Top 10 Ways to Promote Your Virtual Event and Boost Attendance
Virtual events are on the rise and there’s some fierce competition out there right now which means it’s more important than ever to cut through the noise. You’ve set a date for your virtual event and you’re counting down, but you’re starting to wonder how many people will turn up! So how do you best promote, boost attendance and maximize the virtual event experience? Here are our top 10 tips:1. A compelling web pageThis is the shop doorway for your virtual event so make it as compelling as possible! Firstly, make sure you include all the critical details on this page - the who, what, when, where, including:
- Time / date
- Agenda
- Relevant sign up links
- Speaker biographies
- Payment details if applicable
- Sponsor information
Use stand-out graphics and images, video clips and previews of engaging content from your speakers. Include details of any giveaways and special offers that they can get by attending your event. Get people excited about your virtual event by sharing a sneak preview - this is a great way to enhance the virtual event experience!
2. Spread the word through speakers & sponsors
If you ask your sponsors and speakers to spread the word about your event, you immediately open it up to a wider audience! As you will be promoting them through your marketing too, it’s a win-win for everyone! Make sure they have all the information they need to promote the event on their channels.
3. Utilize your network
Ask friends, family, colleagues, and other business associates to share details of your event with others and on their channels. Think about who you’ve supported in the past and ask them to help you. You can offer affiliate links, discounts, and special offers to those who have already signed up and invite their network too. Word of mouth is a powerful tool!
4. Email marketing
Email marketing is still a really important marketing strategy for businesses and this is a great way to communicate with your customers and prospective customers. Keep customers informed about your virtual events and utilize the content you have already created - link to your event web page so they have all the info. This is a great way to maximize the digital event experience! If you need some help with email marketing, check out this beginner’s guide.
5. Social media promotion
Take some time to think about which platforms are relevant for your virtual event and start promoting it regularly on those channels. You can share some of your preview content and create some excitement this way. If you have some budget, you can run adverts to your target audiences. If you don’t have a budget for social advertising, you can still promote your virtual event for free e.g. Facebook Events, Facebook groups and LinkedIn groups. Using relevant hashtags on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn is a good way to reach your audience - and create a hashtag for your event too. Make sure your event hashtag is included in all of your communication.
6. Blog about it
A great way of boosting attendance at your event and maximizing the virtual event experience is to blog about it! Include the blog on your website and share it with your networks. Include all the key details and any exciting elements such as offers and giveaways. Ask your speakers and sponsors to share it or ask to do a guest blog for their channels.
7. Maximizing keywords for SEO
Using keywords in all your content to ensure your virtual event is ranked highly on search engines is a key way to boost attendance and enhance the digital event experience. You can do a quick search on Google to see what phrases are most used e.g. autocompletes and ‘what people also ask’. You can also use Google Ads to help you find relevant keywords.
8. Let the media know
You can send out an event alert to your target media or write a press release with all of the information - the who, what, when, where, why. Hubspot has a press release template you can use. Include the relevant keywords and the key information you included on your event web page.
9. Giveaways and offers
Giveaways and offers are a fantastic way to enhance the virtual event experience. People love a freebie or the chance to win something! If they haven’t already, check whether your sponsors are willing to do any giveaways. You could also run a competition and keep some of the prizes a secret!
10. Get support
It’s clear that there are a lot of ways to promote your virtual event and this may seem daunting, but you don’t have to do it alone! Did you know that Remo has a community? You could always strike up a conversation with peers and find out how they approached their virtual event marketing.If you’re looking for virtual event technology that will help you maximize the virtual event experience, look no further! Try Remo now for free or have a guided tour.
