Online events, ranging from webinars to full-scale virtual conferences, offer a platform to showcase innovations, build partnerships, and drive business growth. To achieve your goal, however, you must follow certain steps in successfully planning and executing your online events. In that sense, this article comes as a must-have event planning and management checklist, as we cover all you need to know for each phase of your digital events strategy.
Pre-Event Planning
This initial phase is crucial for setting the stage and ensuring that every subsequent step aligns with the goals of your event. From defining your objectives and understanding your audience to selecting the appropriate technology and crafting compelling content, each step of pre-event planning plays a key role. Let’s see what you should do to prepare a successful online event:
1. Define Objectives and Target Audience
Begin by clarifying the purpose of your event. Are you launching a new product, seeking leads, or aiming to establish thought leadership? As soon as you set your objectives, define your target audience. Understanding who they are—industry, job titles, geographic locations—will guide the tone and content of the event.
2. Choose the Right Platform
Pick a digital platform that aligns with your event’s scale and needs. Consider the platform’s ability to handle your expected attendee load, integration capabilities with other tools, features like live polling or Q&A, and data security standards.
3. Create Content and Schedule
To maintain engagement, plan a schedule that includes different formats, such as keynote speeches, panel discussions, and interactive sessions. Pre-record essential aspects to avoid technical glitches and prepare speakers with rehearsal sessions.
4. Resource Allocation and Team Assignments
Assign roles clearly among your team. Key roles include a technical support lead, speaker coordinator, and event moderator. Make sure everyone knows their responsibilities and timelines.
5. Compliance and Accessibility
Ensure your event complies with international data protection regulations (like GDPR) if global attendees are expected. Additionally, make your content accessible to people with disabilities, considering options for subtitles, sign language interpretation, and audio descriptions.
Promotion Strategies
Promoting your online event efficiently might define its success, ensuring the right audience is aware and motivated to attend. Here, we explore some tactics and platforms to improve your promotional efforts.
1. Leverage Omnichannel Marketing
Effective promotion entails a strategic blend of multiple channels based on your target audience’s preferences. What channels prove most effective?
- Email Marketing: Use segmented lists to send personalized invites to your prospects. Tools like Mailchimp or HubSpot offer automation features that can schedule email sequences based on user behavior, such as sending a reminder email to those who visited the registration page but didn’t register.
- Social Media: LinkedIn is undoubtedly the most suitable platform for reaching B2B leaders. Regular posts, event countdowns, speaker highlights, and LinkedIn Event pages can engage your audience. However, for tech-savvy communities, consider Twitter for real-time updates and engaging in broader tech discussions. Use Instagram and Facebook to share behind-the-scenes content and live stories during the event.
- Paid Advertising: Google Ads can target specific industry keywords, while LinkedIn ads can target by job title, industry, and company size, making them ideal for B2B events. Consider retargeting ads to capture the attention of website visitors who have yet to register.
- Incentives: Early bird pricing is an excellent motivator for early sign-ups. Additionally, if you’re planning a free event, offering bonus discounts or a referral program can increase early registrations and encourage attendees to spread the word.
2. Engage with Thought Leaders
Identifying and collaborating with key thought leaders can significantly improve your event’s credibility and reach. Here’s how to effectively engage with them:
- Speaker Collaboration: Inviting industry leaders to speak at your event enriches your agenda and leverages their follower base. Ensure they share their participation across their networks by providing custom graphics, pre-written posts, and unique referral links.
- Content Co-Creation: Work with your speakers to create content such as blogs, interviews, or pre-event webinars. This content can generate buzz and provide valuable insights to potential attendees, giving them a taste of what to expect from the event.
During the Event Actions
1. Real-Time Engagement
Keep your audience engaged with live polls, Q&A sessions, and real-time content updates. Having a dedicated team to monitor and respond to these interactions is crucial for maintaining participant interest and interaction.
2. Technical Support
Provide immediate technical support to address any issues attendees might experience. Quick resolution of technical glitches ensures a smooth attendee experience and reduces frustration.
3. Networking Opportunities
Facilitate networking opportunities through virtual breakout rooms or networking platforms integrated into your event. This can mimic the ‘hallway conversations’ that are valuable at in-person events.
Post-Event Follow-Up
The post-event follow-up marks a critical phase in extending the event’s lifecycle and maximizing its impact. This stage is about nurturing the connections made, assessing the event’s success, and setting the groundwork for future initiatives. This section focuses on three key activities essential for effective post-event engagement.
1. Share Recordings and Additional Resources
Send out event recordings, additional learning materials, and thank you notes to all registrants. This adds value and keeps your audience engaged with your brand post-event. You can also edit the initial registration page so it displays the video recording of your event or encourages visitors to request it.
2. Collect Feedback
Gather feedback through surveys to understand participant satisfaction and areas for improvement. This insight is vital for refining future events.
3. Lead Management
Promptly follow up on leads generated from the event with tailored messages based on their engagement and interests noted during the event.
Measuring Success Through KPIs
1. Attendance Rates
Track not just the number of registrants but also attendee live participation rates. A lower-than-expected participation rate could indicate event timing, technology, or promotion effectiveness issues.
2. Engagement Metrics
Analyze the engagement through metrics like session attendance duration, interaction during Q&A, poll participation, and resource downloads. High engagement levels are often a positive indicator of content relevance and presentation quality.
3. ROI Analysis
Assess the return on investment by comparing the cost of hosting the event against the revenue generated through leads, partnerships, or direct sales. Adjust your strategy based on these insights to maximize future event ROI.
Conclusion
Effective digital event planning and execution require strategic planning, reliable technology, engaging content, and continuous improvement based on feedback and performance metrics. Following the steps we provided, you can plan successful online events that are powerful tools for sustained business growth and community building.
