With every passing day, more and more events, business-related or otherwise, are canceled or postponed or gone virtual. In this changing corporate world, a question we hear increasingly from professionals around the world is, “How can we do better digital events?”
Even within our internal team at CleverX, we meet virtually almost always. But that doesn’t stop us from digging into a better approach to key industry moments, conferences, and client gatherings.
Business as usual is suddenly anything but. And events everywhere are being forced to rethink everything. ‘Virtual events’ seem like an easy fix for our current collective reality. But the question is if it’s going to be the right answer for a long time.
Three things to consider before you decide to go completely virtual.
-
Review your brief.
Not every event translates to a digital one. Just because you can do a virtual event doesn’t always mean you should. It boils down to your objectives. If the event is aimed to deliver new research or make announcements, a live stream, video, a downloadable PDF on-demand makes sense. But, consider how that content is consumed after the engagement. Different formats work for different audience segments. On the other hand, if the goal of the event is to build relationships, a unilateral virtual event may not fit the bill. Think about the goals and consider other options.
-
Watch out for live-stream overkill.
While live-streams are great for interactive events, there’s an overload today. Too many people contest for attention in our social media lives already. Besides, even though most companies are finding hybrid models of remote and on-site work, children, pets, and loved ones are close. Distractions are the new normal. So, what do you do then?
Question 1. Will your event invite people to register?
If it’s not inviting enough, there’s probably no pressing reason for people to tune in for that exact time. For major product announcements or updates, live may be the way to go. The trick here is to make your video easy to stomach along with an on-demand alternative. Convenience always makes you better-liked.
Question 2. Do you really need an audience when you’re recording?
Live streams may or may not be captured in front of a live audience where speakers are delivering content to a room full of people. Like in a conference. While we cannot underestimate the shared energy the audience brings to a live stream, you may find that on-demand video that delivers directly to the camera is a better fit.
-
Use other content delivery channels and formats.
Bringing life to an offline event includes elements of production and delivery like lighting, sound, staging, oration, charisma. But this may be even difficult to pull off virtually. Think in the direction of the channels you already own: your website, your email marketing channels, social media handles, and blogs. For instance, you could explore animated or kinetic text-based video production that easily be scaled via content marketing channels.
Question 3. How can you package your message better?
The future of events
There is a lesson to learn in the efficiency and convenience of remote work. It still boggles my mind that your office HQ could be a Figma doc or a Slack channel. Perhaps we could rethink the number of times you had to get on a plane to make a business closure. And that’s a good thing. Both environmentally and socially. Of course, in-person events will eventually return to stay, even if in a different capacity. After working from home (or working from anywhere) for just a short while now, we like it here.
At their core, social and business events are shared experiences. But think again this time. Digital transformation is changing us at not just an organizational level. We’re evolving as humans. Digital beings that are part of online communities, video conferences, and internet conversations. And digitalization enables us to re-invent our personalities, talents, and relationships even if we’re doing business very differently today.
