Succeeding at Virtual Conferences 1.4 - Post-event Tips
After a successful event it is always tempting to hang up your boots and celebrate your achievements, but don’t give into that urge just yet! Take the time to overview your accomplishments and invest some time into taking the necessary steps to maximise the outcome of the virtual event for your brand. Once you are done with this last part feel free to reward yourself for all your efforts!
Don’t Forget to Follow-up
While the event is still fresh in everyone’s mind, make sure you stay visible to your new connections in the first three days after a virtual event.
- Search and connect with individuals talking about the event on social media
- Find your new connections on LinkedIn and make sure you reference the event when sending requests
- Make sure to check your email regularly for people trying to connect with you (don’t forget your spam folder!)
- Email all the contacts you made on the day of the event with requests for further conversation or even simple Thank-yous
- Triple check all your event notes and make sure you schedule and attend all your post-event meetings and calls that you set up during the event
- The event organiser may have provided you with a list of all the people who “visited” your virtual booth – take another shot at converting these visitors to leads if you didn’t manage to have a conversation with them during the event
Take a Minute to Review
The majority of events value attendee and exhibitor feedback and will be reaching out to you shortly after the event is over to gather your review. Best practice when reviewing an event is to be supportive and honest with the organiser. Who knows, your feedback could even be featured on the event organiser’s website and social media, providing your brand extra free exposure!
Stay Creative
When reaching out to the connections you made during the virtual event don’t forget that every other company which attended is also sending out follow-up emails and requests. Now is your time to stand out and really make an impression on your acquired leads and hopefully turn them into loyal clients.
Connecting with attendees beyond the screen takes being innovative and thoughtful. Consider looking into the option of using traditional snail-mail to send your leads branded giveaways or as an alternative offer them a chance to win a larger giveaway or send them an online voucher.
Regardless of the situation, remember that change is always in the pipeline and you can always innovate and propel your brand forward! With the timeline of recovery for physical events still quite unclear, we hope you can use the guidance provided here to have meaningful connections, maximise your brand’s virtual impact and make the most of your virtual event investment.
In Conclusion
Now that we’ve armed you with the best tips in the industry on how to ace your next virtual event, it’s time for you to put them into practice. The COVID 19 outbreak will not be part of our lives forever; however, it is very likely that the age of virtual events is only beginning as businesses become familiar with their benefits. Take the time to master your techniques now and stay ahead of the game.
Author: Xenia Petrova, Production Manager at Ultimate Fintech