Just like any in-person event, virtual events require a marketing strategy behind them to get the word out to the right people and help drive registration. However, one key difference between events IRL versus online—besides the obvious—is that virtual events oftentimes require even greater, more strategic marketing efforts than live events to combat the noisy and distracting nature of the internet.
Don’t let that deter you! Virtual events are still a coveted experience and with the constant innovation of features offered by top event platforms, online gatherings truly have the ability to immerse attendees for an event they won’t soon forget.
So how do you begin to build an effective virtual event marketing strategy? Keep reading for six must-haves for your marketing plan.
1. Optimize the event’s website or landing page.
As the first interaction a potential attendee has with your event, the website or landing page should be in tip-top shape to attract and, most importantly, convert attendees. The key to an optimized landing page is two-fold: ensuring the experience is seamless and uncomplicated for the user, and ensuring everything from the headline to the call to action focuses on one conversion goal.
While you want to use a website or landing page to tell the story of your event and highlight key selling points, you also want to be mindful not to overcomplicate the content or include items that aren’t relevant to the attendee right now. Remember: You can always utilize post-registration email marketing to share more about the event and get them excited leading up to the event.
It’s important to first determine the key elements sure to get a potential attendee so pumped up that they register for the event—that could look like including teasers, a sneak peek of the speaker lineup, or relevant guest testimonials and photos from past events.
A quality event website or landing page can all go to waste, though, if the experience to register isn’t smooth and simple. As you’re reviewing the web page before launching, double-check the registration process is both easy to find and easy to complete.
For more inspiration and ideas to build a standout website, check out events like Coachella, Google I/O, and Dreamforce; click here for event landing page inspiration from top virtual and hybrid event platform Hubilo.
2. Utilize email marketing to drive attendance.
As planners know all too well, just because 5,000 attendees register for an event, it doesn’t mean all 5,000 will actually attend. Unfortunately, drop-off rates are just as common for virtual experiences, but creating personalized digital touchpoints and keeping your registrants excited about the event through an email drip campaign can help lower that drop-off rate and drive attendance.
One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a virtual event planner or marketer is letting the registration confirmation email be the last communication you have with the attendee until event day! Without flooding their inbox (be strategic about your email marketing strategy!), stay in touch with your registrants via email by revealing exclusive offers, reminding them about important event-related dates, and sharing additional information about speakers, sessions, contests, and the like.
Email drip campaigns are also a great opportunity to begin gathering data-driven intel on your attendees to help curate a more personalized event experience for them. Click here to learn more about which virtual event metrics are most important to gather, plus how you can put that data to good use. Oh, and if you need a great tool for creating your event emails, Hubilo has a new email marketing tool you might want to try.
3. Harness the power of social media marketing.
Organic social media is a great tool for event storytelling and overall awareness. If your event is annual or recurring, it’s also a prime platform for staying connected with your audience post-event. If you have the budget for it, a paid social media marketing campaign can be even more beneficial since it allows you to target your specific audience.
However, not every platform is the perfect fit for your event, so start by digging into some of your attendee data and selecting a platform on which your key audience spends most of their time—focus your social media energy there, then utilize other platforms to repurpose content and take advantage of their features (think Instagram Stories, Facebook page, LinkedIn posts, etc.).
Some event platforms can even integrate with third-party social media applications to make it easier for you to keep track of all the content you have in motion. Virtual and hybrid event platform Hubilo, for example, can connect with social media aggregator Walls.io. Click here for more tips and tricks to increase social media engagement for your event.
4. Pitch relevant media outlets or freelance journalists to increase event exposure.
As the saying goes, “the pen is mightier than the sword.” Translation: Don’t neglect the credibility and strength of good press. Pre-event and post-event press coverage can do wonders for driving attendance, so start by curating a list of the key media outlets or freelancer journalists who tap into your key audience—and whose stamp of approval of your event could help drive registration.
Optimize your pitch for each outlet or writer—explaining why it’s important to their platform’s audience, specifically—and offer them something in return for coverage, like a free ticket code for themselves or discounted code for readers. Bonus tip: Make your pitch even stronger by including a live press release of your event.
5. Leverage advertisements.
While word-of-mouth may have been what event planners and marketers had to rely on a few decades ago, digital advertising technology has completely changed the game—so use it! And don’t be afraid to experiment with different types of advertisements (graphics, copy, and creative) and platforms to gain insight on which works best to capture your audience.
Any advertisements out there should be consistent with and tell the same story as your website/landing page and organic social media—just on a condensed, more focused scale, of course. For example, you can utilize advertisements to feature big-name speakers and highlight important sessions. Better yet: You can even use retargeting ads for users who didn’t convert after their first interaction with your ad, ultimately improving your chances of converting them to an attendee.
6. Partner with relevant affiliates and influencers.
Another form of advertising is partnering with key thought leaders that have access to your audience to drive event registration. Relationships with affiliates and influencers typically look like a fixed commission, but it’s up to you and the thought leader to determine the agreement that works best for you both. How do you secure these types of partnerships? Much like what it takes to get media coverage, it starts by reaching out!
Looking for more virtual event marketing inspiration and ideas? Check out these resources from Hubilo:
â—Ź Top 5 Events of 2021 to Inspire Your Virtual Events in 2022
â—Ź Lessons Learned on the Road to Hybrid Event Innovation
Click here to see how virtual and hybrid event platform Hubilo can take your digital experiences to new heights with cutting-edge event technology.
