You want to keep up with current marketing trends at your events, right? It’s easy to fall behind the times with our constantly evolving digital world, but to keep your business and your brand strong, you need to stay informed on the marketing strategies that are working, what’s upcoming, and keep things fresh for your audience or attendees. One of the most engaging tools on the market for events is video marketing. Video itself has been around forever, but in recent years, it has taken off as a digital marketing strategy that every business should use in their marketing efforts. The bottom line: video is everywhere!
Why would you want to use video? It’s emotionally engaging. It tells a story. It’s content sparks ideas that people find meaningful. It’s a strong vehicle to convey your message to all generations. Your audience is more likely to watch a video than read through long paragraphs of information that you have to share. Here are six simple ways to incorporate video into your next event.
Live Streaming
Many people may want to attend your event, but can’t physically be there. With live streaming, you can deliver video of the event in real time to your audience around the world via an internet connection. They can access your event on their laptop, smartphone, tablet — wherever is most convenient for them! You can set it up via YouTube or Facebook Live with no limitation of your viewers, or you can opt for a complete virtual event platform that fits your event needs.
There are many live streaming platforms on the market, like Livestream, that offer more bells and whistles and create a very professional look for your live stream. If you don’t want to offer the live stream of the event for free, you can provide a special link to those who pay to watch the live streaming event. Either way you decide to publicize the live stream, you can deliver your message to viewers just as you deliver it to those live in attendance at the event. As a bonus, many of the platforms allow you to also record the live stream, so you can offer the recordings later to attendees or sell the videos as an extra stream of income.
Video Record Your Event
Maybe you don’t want to hassle with a live stream (there are plenty of risks to evaluate when combining live events and technology), but you still want others to benefit from the event speakers and information even though they could not attend in person. Recording videos of the event and your speaker sessions is a great option! You can distribute the video recordings of your event however you choose – the options are endless. For example, you can give away 50 copies of the recorded video footage for free or you can sell 5,000 copies. It’s up to you and how you feel your audience would best benefit.
Create a Vlog
Everyone knows how popular blogs are. Have you seen what happens when you mix the concept of a blog with video content? It’s as easy as it sounds, so run with it. It’s very smart and helpful to use your video content as a vlog to provide information to your audience before an event to highlight speakers, preview topics, or show how to get registered.
Your vlog creates excitement ahead of your event and you can carry it all the way through because you can also create vlogs to recap the event. Share clips of your attendees socializing, different parts of your speakers’ presentations or a thank you to everyone who attended. It’s much more interesting to see how the event went than just hearing or reading about it and vlogging allows people to truly experience the event through video!
Generate Content for Social Media
Have you noticed how much of what you see in your social media news feeds is video? Yeah? Right! Because that’s what’s reaching the most people online.
Social media reach algorithms are changing – and videos are at the top. Videos tend to grab people’s attention as they’re glancing through their news feed in less than 3 seconds. With the ability to put captions on your videos, people can get the gist of your video even without the sound turned on. There’s a lot you can do to reach your audience through social media videos. You can post professionally created pieces to maximize your brand and optimize your posts.
If you are looking to reduce costs, remember that you have one of the most powerful video cameras right in your pocket at all times — your smartphone. Post video clips to create confidence in your brand by showing you are real people working for a real company and your genuine content can really enhance your customer loyalty.
E-Learning
There is money to be made in the e-learning piece of video marketing. As you consider hosting a continuing education class or series of training sessions, you should consider recording them for future educational and sales opportunities. While you may be hosting a two-day training event to those in attendance, you could also produce a series of follow-up videos to entice those who were in attendance to continue their training. You can also use those videos on the sales page to promote your next training course.
There is also the opportunity to spend your dollars more efficiently by paying for a training piece to be recorded for your company vs. budgeting for a manager or trainer taking care of new employees. Consider all budget factors before opting in for the e-learning road with video marketing.
Sponsorship Advertisements
You want paid sponsors for your event, and your sponsors want the most “bang for their buck” in their sponsorship package. One way to give your sponsors something extra is to loop sponsor videos before your event, during event breaks, and after the event. It’s more engaging than a banner and your sponsors may see the most value in this. You can opt for them to provide their own video pieces or you could charge more for the sponsorship to produce the videos. This gives your sponsor more opportunities to advertise directly to your event audience vs. just displaying signage with their name in the corner of the room. It’s a win-win!
Connect With Video Production Professionals
Video is changing the event production world and the video opportunities are virtually endless! You have to start somewhere. To get started, connect with our team at Wired Production Group and we can help find the best way to incorporate video into your next event: (319) 294-9410.