According to Martech’s Event Participation Index, 81% of professionals said they’ve attended a virtual event since the onset of COVID-19; moreover, 75% noted they were satisfied with these events. Even with the promise of vaccine distribution starting soon, it’s safe to assume webinar and digital events are here to stay in 2021.
Since the success of webinars and digital events hinges on attendance, we can’t solely rely on 1-2 email invitations to attract attendees. Keep in mind – the more registrations received, the more viable leads to fill your pipeline! Here are a few tried-and-true ways to drive registrations for your webinars and digital events next year.
Extend your promotion cycle
A great way to boost registration is by extending the promotional cycle beyond 14 days. We receive hundreds of great webinar invites, only to realize it’s in less than a week and we’re booked. Don’t procrastinate! Promoting early on (whether through social, paid ads or an effective email campaign) allows recipients to plan accordingly and spread the word to their networks.
Utilize your social media channels
Speaking of your promoting cycle, the easiest way to promote your webinar or event is through social media. Make sure that you’re including a call-to-action in each social post! Additionally, an extended promotion cycle gives you the opportunity to look at the analytics behind your organic posts and look into amplifying those results with paid opportunities. If you see that more people are engaging with your LinkedIn post, turn it into a paid advertisement.
Finalize most, if not all, of the details
The three things people look for when deciding whether or not to register for an event are: who’s speaking, what they’re speaking about and what they will get from attending. If your email and social campaigns are effective, recipients will likely check out the event page for more information. Missing names, times or session titles and descriptions are a big turn off and can leave your staff with more inquiries than registrations.
Do your research
Everyone is looking for quality events! Find out what your target audience wants to learn, new trends and innovations in your industry or scope out your competition to see what they are and aren’t talking about. Is there a gap you can fill? You’re more likely to receive registrations if people find the information helpful and eye opening, so make sure your main focus is the quality of your content.
Find a user-friendly platform
Try testing out your registration platform before making it public. This will ensure there are no hiccups for both you and your attendees. Other things to be mindful of are: Does it integrate seamlessly with your event website? Is the platform able to accept and process all types of payments? Will the registration info from each attendee sync with your email marketing platform to ensure personalized messages?
Virtual events are not necessarily easier to pull off than live events. You need a strong team, a good foundation of project management, producers with digital experience and an easy-to-manage platform. Since virtual events are here to stay, now is the time to improve your strategy for planning events in 2021!
Did your first virtual event flop? Do you want to make sure your next one is a success? Let’s talk!