Our Blog

In-person, live events and conferences can be a key marketing channel to achieve business objectives and generate leads, especially for B2B organizations and tech companies.

Events give you the opportunity to connect and build engaged communities, while also potentially turning prospects into clients. In just a few hours, hundreds, or even thousands of people gather in the same space to have an experience provided to them that will educate, and elevate, your brand experience.

And with the right strategy, you can maximize your event results. A key consideration for all modern event marketers is video, with an abundance of digital tools now available to better showcase and share your event experiences, and generate even more attention for your brand.

Really, video is a crucial tool to incorporate into your event. In this post, we'll look at thirteen ways in which you can utilize video within every stage of your event production.

1. Save the Date
If you don’t have enough details to start promoting your event, but you still want to get people thinking about it, a 'Save the Date' video is your solution. This puts the date on people’s mind, and onto their calendars, without needing to be ready to share all of the fine details

2. Event Hype Video
This is a great tool to use to launch the event and get people’s information. Include an overview of highlights, what to expect, what they’ll experience, speaker line-up, and have registration information.

Promote this with a short hashtag to assist people in finding your event on social media

3. Event Mission Statement Video
This is where you can incorporate the backstory and inspiration of how the event came to be - include an interview with the organization’s CEO/Founder and display a thank you message for all of those in attendance.

4. Social Media Posts
Social media teasers are a good way to share some hints about your upcoming event, and countdown or deadline reminders for any promotions or discounts.

Keep these short - and make a square version for Instagram.

5. Behind the Scenes
People love watching behind-the-scenes footage to give them a sense of the inner workings of the event. You can take 'before-event' and 'after-event' videos which showcase the transformation, while you can also have someone conduct a Q&A with the panelists and speakers before they take the stage.

Including personal content connects the viewer, and adds a level of authenticity to your event. Customers like to be able to see the faces of the crew, staff working hard on the event, or even just see what their favorite speaker is doing just minutes before they take the stage.

6. Welcome Video
Welcome videos are always a nice, personal touch to have at any event. Welcome videos enable you to remind your attendees of the mission and purpose of the event before it kicks off.

7. Speaker Announcements
Use a short video to introduce each speaker, award recipient or honoree as a visual aid.

This video should provide a quick bio about who's coming on stage and what the audience will learn over the next couple of hours.

8. Panels/ Keynote Speakers
You can capture panels or keynote speakers, then take that footage and turn it into additional content for your digital channels.

9. Sponsor/Partnerships Integration
If you have an event that has Sponsors or Partners attached to it, incorporating their brand into your event video is key.

Curated footage of their involvement onsite at the event - for example, setting up their booth, interacting with the attendees, shots of their product - can be a great way to highlight their involvement

10. Live Streaming
Live streaming is so important because of the level of immediate interaction and engagement.

Communicate information about your live stream in advance, in order to build anticipation. When users join your live stream, they'll have the opportunity to ask questions, make commentary, use icons and visuals to show how they're feeling, and connect with others posting on the live stream - all in a matter of seconds.

Live-streaming creates brand hype about the current event, and can also facilitate FOMO. People who missed out will see how great your conference is, and will likely be the first to sign up for next year’s event. It's a great tool to engage your attendees, as well as those who are not in attendance.

11. Customer Testimonials
Testimonials give you added credibility, and enable you to put a face to your business.

Testimonials can also provide important validation of your prospects from their peers, which can enhance trust.

What were your attendee’s takeaways from the event? Was it a success? Would they attend it again the future? How would they describe it best to someone who was not there?

If you're inviting clients to your event or conference, this is a good time to capture their feedback - and you can repurpose this footage for future case studies.

12. Thank You Video
The event is over, but your guests are still talking about the great time they had. Within 24 hours, some sort of communication should be sent to your attendees.

Leaving too much time between your event and your thank you message will not be effective or engaging. Your Thank You message could include a personal thank you from the founder, and/or highlights from the night. And if you already have your next event lined up, this can be a great time to share a quick note to 'Save the Date'.

13. Post Event
Event recap videos can keep the buzz going for attendees - and if used properly, can generate more buzz for your future functions.

Everyone likes to be nostalgic and reminded of their favorite times. Use your post-event video to evoke that emotion in your attendees, so that they’ll want to come back for more, and/or share with their friends.

Consider creating a 'sizzle reel', a 1-3 minute highlight video which pulls from all of your event video footage. You want people to look back at your event, talk about it and share it with others. Incorporate powerful clips from the day, upbeat or emotion-provoking music, crowd interaction shows (laughing, clapping, standing ovation) and your message. Think of it as a way to get your information out to the world in a quick, effective way – like a movie trailer. It should get them amped up. And then, remind them that this event will be taking place again the following year.

As you can see, when you have the right strategy, video can be a powerful asset pre, during and post-event. And with all of the footage that you've captured, you can repurpose sound bites, key points, and turn them into social media content to use throughout the year.

With the right planning, you can find a way to be effective and efficient with event video content.

source