Field Marketing Review “Virtual Events”
Brand Activate puts the spotlight on important topics within the experiential and field marketing community. Each blog will focus on a theme and provide our thoughts to continue the conversation.
Virtual events are nothing new but they have been re-worked and re-imagined as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many other types of event marketing and brand marketing there are several playbooks and resources available to you that will provide a great foundation for planning a virtual event.
- The lasting impact of COVID-19 and the switch to virtual events seems to be a consistent trend. This should support growing industry experience and specialized experts in the months and years to come.
- While virtual events do indicate a return to work for agencies and creatives they do not support the production and event staffing workforce on the scale of typical field marketing work.
- Virtual events also provide an increased number of variables when looking at performance and results. Being proactive and detailed in your planning is an absolute must.
Check out what the industry is saying with a few of these highlighted industry articles.
How to Host a Successful Virtual Event: Tips and Best Practices
The event marketing world is fortunate to have an abundance of educational content and opinions from our industry advisors on the internet. Getting educated before you plan a proposal or event concept is an easy way to get ahead. Check out this great article here to start your journey.
The blog post from Hootsuite early in 2020 provides a great background on the topic of virtual events. From types of events to suggestions on different social media sites, the article is an informative guide to gathering information and viewing examples of how marketers focused on virtual at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
How to promote a virtual event (our 8 best tips and strategies)
COVID had a significant impact on events starting with the cancellation of Expo West in Anaheim, CA that was scheduled for the beginning of March 2020. However, the need for events, expos, and tradeshows has not diminished and is even more important now, given the impact to small business and work reduction for many agencies, vendors, and staffing companies.
So as the resilient event industry pivoted to alternate styles of execution a new opportunity was created in how these events would be promoted and advertised. Promotion comes in many forms and on the tangled world wide web there is no shortage of options in getting the word out on your virtual event. Check out this article from Impact back in May that provides a great overview on the topic.
How to host a virtual event: 10 expert tips
The last and final step for your virtual event is the execution. Perhaps the most important and sometimes most overlooked stepped in less than successful event marketing attempts. This article provides some really good tips and cautions that will provide a proactive approach to your next virtual event. An important discussion around how to make attendees feel involved should be a great brainstorm topic for your team.
Virtual events are a requirement for the foreseeable future and the questions we are faced with now, along with how we respond, will shape the short-term and long-term effects for the whole industry.
