VIDEO IS A KEY COMPONENT TO A SUCCESSFUL EVENT MARKETING CAMPAIGN

‘With so many different actions you can take to increase registrations, you probably wonder what’s a “nice to have” promotion activity and what falls under “must-have”. Let me make it super easy for you - Video marketing is where you should start. If this statement by itself is not convincing enough, you should know that studies show that putting a video in email campaigns can lead to a 250% increase in click through rate and that including a video on a landing page can increase conversions by 80%’ Tom Shelly, 2016. The Bizzabo Blog.

‘The impact of video on your events can really be significant. It can be a great way to generate enthusiasm amongst your attendees and equally present a really good case for those who haven’t yet registered.’ Eventsforce, 2016

I can’t think of a major event I have been to that didn’t incorporate video in the marketing mix. Indeed, there are many terrific articles and blogs on the web that emphasize the importance of video marketing for an event, with guidelines to how best to use video. But the key questions we get asked as video producers are:

• What options are available?
• Is it cost effective?

VIDEO OPTIONS FOR MARKETING YOUR EVENT

When looking at options it helps to break up your event marketing campaign into three segments and then slotting the video package that best suits that segment:

• Before the event.
  • Teaser videos - incorporate footage from past events and testimonials from attendees, keynote speakers and exhibitors, all edited to inspiring music. A teaser video captures the excitement of your event with a promise of bigger things to come.
  • Keynote speaker announcement videos - This is a chance for your keynote speakers to announce the exciting topics they will cover at your event.
  • Venue profile videos - Sell the location just as much as you sell the event, with details of key locations of interest: parking, accommodation etc. These are especially good if you don’t have footage from previous events to put a strong teaser together.
  • Sponsor Videos - short interviews with your sponsors highlighting their commitment to your event. A sponsor video not only provides another advertising platform for your sponsors but it will attract other sponsors to your event.

• During the event.
  • Live videos - Maintain the buzz with live feeds of events happening throughout the day. This is particularly important in events where there are multiple presentations/demonstrations taking place over several days. They can be broadcast through your event app and your website and these videos are a selling point for attracting more exhibitors to your event.
  • Intro/Outro videos for the presentations - to set the mood and offer closure to each presentation.

• After the event.
  • Recaps and highlight videos – Time to thank everyone for attending with recap and highlight videos. This is the chance showcase some impressive stats about your event and to remind attendees to subscribe and spread the word for next year.
  • Presenter videos – Attract new subscribers for future events by making the presentation videos available online for subscribers. You can put some of these presentation videos behind a pay wall. This is where you really start to see a rate of return on your video investment.
  • Testimonials – No better way to promote your future events with those testimonials. For more details about testimonials and interviews go to our Testimonials page.

We have created a checklist to help you get the most out of you video production budget. Download the Event Organiser's Checklist.

THINK OF YOUR VIDEOS AS ASSETS.

Videos are assets that maintain their value long after the event has finished. They provide a cost effective means of marketing your event over a period of time beyond the weekend or week that the event is on. Footage shoot on the day can be reedited into different formats and reused over and over. Some examples of the versatility and ROI that video provides:

• Even after your event is over, you can make each presentation available online in a pay-per-view model, providing more content.
• Presenters might want the videos of their presentations to share around, providing more word of mouth publicity.
• Exhibitor testimonials and promotional videos can be used to market future events to other potential exhibitors.
• Videos from past events can be archived and used to market future events, which is a great way to establish a sense of history, adding more credibility to your event.
• Testimonials can become a part of your website.

Check out the examples below.