Promoting a virtual event is not just a matter of sending a few messages and watching the audience roll in. You need to take a proactive, strategic approach to building an audience for your virtual event, and your virtual event marketing needs to start well in advance of the event itself. One of the best ways to build buzz for a virtual event and connect with audience members is to promote your virtual event on Facebook.
Sure, there are a few obvious things to do if you want to promote a virtual event on Facebook. You need to set up an Event on Facebook to invite people from your network, and you should consider investing in some pay-per-click Facebook ads to spread the word beyond your immediate circle. But beyond the basics, here are a few other ideas for how to attract an audience to your virtual event by promoting it on Facebook:
Engage with other communities: Every time you plan for a virtual event, as part of building an audience, you need to ask, “Who else cares about this?” Who, besides your organization’s employees, customers or partners, cares deeply about the subject matter that is going to be discussed at your virtual event? Chances are, you already have natural allies and partners who care about your industry/mission/topic, and who are already on Facebook. You need to find these people (a simple Google search might be all you need to do) and connect with them. By engaging with other communities, you can find influential people who can help drive traffic to your virtual event. But don’t just send a last-minute invitation and assume that will be enough to boost attendance. Instead, start early and build an ongoing dialogue with these other organizations. Share their Facebook posts with your Facebook audience. Comment on their latest ideas. Offer to send traffic to their websites and get people to watch their content, too. Facebook is not a one-way street. Building relationships on Facebook is all about reciprocity, generosity and genuine concern for others – not an exercise in spamming and “help me help you help me.”
Build a cause or mission around your event: People love to support causes they care about on Facebook. Find a way to use your virtual event promotion to also support a charitable cause. For example, if you’re hosting a virtual event for the pharmaceutical industry, you could do a promotion on Facebook saying, “As soon as we get 1,000 Likes on Facebook, we will donate $1,000 to a scholarship fund for future pharmacists.” Or if your virtual event is focused on a specific topic, look for ways to promote the larger topic or mission that the event is about – without explicitly promoting the “event” alone. For example, if you’re hosting a virtual event for municipal water authorities, you could post a series of articles on Facebook about the importance of clean water, the public health benefits of clean water, and the many good things that people in your audience are doing. (And then, along with these other promotions, you can also promote your event.) But the point is, don’t make your Facebook page a “monotone” of self-promotion for your event. Make it about “them,” not only about “you.” You could also offer a “spotlight” feature to promote some of the attendees, partners and exhibitors of your event. Every time you post an article or status update on Facebook, that has a chance to be shared with dozens, hundreds or thousands of other people. So make sure you take time to tell other people’s stories as well as the story of the virtual event itself. People love to talk about themselves – and see themselves talked about on Facebook. If you help create Facebook conversations about your attendees and partners, they’ll help create conversations about your virtual event.
Share “teaser” content leading up the event: As you create content for the virtual event, whether it’s a welcome video, presentations or other unique information, look for opportunities to share it on your Facebook Event page to build buzz for your virtual event. For example, could you share a portion of your welcome video? Are there any fun animations or visual features that you can share? Can you give people a brief taste of what it’s going to be like to attend the virtual event? Of course, you don’t want to give away all the magic in advance, and you don’t want to reveal confidential or proprietary information that could be shared with the public, but try to think creatively about how you can give some “teasers” leading up to the virtual event itself.
Create “viral videos” and shareable infographics: People love to share entertaining videos and eye-catching graphics on Facebook. How creative can you be in developing this kind of “viral” content? Could you create a short, humorous 2-minute YouTube video showing your event host in a new light? Could you create a unique graphically designed “infographic” showing some of the key statistics and trends affecting your industry, that also encourages people to come to your virtual event to learn more? Be creative. Don’t be afraid to be funny or do something a little bit “risky.” If you can let the fun, human side of your organization show, it will pique your audience’s interest – and help attract a bigger audience to your virtual event.
About Ike Singh
Ike Singh Kehal is the CEO and co-founder of Social27, a leading virtual events solution with Enterprise clients across the globe. Ike is a respected business professional with 15+ years of marketing, sales, and business development experience. His latest company, Social27 was founded in 2007 to take advantage of the growing need for social media and game dynamics integration in virtual events. Prior to starting Social27, Ike drove numerous startup projects, including Indiabulls Retail, where he was CEO. Previously, he held various business strategy positions at Microsoft, spread over a seven-year period. Ike is a committed member of the virtual events community and contributes regularly to the discussion at http://www.virtualeventshub.com
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