Large events, such as conferences, conventions, and trade shows, are powerful business opportunities for organizations of all kinds.
If your company is planning a large event with expert speakers, useful workshops and opportunities for networking, you should know that planning those events can turn out to be a lot of work. You may have a lot of the stuff already worked out, but there’s always room for improvement.
For example, did you know you could use the same Live Video hosting platform to record and re-distribute your content? That’s just one of the various marketing methods your company can develop and execute in order to promote your event.
Marketing Large Events
Plan well in advance! Even if planning for the event is going well and you’ve generated substantial initial interest, there are still many things a company or organization can do to increase return on investment – things like distributing additional marketing content – creating media like videos, posters, and blogs, to get prospective audiences excited and drive them to your event.
Plan Your Strategy
At first glance, content marketing seems pretty simple – create content that’s valuable to your customers. However, it’s a bit more complex than that. Content marketing, especially for events, is all about strategy. Events only last for a limited period of time, so you’ll need to plan ahead, paying special attention to timing. For example, in terms of social media, you may use Facebook primarily for pre-event marketing, Twitter and Instagram to live tweet and share photos during the event itself, and then move on to a video-based strategy for promoting the event after the fact.
Search Engine Optimization
The core of any content strategy is SEO: optimizing your web content so that when people search for relevant keywords, your event page will show up. This process is both an art and a science.
Following a live event on social media is increasingly becoming the primary way people gather information and stay up-to-date. Whether it’s an awards show or a product unveiling, you may want to consider posting live updates from the event on your channels.
Consider, especially, live tweeting your event on Twitter; it’s the best platform for live event information, and each tweet can include links for readers to purchase tickets, watch a live stream, sign up for email updates, or other desirable marketing actions.
Other social media platforms can be used to help engage an audience before, during, and after an event. Instagram and Facebook are incredibly popular, and along with Twitter, form the trifecta that every organization should at least consider using.
- Here are a few essential tips on using social media for event promotion:
Use a hashtag for your events (for example, #MyEvent2019). - Consider using images and videos. Visual content often does better on social media than text alone.
- Organize some sort of contest or giveaway on social media.
- Release teasers and snippets to generate more buzz.
- Consider using live polls and surveys to engage with the audience even more.
Live Streaming
One great way to build your audience is to use live video as a form of content. Live video can expand your audience by hundreds or thousands, allowing you to reach people around the world; it’s the ultimate form of real-time content generation and sharing. To learn more about live streaming and how it can work for your business or organization, check out all the useful resources on our site at www.mediastreams.ca
Using Event Video Recordings
If recording your live event is not part of your marketing plan, you should definitely make it one! In today’s marketing environment, if there is no video, there was no event! Video is a crucial part of preparing for content marketing after an event takes place, and even while the event is happening.
For use after the event, it’s best to record using dedicated, high-quality video equipment. This will provide the best picture quality, allow for editing to correct minor exposure errors, and let you connect professional-quality audio recording equipment, which is absolutely essential for a large event since a video is worthless without good audio.
Video recordings allow for many marketing opportunities after the fact, from the simple (selling the recording to anyone who is interested) to the complex (re-broadcasting the recordings periodically to further capitalize on the time and money that went into holding the event).
Sponsors and Partnerships
Another great method of maximizing the impact of your content marketing is to work with sponsors and partners, as other organizations can help massively expand the reach of your content. Sponsors and partner organizations can serve a few valuable functions. For starters, they can be a source of valuable back-links to your event website. Secondly, they can serve as hosts for guest posts, which increase your SEO rank and also expose your event to new audiences. Finally, sponsors and partners can provide much needed financial support to help make other marketing efforts possible.
Make Resource Materials Available
One often overlooked method of content marketing is to make sure that your event leaves a lasting impression on attendees. To help this process along, send your guests home with materials that will be useful, such as summaries, key takeaways, pamphlets, and access to slideshows.
The best content marketing strategies will combine most if not all of the methods listed above and will probably add onto those with creative, innovative ideas your company develops. These simple techniques can further distribute your brand and can keep people thinking about the event – and your brand, for years to come.