Virtual Events - Planning, Frequency, and Promotion

Virtual events, including webcasts are gaining popularity due to cost efficiencies and lead generation. Whether webcasts, webinars, web conferences, or virtual trade shows, managing virtual events requires both careful planning and ongoing execution.

Below we will share some virtual event best practices including planning, frequency, and promotion. Also, we will share a flowchart depicting the communication/support process for a webcast.

Planning Virtual Events

Start with a plan that defines content and frequency. What topics are of interest to your customers and prospects? Be sure to not just be a sales pitch or commercial for your company or you will lose interest and participation fast. If possible, recruit opinion leaders for given topics, or multiple subject matter experts (SMEs) as panelists. If necessary, offer an honorarium.

Frequency

Regarding frequency, an annual event may not be frequent enough, possibly losing interest and continuity, while a weekly or even monthly event may be too frequent to manage. Consider segmenting your content and audiences, so you communicate less frequently, and provide more targeted content. Frequency rules-of-thumb? Not more than every 3-6 weeks, not less than every 180 days.

Promoting Virtual Events

Be sure to allow adequate time for communication and promotion of each event. Email is a natural tool for communicating, with hyperlinks to event information and registration. But news releases, social media posts and more should be leveraged to build awareness and registrations. Below is a suggested flowchart of communications and support for a typical webcast.

(click to view full size)