The key purposes of any event are to share the sponsor’s message, to gather information, and to engage attendees. When the virtual event content is smartly crafted, and the event is thoughtfully planned and well produced, it will create a treasure trove of material for the marketing team. This includes recordings of live events, event marketing content, demos, social media posts, and a wealth of content and handouts shared by the speakers.  

However, the most useful material for marketers may very well be the data. Throughout the event, data can be gathered in many ways: registration forms, attendance numbers, polls, surveys, feedback of all types, the number of downloads, Q&A, and more. Marketing teams can leverage post-event analytics lead to nurture strategies to convert attendees into highly qualified prospects.  

Engaging Attendees Post-Event

There are three principles for getting people to remember your event: honing content down to its essence, repeating your message periodically, and creating opportunity for attendees to discuss the event. To get the strongest return on investment for your hybrid or virtual event, be mindful in sustaining a connection and building a relationship with attendees after an event. What does this look like in practice?

Say thank you. People have a positive response to being thanked, they are often surprised and delighted. Be creative and timely but make sure you let them know you appreciate their participation and presence. For those who signed up but didn’t attend the event let them know you missed them and invite them to view post-event recaps and videos.

Share your event content. Organize and post event video, demos, presentation, data and create transcripts so that event information is easily accessible. Write recaps, offer highlights, and share opinions. Reposting is a gift and stirring up discussion is a must.

Create content from the event. Virtual events can generate marketing content. Repurpose, remix and refreshing your messaging. Extend your messaging reach by creatively editing both written and video content to produce material for multi-channel social media posts. Refresh your evergreen content with material from more recent events. Create new messaging that is dynamic, entertaining, useful, and personalized for all your different audience segments. All of this can be used in multiple ways: podcasts, blogs, articles, newsletters, webinars, Facebook, and even TikTok. Make the event content part of your messaging and keep interest in your brand high.

Ask for feedback. Often attendees like to share their opinions. Let them know that their voice matters because it does. Send out a post event survey. Set up phone or video interviews. Take polls or offer merchandise for shared opinions. Feedback helps event planners evaluate what was engaging, what mattered to people, and who presented well. It also allows sponsors to mitigate bad feedback and answer more questions. This is one more way to engage attendees. It also makes planning the next event easier and more cost effective.

Build community. Most people attend events to meet new people, learn, and find meaningful business connection to pursue their business goals., to network. Give attendees ways to connect post-event. Creating opt-in communities, on Slack, email listservs, social media, or other platforms. By sharing information, inviting opinions, and discussing future events, you can build on the momentum of the event and increase brand strength. Giving people a way to network around your event and brand is marketing gold.

Putting It All Together

Engaging attendees post-event is dependent on positive event experience. The event’s impact is dependent on good event planning and the smooth execution of the plan. This has a direct impact on engagement, confidence in messaging and on the business brand. Well produced events build connection and trust. To get the strongest return on investment for your event, find experienced planners and producers so that you can build the momentum of positive sentiment to build your post-event marketing plan.

Post event marketing is about the long game. Building loyal customers and brand recognition is hard work. Virtual events are trending and are the new norm, whether they are hybrid or virtual-only. Without doubt, they offer many ways to further your marketing goals. As a business participates in more virtual events, they will find that each successive event is better and more effective as feedback and analytics shape content and messaging. Virtual meetings offer new and better opportunity for business marketing.

‍