What are the steps and the keys to a successful digital event? What is the difference between preparing for a traditional event versus a virtual event? We will now list the nine points that will give you success in your next event.
Editorial Content
Your landing page design for the event and the email copy is what will sell your event. You can see some great examples of landing pages with preview videos advertised by
Usually, in 15 seconds, people decide if your event is worth signing up for so its important that you have these points on your landing page:
- Eye-catching headline
- What will they get from attending the show
- Sample video showing interesting parts of the event
- Testimonials of previous attendees
- Your background (why should they listen to you?)
- The duration
- Early bird sign-up discount
- Content sample of the event
Rhythm
Your audience is behind a computer screen, it is not present and therefore at your pace. The pace of your event will be strongly influenced by the speed at which you talk, how often you change your slides, and your tone of voice. The first thing to decide is to define your goal. What do you want them to learn from your presentation? Will it be interactive? Will you have a table of contents that will be shared beforehand? Will there be quizzes with prizes at the end?
A second essential point in the preparation of a digital event is the choice of the place. What kind of background do you want in the online presentation? Will you have a PowerPoint behind you or white background?
Audience immersion
The third thing to know for in the organizing of a digital event is to make sure your audience is immersed in the experience. Your challenge will be to keep your participants and keep them attentive. When people feel nobody is watching them, they may have a tendency to look at their phone, take a break and go eat a sandwich, etc.
As a rule of thumb, you should have audience participation every 10 minutes in your event. Either by encouraging people to remember something or by asking them to do an action. This way, you keep them attentive because they are not sure what you will ask next.
Budget
The fourth point addressed is an essential point and that is the budget. Does a digital event cost more or less than a face-to-face event? So, to answer that question, I have good news and bad news, the good news is that there are fewer fees. The bad news is that there are additional fees, for the setup of lighting, interactive equipment, teleprompter, etc.
Let us talk about in-person events and their costs first. Costs relating to catering, space rental, or technical costs can run about $30 per head. For events that are larger than 50 people, the digital solution will often be an economical solution compared to the face-to-face event.
And indeed, the digital solution will often be an addition, because the costs generated by the creation of a TV set, video capture, content creation, and all the costs that will require the creation of a digital event will be higher. to the savings made by space savings, accommodation savings, and the costs saved on the organizational part.
Communication strategy
So, the fifth point that we need to address now is the communication of your digital event. How do you plan to market your event? A great place to start is with your own email list. Try to write a catchy title that you know will grab people’s attention. If you for example are an SEO whiz and all your friends know about it, then try to host an event titled “Lean SEO in 1 Hour with David”. This event would normally cost $49 but bring a friend and it’s free. This way you almost double your audience and you may get some clients from this event.
Now, what if you spent all that effort marketing your event and people end up forgetting to attend?
With software like EventLeaf, registered attendees will keep getting notified that the event is about to start. This reduces the number of reminder emails you need to send and ensures that most people will attend the event.
Tools
The sixth point I would like to address is an extremely important point. This point concerns the sharing and interactivity of your digital event. Now that people are behind a computer screen there have to be ways that they can engage with the presenter to make the presentation more appealing. The major problem that you will find in the organizing of your digital event is that your audience is not in front of you. It’s up to you not only to create an energizing universe that encourages them to participate but above all facilitate this communication with intuitive tools. Don’t forget interactivity, this is the key word for the success of a digital event.
Technology
The seventh point that I would like to address now is extremely important and will influence almost all the choices you will have to make, from the preparation to the realization of your event. This point is the technical aspect. How do you plan to manage the people who are attending the online event and how can you set them up for lead targeting after the event?
Often a cloud-based event management software like EventLeaf will give you the ability to create event pages, register attendees, and collect payments.
In 10 minutes or less, you can have your new event registered and start marketing it to your existing email list or through paid ads on Facebook or Google.
