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It’s no secret that audience engagement is crucial for a successful virtual event. However, many companies fail to engage their audiences after an event. They do not realize the potential of the post-event engagement strategy in nurturing the guests into customers.
Post-event audience engagement is important to get the maximum virtual event ROI. 49% of marketers believe that audience engagement plays a major role in the success of an event.
An increasing number of businesses are going digital. Hence, customer and employee experiences are shaped by technologies. Consequently, businesses are investing in modern technologies to meet ever-changing customer expectations and overcome the common digital transformation challenges. Technologies like voice capabilities, and conversational chatbots are being leveraged to enhance user learning experiences and customer service, allowing businesses to get most out of their technology investments.
Similarly, in the events domain, technologies like a cloud-based platform for video interpreting, facial recognition technology, and others are being employed to make the online event a success.
Though managing virtual events needs a heavy investment of effort and time, and a comprehensive virtual event plan, the post-event phase is equally critical. This article will share interesting tips on managing engagement post-event.
#1 – Monitor Event Performance
Conduct an in-depth analysis of all aspects of the summit to evaluate whether or not it achieved the goals and was a successful virtual event. Monitor and measure the crucial KPIs of the conference, such as the number of attendees, their behavior, the length of their participation, their involvement, and more. Learn more about the parts that went well and the areas that need improvement.
Let us take a look at the various ways you can measure a successful virtual event:
- Number of check-ins
Although registration is a major factor that determines the success of events, it is the number of check-ins that matters the most. It helps you learn the number of registered people who showed up for the event.
Use this data to gain insight into the day, time, or event type attracting more audience and enhance your event strategies accordingly.
- Length of the participation
Understand the amount of time the audience spends at the event. A high participation rate is what you should aim for. If you notice a decrease in the number of participants during the event, it is time you revamp the strategy.
- Attendee engagement
Active participation in the Q&A session is a sign that the attendees are interested in the event. Another method to measure audience participation is monitoring the traffic on the event chat channel.
#2 – Begin with Gratitude
The attendees have spent a lot of time being a part of your event. The least you can do is show gratitude for their attendance. Send out a thank you email to make them feel appreciated. Include discount coupons, extended trials, early-bird deals, or any other event-only offers to encourage them to stay with you.
Hive.co, an email marketing CRM, had hosted a webinar for eCommerce enthusiasts. Check out this thank you email they sent to the attendees. Notice how the Hive team offers the participants an easy way to book a consultation call. The email also provides links to resources to engage the participants even better.
Train your customer success team to get in touch with all the attendees over a call to understand their thoughts about the event. This will help you gain valuable insights on how to make future events even better.
#3 – Connect with Your Virtual Event Audience
One of the most definitive methods to gauge virtual event performance is connecting with the participants after the event and engaging them in meaningful conversations. Sharing a post-event survey is the best way to understand the event’s impact as it helps in capturing detailed feedback from the attendees. But remember to keep these surveys short. Ask specific questions about the event and their experience.
Mindvalley, an innovative personal transformation platform, conducts webinars on a regular basis. Take a look at this email they sent to the participants after a masterclass. The email contains a short survey and also, an exclusive invite to a new program.
Based on the audiences’ responses, you can segment them into various lists and share tailored content via drip campaigns. You can also share updates about upcoming events and get the participants excited for the next ones.
Do not limit yourself by connecting with the event attendees. Reach out to the audience who could not attend your event to learn the reasons for no-shows. Send a ‘We missed you’ email, giving them a gist about what they missed. They may also appreciate highlights of the event and the top insights shared by keynote speakers.
This email by Campaign Monitor shows how you can connect with no-shows and get them interested in your events.
#4 – Create a Post-Event Page
Create a website or a webpage sharing the highlights of the event. Use event management tools like Airmeet, Cvent, EventCombo, Glisser, Hopin, or Hubilo to create and manage the event page seamlessly.
Here are a few event page must-haves.
- Include event videos, speaker information, photo galleries, testimonials for participants, and related information summarizing the event.
- Connect your company website, social media pages, and community forums with this page for strengthening your brand identity.
- Add a contact form to allow new participants to connect with you.
- Advertise the upcoming events and attract new audiences. This will also help the existing attendees have an idea about what to expect in the upcoming events.
Check out this event page by Content Marketing World. The page header showcases the event date and time and provides a registration link. It also informs the audience about their growing community of content marketing and how the audience can leverage this community to gain knowledge and hone their skills.
Further, the website portrays leading brands who have been a part of this event. The Featured 2022 Speakers introduces the speakers of this event with the help of their short bio.
The CM World also showcases their sponsors, thanking them for their contributions.
#5 – Repurpose Successful Virtual Event Content
Being a digital marketer, you would be familiar with the term ‘repurposing content’. Content repurposing involves reusing existing event content to create more value for the audience.
Here are a few easiest ways to leverage your event for sharing value-adding content.
- Transcribe the event audio to build an engaging blog post. Create an appealing introduction and conclusion and finish it off with attractive graphics. Do not forget to embed the original video into the post as well.
- Compile the content into an eBook once you have a considerable amount of information on a topic. Gather the desired resources from various webinars and design ebooks offering value to the audiences.
- Embed relevant video clips into landing pages as videos are said to improve conversion rates by 72%.
- Create on-demand videos by summarizing all the important parts and best moments of the webinar into a compact video. Share this video with the attendees via email, website, and social media.
- Convert the event content into a podcast. Add a good introduction and concluding statements with the help of a sound editor and your podcast is ready. Remember to cut out the parts where you are describing visual or explaining action steps.
#6 – Go Social
Social media helps you build lasting connections with the event participants, thereby increasing their chances of attending future events. Leverage social platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to connect with the audience.
Here are a few ways to engage the audience on social media post the event.
- Share the best pictures and video clips from a successful virtual event on your social profiles. You can also share behind the scenes videos, or bloopers to pique the interest
Check out this post shared by Cvent on Facebook. It showcases a behind the scenes video of their hybrid event.
- Create infographics to educate the audience about the topics covered during the event
- Thank the speakers, attendees, volunteers, and your team by giving a shout-out on social media
- Organize fun contests with exciting prizes for your social media followers.
Siena USA offers best flooring solutions to their customers. NeoCon is a one of the best event of interior design industry. Being a participant of this event, Siena USA is giving away rugs to lucky winners every day at this event.
- Leverage user-generated content by reposting it on social media pages.
#7 – Invest in Technology to Serve Tailored Content
The post-event activities like sending emails, connecting with the attendees, promoting upcoming events, and more provide you with golden opportunities to achieve your goals.
However, all these activities should be carried out at the right time. As mentioned earlier in this post, you should leverage technology to make the whole process more efficient than before,
Here are various tools you can use to create and manage an efficient post-event strategy.
- Email marketing software – Create drip campaigns to send emails to the participants and follow up with them automatically.
- Survey tools – Design and create smart surveys to capture the participants’ feedback about the events.
- Social media scheduler – Publish posts on your social media pages in one click without having to visit each page manually.
- Event management software – Schedule and manage all kinds of event management activities, such as registrations, attendee check-ins, event website or event page management, and more.
Keep Your Successful Virtual Event Going…
A robust post-event engagement strategy goes a long way in boosting the brand experience and serves as the best guide for future improvements. Follow the tips mentioned in this article to ensure audience engagement after a successful virtual event and watch how these leads turn into your customers.