Killing brands is a lot easier than building them. All it takes is a couple of bad reviews and testimonials from jilted customers to bring down your name.
This makes it imperative for businesses to use available tools and resources to the best of their abilities. That’s because establishing an online presence is no longer enough for your brand’s success. You need to do all in your power to create stellar customer experiences at every touchpoint.
With the ongoing global pandemic and the rise in social events restrictions, virtual conferences are the only way forward to hold events and conferences while following social distancing protocols.
Now is a great time for marketers to try something new to promote their brand during a virtual event effectively. There are various strategies to consider.
Here are some of the most promising strategies for turning virtual conferences to your advantage:
Be the best video version of yourself
As conferences and other business events shift online, the formalities no longer seem to be necessary. Working from home has further added a casual flair to how we do business.
But, if you want your brand to make a favorable impression in any virtual event, it’s just as essential to look elegant and talk slick as it was before the pandemic. The only difference is that now you are trying to make an impression remotely, via video.
Here are a few tips for adopting the best camera version of yourself:
Set up your space
Setting up your space is one of the most important things when taking part in a virtual conference or an online meeting. Make sure you’re sitting in a well-lit area that illuminates your face. Backlighting can often make it hard for people to see on your screen correctly, so make sure you are the star of this show and people can see you clearly.
Additionally, minimize background noise by clearing up your space of all distractions. Set up a separate room and make sure that everyone else at home knows that it’s a no-go zone for as long as you are in there.
Face the camera
Eye contact is crucial when addressing people and trying to make them see your point. It shows that you are a subject matter expert and won’t shy away from showing your authority and confidence.
Keep your camera close to the screen and keep glancing at others to see how they react to the proceedings. Since your camera is your focal point and determines your body language, make sure you keep your eyes on the camera to be a formidable presence at the event.
Dress for success
The best aspect of attending a virtual conference is that no one will ever know that you’re wearing sweatpants.
But do your best to dress appropriately for a business event from the waist up, unless you’ll be walking around and conducting a session from your home, then put on the dress pants as well. Remember, it’s for the greater good of your brand.
This is important because your attire can tell a lot about your brand’s values. Dress like you would for an in-person meeting and ensure that all staff members follow the dress code for your industry if they are in virtual attendance.
Creatively and strongly establish your brand as an authority
Story-telling is one of the most powerful marketing techniques to connect with the audience and attract them towards your brand. In a digital context, the power of communication and how you choose to deliver your brand’s representation will be crucial to your brand’s growth.
So instead of just using cleverly crafted logos and backdrops, expand on your authority in your niche and include story-telling as an element to convey your message.
Remember, people do not want to waste their time listening to long, boring stories of how you started your business or what keeps you up at night. They want to hear how your offerings can benefit them and what your brand has done for any previous clients.
Craft a creative narrative around how the brand can help customers, in the form of in-event presentations or short, animated videos that participants can easily view and share in a moment. You can also make testimonial videos of some of your brand’s first loyal customers and share links and references to other reputable websites and brands.
Use social media promotion
You can still sponsor the event, even if it is virtual. In fact, it is the perfect opportunity for you to attract relevant audiences and use your social media clout to promote the experience.
One of the most obvious ways of promoting your brand is to leverage LinkedIn and Facebook. Post regular updates about the event and the part that your brand is playing in the virtual event. Businesses’ have been using LinkedIn to highlight their events, market campaigns and get themselves noticed amongst well-known industry professionals.
One way to go about LinkedIn marketing is to create profile headers using custom graphics to make your brand stand out. Creating graphics is easy with online graphic design apps such as PosterMyWall. There are several creative LinkedIn templates available for you to choose from that you can customize according to the event you’re promoting.
If you want to step it up a notch, use paid promotion and advertising on LinkedIn to re-market to your existing audience. This allows you to promote to audiences already on the email marketing lists and generate more leads when existing audiences share what you have to say about the virtual event.
Run a giveaway to incentivize involvement
Another helpful way to promote your brand at a virtual event is to provide incentives for all participants through giveaways, lucky draws, and other competition-style activities. You can hold a competition before the virtual event, announce winners at the event, or try a raffle to encourage more people to attend.
Your prizes can be associated with the conference. For example, you could offer participants a chance to attend for free, download industry guides that aren’t available to other audiences, or have a swag bag with your branding mailed to them.
The last idea may sound expensive, but wouldn’t it be nice to have several people wearing your t-shirts or caps on the Zoom screen, piquing everyone else’s interest?
Also, take the opportunity to deliver your latest product trials into customers’ hands and ask for feedback.
Is your brand ready to attend a virtual event?
Virtual events are here to stay, so every business needs to create an online brand presence in this digital age. If you are not sure how to proceed, take inspiration from what other brands are doing. Moreover, you can also experiment with the strategies detailed above to determine the most effective ways to promote your brand.