strategy for both the event operation and its promotion. One of the primary measures of an event’s success is the number of event attendees. Without any attendees, is an event really an event? Generating interest around the event through marketing and public relations efforts is essential to any (and every) event’s success. 

When compared to physical events, virtual events provide more accessibility options for attendees, which can be a good way to improve inclusion measures and extend organizational outreach. Physical barriers like health concerns, caregiving responsibilities, and travel expenses can negatively impact in-person event attendance. Virtual events are more accessible, as the remote nature of virtual events eliminates many would-be-barriers to event attendance. 

Hosting a virtual event can be intimidating, especially if your organization has not planned one before. Understanding a few differences that exist between in-person and virtual events, along with utilizing virtual event resources can help organizations just like yours plan, promote, and host a successful virtual event. 

Here are a few tips for hosting a virtual event:

Utilize virtual event hosting tools to make your job easier.

Organizations will need a digital platform from which to host a virtual event. Popular virtual event options include vFairs, 6connex, Go2Meeting, Zoom, Facebook Livestream, and YouTube Live. Streaming the virtual event on social media is free, the organization just needs to have an established social media account on the platform, and team members must know how to use the in-app functions. The fee-based video conferencing software, like Go2Meeting and Zoom, often offer a free trial that allows organizations to test out the platform and see which software would work best for their purposes.

Provide very specific details regarding the virtual events. 

Virtual event planners should work to hammer out all event details prior to promoting the event. Event details for virtual events include an event agenda, the hosting platform, registration process, attendee communication options (you’re going to want something in addition to email), event date and time (including the time zone!), and very detailed instructions on how attendees are to access the virtual event, communicate with event speakers during the event, and who they are to contact if they encounter any technical issues. 

Develop an event-specific marketing campaign.

When planning any event - in-person or virtual - organizations should create an event-specific marketing campaign to promote event registration. Repeated posting on the event registration page just won’t cut it in our digitally-saturated world. Develop a hashtag specific to the event, and work with your team (or a marketing agency like Becker Digital) to create a fresh, engaging event-specific marketing campaign that will help get the word out and drum up interest in both the event and the organization. An effective marketing campaign will include multiple channels (including social media), a series of creative assets, and engaging event messaging that encourages interested participants to register and share the event information with their friends. 

Plan for technical issues. 

If using a virtual event or video conferencing software, find the help line’s number before you need it. Prepare for technical issues that may arise during the virtual event by doping a few virtual event practice runs with your coworkers to make sure everyone understands how the platform works. Draft a technical issues checklist that includes point of contact for troubleshooting. Should technical issues arise during your virtual event, contact event attendees via email and post on social media to keep them apprised of any changes to the event. 

Create an interactive virtual event experience. 

When planning a virtual event, keep attendee interaction in mind. No one wants to be talked at for three hours. Event attendees will want to participate in the virtual event through speaker and attendee interaction. Many virtual events and video conferencing software programs offer chat functions that provide an easy way for event attendees to ask questions and contribute to the conversation. Have a game plan for moderating attendee responses and designate one person on your team to facilitate interaction during the virtual event. 

Record the virtual event, if possible.

Recording the virtual event can provide the organization with good video footage that can be shared with both attendees and registrants that were unable to attend. Prior to the event, practice recording virtual event sessions and make multiple members of your team know how to produce the recording and access the downloadable file. Recorded events can be emailed to registrants, and posted on social media - providing additional marketing for the organization.  

Offer post-virtual event follow-up opportunities.

After you’ve successfully led a virtual event, your organization will want to provide post-event follow-up opportunities to really maximize the event’s impact. These follow-up opportunities can take many forms, and be something as small as sharing team member contact information with attendees, or offering a webinar or Twitter chat that answers attendee questions. If the virtual event held was a fundraiser, post the total funds raised on social media. If the virtual event was a career fair, share additional job search resources with attendees. This type of follow-up content can really help organizations maximize the event’s impact potential. 

Ready to plan a virtual event?

Coronavirus doesn’t mean all your organization's events must be canceled, just the in-person ones. Consider transitioning in-person events to virtual events. If your organization would like assistance in planning and promoting organization events, contact Becker Digital to schedule a complimentary call and learn more about how digital strategy can enhance your organization's mission.