Virtual events are part of every organization anual event agenda. Here are some tips to make yours a total success:
Start design planning early. Having the event look and feel from day 1 will help you attract not only audience but first speakers. They will be more comfortable accepting to participate in something that looks credible and professional.
Create a strong visual theme. With so many virtual events being promoted online on a daily basis, it’s important to make the look of your event as visually interesting as possible. Even “boring” events can have fun and attractive images, that will not demeanor the seriousness of the event. The lack of physical presence requieres a strong visual online presence for connection.
Be consistent! Be sure all the marketing products have the event theme incorporated. That includes: color palettes, fonts, visual elements and backgrounds. This will not only make your event look more professional but also it will help the participants identifying the event whenever the see something related online. This includes: speaker participation request, invite, registration site, signup confirmation email, agenda, social media marketing products, event platform backgrounds, speaker or session event banners, and don’t forget all the post event related products, such as: thank you emails, recap of event email, etc.
Sharing is caring. Once you have your speakers confirmed, share with them all of the marketing products and presentation templates. This way they can start promoting their participation on their own social media channels. This will help boost signups.
Treat the agenda with respect. Often times organizations forget about the agenda/program look and don’t include any artwork related to the event. This makes it look unprofessional and unfinished. Be sure to include at least a header with the event theme artwork.
Share speaker profiles. Another element of event marketing that I like to create are short speaker profiles that introduce them to your possible audience on social media.
Keep your audience in mind when selecting social media platforms. Promoting your event in the most adequate platform will guarantee assistance.
If you have a long list of speakers consider splitting the information in a few different promotional pieces. If you have a short list, take advantage of that and maybe even include photos of each one.
Don’t forget including: social media handles, any hashtag related to the event and a contact email. This seems to be obvious, but often times I have to remind clients about them.